DoT debates a strategy road map to promote IPR in telecom sector

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is discussing a strategy road map to promote intellectual property rights (IPR) in the sector which could include the setting up of a 'Sovereign Patent Fund' and a 'Bharat Technology Bank' as well as taking measures to reduce the long delays in obtaining a patent.

It has also been discussing a proposal to set up a Digicom Intellectual Property Management Board which will facilitate IPR licesnsing and IP management in the telecom sector. A standard essential patent adjudicating Committee (SAC) within the board having members from the Telecom Engineering Centre and academia will have powers to arbitrate on objections to any patent being declared a standard essential patent (SEP) in India. SEPs protect the telecom industry’s core technology.

The SAC will also have powers to adjudicate in case there is no consensus between the patent holder and the potential licensee on whether the price is fair, reasonable, or discriminatory.

But foreign companies are concerned. They believe patent disputes should be decided in the courts, which is global norm, rather than by the executive because another agency merely creates another layer for dispute settlement.

They also say that foreign patent holders should have been consulted along with other stakeholders and that they should have adequate representation in the proposed board. Currently, this is restricted to Indian academia and government officials.          

Borrowing from the examples of countries like Japan, South Korea and China, the proposed Sovereign Patend Fund suggested by the committee will be aggregating the patents of Indian companies to build a better value for them as a bouquet for the overseas market. 

India could set up either a national level Fund or sector-specific ones, under which the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and the Dot could come together and form one for the ICT industry.

Apart from pooling patents the Fund would be responsible for the intellectual property rights lifecycle management for SMEs and start-ups. It could also play a key role in procuring patented licensing for the country in key technologies such as 5G and 6G, negotiating a country level licence fee, and offering it to Indian industry at a more attractive rate. 

It has been suggested that the proposed Fund should call on expert agencies for its day-to-day management through a special purpose vehicle with broad oversight by the government. It should also be given initial funding for procuring intellectual property rights licensing from patent owners for national level licensing for the Indian industry.

It is envisaged that the Bharat Technology Bank would be under a central agency and would bring together the technologies that are available in government R&D institutions spread across the country. This technology could be licensed at an affordable fee to needy countries with the objective of creating diplomatic goodwill. It could also help Indian companies access new markets.

The telecom sector faces serious issues. One is that it has no publicly accessible India patent database for the sector that individual SMEs or start-ups can  access to see whether they are infringing someone’s intellectual property.

Signalling change

• Proposal to set up Sovereign Patent Fund to aggregate patents from home-grown firms and offer them as a bouquet abroad  
• Bharat Technology Bank to focus on offering Indian patents to needy countries at nominal fee
• India takes 5-8 years for giving telecom patents compared with 1-2 years in US and 3 years in China
• India’s share in global supply chain for telecom equipment is less than 1%