The patent race is on

State govts are pitching in to help firms.

The Indian small and medium entrepreneur has woken up to the importance of protecting his intellectual property rights, if one goes by the sheer number of patents filed by Indian SMEs across the world. And by all accounts, it is also changing the way he is doing business.

*Mumbai-based Priya Chemicals was one of the first in the country jump into the patent race. The specialty agro-chemicals firm has got many as six process patents to name. And the company's exports jumped from 20 to 80 of his total production.

*A Pune based entrepreneur, Shrikant Vaidya, registered his Hydrabale, an efficient bagasse disposal system, with the Indian Patents Office. And today, he can't cope with his order book unless he builds a new factory. The Hydrabale saves as much as rs 10 lakh a year in bagasse disposal costs.

Says Dr R Y Angle, chairman of Priya Chemicals, "Getting a patent changes the way you do business. For example, we started investing up to one per cent of our turnover on research and development. To create a patentable product, investment in R&D is indispensable."

While Vaidya who found a couple of incidents of infringement for his machine, has sent out legal notices and is waiting to see if patent enforcement really works.

Angle also pointed out that once there is a patent recognition, the demand from the international market also rises and exports get a boost.

Recognising this, alert state governments too are pitching in to help smart SMEs with their patents. Andhra Pradesh is one such example.

Andhra Pradesh Technology Development and Promotion Centre (APTDC), has already filed applications for 83 IPRs in the state. Among these about 25 belong to the patents category with around five already being in the grant stage.

One of its success stories has been that of a reusable multi-chamber auto-injector device. The device, invented by Kola Mohana Rao and Kola Venkateswara Rao, has both military and civilian applications.

Points out Mumbai-based patent attorney, Chandrakant Joshi, "Patent awareness is not uniform among Indian SMEs. The electronic and mechanical businesses have a substantial presence in the patent filings. As do the pharma and software sectors.

Apart from AP, the only other states that have filed substantial patents include Gujarat and Maharashtra. "From other states, the representation is negligible. One of the reasons could be the financial constraints involved in getting patents."

But Joshi does agree that there is an increased awareness - the number of patents filings by the SME sector has gone up from 2 per cent of the total filings to 5 per cent last year.

K Subodh Kumar, head of APTDC says that the awareness levels among SMEs have increased with regard to IPRs. "Not only are they keen on getting domestic protection but are looking at international rights as well," he says.

(With contributions from Dileep Athavale, Chandan Kishore Kant and Barkha Shah)