Knowledge, attitude and perception regarding intellectual property rights among general dental practitioners of Chennai

Abstract

The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge, attitude and perception of intellectual property rights among general dental practitioners of Chennai, Tamilnadu. Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) has piqued the interests of many dentists, due to the extensive amount of research being done in the field and as there are bounteous amount of competitors in the field, the dentists have turned towards IPR for the protection of their intellectual works such as patents and researches. This was a questionnaire-based study that was done using an online survey platform in the month of April. The questionnaire was circulated among the general dental practitioners of Chennai, Tamilnadu. A total of 150 dental practitioners took part in this survey. Of which 46% (69) were female dentists, while the rest 54% (81) were Male dentists. The dentists were categorized based on age into 21-30 years of age 13% (17). 31-40 years of age: 15% (23). 41-60 years of age: 43% (65). >60 years of age: 9% (14). The dentists were further divided based on the years of experience, 11% (17) dentists had less than two years of experience. 15% (23) dentists had 2-4 years of experience. 12% (18) dentists had 5 to 10 years of experience, and 61% (92) dentists had more than ten years of experience. 16.67% (25) of the female dentists had good knowledge on IPR, while only 12.67% (19) of the Male dentists had good knowledge on IPR.53% (43) of the Male dentists had a positive attitude while only 46% (32) of the female dentists had a positive attitude towards IPR. Male dentists had 48.67% (73) good perception while 37.33% (56) female dentists and good perception.