PATENT ECOSYSTEM

SIGNIFICANCE OF PATENT

1. For the knowledge economy
2. Technological innovation

FLAWS

LEGAL ASPECTS

• Section 9(1) of the patents act provides that those applications accompanied by provisional specifications be supported by complete specifications within one year.
• Section 21(1) requires patent applicants to re-file documents if the patent examiner finds them not meeting the requirements

RISING APPLICATIONS

• The total number of patent applications to the Indian patent office has increased 48%between 2010-11 and 2020 -21 largely driven by applications by residents.

• The share of such abandoned patents in the total number of patent applications soared from 13.6% in 2010-11 to 48% in 2019-20.

CAUSES OF RISING APPLICATIONS

• A plausible reason could be that the applicants are not confident about their applications passing scrutiny and therefore do not pursue their applications.
• Long pendency also discourages applicants from following up on their applications.

HIGHER EDUCATION SECTOR AND PATENTS

• The share of this sector in the gross domestic expenditure on R&D (GERD) has increased from 5% in 2013 to 7% in 2018, as UNESCO data on science, technology, and innovation shows.
• The number of patent applications filed by the top 10 academic institutes and universities in India rose by more than two times in four years, from 838 in 2015 -16 to 2,533 in 2019-20
• Their share in patent applications by residents also doubled from 6.4% to 12.2% during the same period.
• The growing prominence of this sector in patenting activity indicates the priority it attaches to commercially significant technological innovations.
• When the higher education sector is increasingly focusing on the development component of R&D, it is also expected that the collaboration between industry and academia will also increase in the area of R&D .But the reverse is true in the case of India.

GLOBAL INNOVATION INDEX

• GII is prepared based on the score that each country gets under 80 indicators.
• India’s score for this indicator has declined over the last few years, from 47.8 in 2015 to 7 in 2021.
• Consequently, India’s ranking in this indicator in the GII declined from 48 to 65 during this period.
• However, improvements in some other indicators have resulted in India’s overall ranking in the GII improving from 81 in 2015 to 46 in 2021.

NATIONAL AUTO POLICY 2018 (draft)

• It points out that collaboration between the industry and academia in India has been limited to niche research areas that have low commercial significance.
• It also admits that innovations from India, originating from collaborative research projects and implemented and commercialized in the automotive space have been scarce.

NATIONAL INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS POLICY 2016

• The National Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Policy 2016 was adopted in May 2016. Its motto is “Creative India; Innovative India”.

• Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP), Ministry of Commerce, Government of India, has been appointed as the nodal department to coordinate, guide, and oversee the implementation and future development of IPRs in India
• The 'Cell for IPR Promotion & Management (CIPAM)', under the aegis of DIPP, is entrusted with the implementation of the objectives of the National IPR Policy.
• The IPR regime of India complies with the WTO's agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS)

GLOBAL INNOVATION INDEX

• Published by the World Intellectual property organization, a specialized agency of the UN.
• Published in partnership with the Portulans Institute and other corporate partners
• The index ranks world economies according to their innovation capabilities and consists of 80 indicators grouped into innovation outputs and innovation inputs.

For Prelims & Mains