Government plans to create patent sharing regime

It aims to transfer technology from research and development labs to companies that can then take it to market, while protecting rights of innovators

The central government plans to create a policy framework to enable patent sharing between companies and academia in order promote innovation happening at education and research institutes, while creating a market opportunity for them, said Ravi Shankar Prasad, Minister of Communication and Information Technology on Thursday.

"It is an idea which I have floated today. We have got outstanding teachers and researchers, and we have got companies. There is a need for innovation, so the companies and academia must partner and whatever new products come, it will have a patent. And the fruits of the patent be shared between the both," said Prasad on the sidelines of 1st edition of Medical Electronics Innovation Summit, organized by Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology, at IIT Bombay. "The companies can collaborate with professors and researchers for innovation, and the IP created can be shared by those who have partnered in the project."

"What is important is to encourage innovation in India and innovative India is a big component of Narendra Modi's government," he added.

The underlying vision is to transfer the technology from research and development (R&D) labs to companies that can then take it to market, while protecting the rights of innovators. This is in line with the objective laid down by Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) policy, unveiled earlier this year in May, which aims create a balanced intellectual property rights regime in India to foster creativity and innovation.

The industry experts see it as a move in the right direction. At present, researchers, doctors and professors, who work with research and development companies to create IPs do not own them, since they are bound by contracts which allow companies to have a right over the IPs. With the patent sharing regime, people who have developed the IPs will also own them and get the benefits such as revenue sharing.

"This is a good move. It will require a change in legal framework, which will enable researchers and innovators become a legal owners of the IPs created and reap the patent benefits," said Saroj Kumar Jha, Partner, SRGR Law Offices.

Meanwhile, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (Meity) is working with Andhra Pradesh government to facilitate technology transfer from government labs to the entrepreneurs in the state.

Society of Applied, Electronics Engineering & Research (SAMEER), a research and development laboratory of Meity, partnered with Andhra Pradesh Medical Technology Zone (AMTZ), a research and technology park in Vishakhapatnam entailing about 300 entrepreneurs, and AP government to transfer its research projects to the companies at AMTZ who will manufacture the products, which will then be brought by AP government for its 21 government hospitals and medical colleges.

"The MoU is the first step towards transfer of technology and we will be following it up with other such initiatives. It is a part of the broader vision," said Aruna Sundararajan, Secretary, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.