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IBEF Essay

The credible faceof incredible India

T hings are changing rapidly. A seriesof measures taken by the govern-ment and the corporate sector has

given India's IPR systems a dramatic make-over. New laws, better administration andwell-developed IPR valuation systems arebringing in the applause. The message:Indian law values intellectual property andis strong enough to protect it.

The first bold moves have been made inautomating and modernising the patentadministration system. A $32 million over-haul-programme is being implemented inthe four metros where freshly minted IPRoffices are being computerised, networkedand housed in new buildings with improvedfacilities. The departments are being IT-enabled with extensive application of infor-mation technology in their administrativeand technical functioning.

The Indian Patent Office brings out a

regular journal that disseminates informa-tion about the procedures involved, thecosts and the documentation required forfiling a patent. It also brings out a list ofpatents filed that are updated at regularintervals. Also, special institutes devotedto IP law are being set up - the Rajiv GandhiSchool of Intellectual Law at IIT, Kanpurhas taken on its first batch of students thisyear.

The impact of these measures hasspread deep and wide. Companies areinvesting heavily in innovation and settingup in-house IP valuation and protectionsystems. Even better, patent applicationsare pouring in. According to figures put outby NASSCOM, patent filings in India haveincreased four fold in the last five years.According to the Wall Street Journal,"nearly 800 Indian companies submittedinternational patent applications to the

India sweeps theboard with majorchanges in itsIntellectual PropertyRights (IPR) protection systems.

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World Intellectual Property Organisation in2004. This number may be fairly small byinternational standards, but is still morethan double the number of Indian patentsapplied for in 2000."

Also significantly, the SoftwareEngineering and Technology Labs(SETLabs), Infosys' Innovation andIntellectual Property (IP) development arm,generated over 82 invention disclosuresand filed over 20 patent applications in2005-06 (The Hindu, 01.06.2006). Larsen& Toubro is another example. The compa-ny has registered 280 patents over the lasttwo years.

Better vigilance and stronger enforce-ment systems have also had India's tradepartners imposing greater faith in thecountry's IP administration. The US isexpected to post a patent attorney as IPRattaché in New Delhi this summer.Multinational companies are transferringtechnology and setting up R&D offices inIndia. According to the chairman of theScientific Advisory Committee to theIndian cabinet, about 150 of the 400Fortune 500 countries have set up R&Dcentres in India.

Even domestic research and develop-ment activity has perked up. So has thepassion for research and innovation amongIndian institutes. In a recent speech,Dayanidhi Maran, Minister forCommunication and InformationTechnology said that India's contributionto the knowledge economy has been sub-stantial. He quoted the World EconomicForum Global Competitiveness Report2003-04 to say that India ranked third outof 102 countries surveyed for availabilityof scientists and engineers. "This is evi-dent from the fact that Indian workers insoftware and service industry increasedfrom 56,000 in 1991 to about 800,000 in2005. It is expected to reach 2 million by2008," he said.

Indian policy makers are also going togreat lengths to protect their traditionalintellectual properties. The governmenthas also completed a $2m project, calledTraditional Knowledge Digital Library,which is an encyclopaedia of the country'straditional medicine in five languages -English, French, German, Japanese andSpanish. This is an effort to stop peoplefrom claiming these herbal cures and com-binations as their own and patenting them.

Clearly a more 'Credible India' is in the

making. As Kamal Nath, Minister ofCommerce and Industry said at Davos: "A'Credible India' is the India that has a sixdecade old stable democracy, the India inwhich there is rule of law and a fiercelyindependent judiciary and an equallyfiercely free press, and an India in whichthere is a broad consensus across thepolitical spectrum that only economicreform can bring prosperity to the commonman."

It must be admitted that the two fac-tors that have pushed India back on theIPR map are globalisation and GATT. Bothwere pivotal in the transformation of mind-sets within the government and amongIndian companies. As Indian policies werealigned to the global norms on IP protec-tion, it sent out a strong signal to the for-eign investor community that was alreadyattracted to the vast talent pool that exist-ed in the country. Soon technology hubsmushroomed across the country and Indiawas on its way to becoming a favouredR&D destination. According to the Ministryof Information Technology, India has over100 centres for design and R&D withknowledge services ranging from financialanalysis to chip design. Almost 80% ofFortune 500 companies outsource their ITrequirements from India and the R&D out-sourcing market is expected to cross $13.2 billion by 2010.

With investments in R&D on the boil,Indian companies are now playing theirpart in strengthening IP protection sys-tems. According to a recent newspaperreport, Tata Sons spent over $1 millionlast year on IPR protection. HindustanLever is creating a nationwide strategy forprotecting its brands and Bharti Airtel hasexpanded the size of its legal team fromjust 20 to over 70.

The wisdom of being IPR friendly andproviding a secure environment forresearch and innovation is lost on nonetoday. As the Ministry of Commercerevealed in its plan for bilateral relationsbetween India and the US: "Two-wayinvestment binds us, but this network can-not be held together merely by the glue ofgreenbacks; it must be underscored bytechnology transfer and technologyexchange." Now, who can dispute that?

Ajay Khanna can be reached at ajay.khanna@ciionline.org The views expressed here are personal.

Better vigilanceand strongerenforcement

systems have alsohad India's tradepartners imposinggreater faith in the

country's IPadministration.

Ajay KhannaChief Executive OfficerIndia Brand Equity Foundation

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