Editorial: Patent absurdities

The government's reported proposal to launch a campaign for promoting intellectual property (IP) protection culture seems both timely and need-based. The country boasts of having one of the world's largest pools of scientific manpower. Yet, when it comes to guarding innovations through patents, India's record is dismal and compares poorly with other countries. Not only scientists, but even entrepreneurs making commercial use of indigenously developed technologies are usually oblivious to the need for, as also to the advantages of, securing proprietary rights over their products. As far as IP protection at the international level is concerned, the country's track record is all the more appalling. The latest data on patent application filings, released by the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), bares it all. Of the total 1.56 lakh applications for global patents received by the WIPO, Indian submissions were only 686, against 52,280 applications from the US, 27,730 from Japan and 5,450 applications from China. This is notwithstanding the fact that the Indian Patent Office (IPO) had granted record 15,260 patents in 2007-08, though this number itself is unimpressive considering India's scientific resources and the vast infrastructure for research in scientific, agricultural and industrial fields. Historically, too, India's score in this area is pathetic "" just three patents per million population, against the world average of around 250. Little wonder then that the country is a major victim of IP piracy and has to often contest patents on even items like basmati rice or products made from neem and haldi (turmeric) in the international courts, entailing hefty costs.

It is, therefore, only fair that the government should undertake a drive aimed at creating awareness and consultancy provision among researchers and industrialists by involving universities, research centres, industry associations and, more importantly, patent attorneys. In fact, such a measure has been overdue since the country amended its Patent Act, albeit in phases, to align it with the provisions of the trade-related intellectual property rights (TRIPs) agreement under the WTO. At the same time, however, the domestic patents regime, which in its present state is full of flaws, needs to be revamped and suitably strengthened to provide a sound base for the development of a healthy IP and proprietary rights culture. The Planning Commission's proposal to digitise all the patent data in the 11th Plan is a welcome initiative. But that will be only a small step and will need to be supplemented with other reforms in the patent grant process to lend it much-needed transparency. At present, the grant of patents is notified in the journals brought out by patent offices, giving only bibliography and abstracts which often are the same as provided by the patent applicants. As such, they tend to hide more than they reveal and are of not much use to those who may intend to challenge the patents. The procedure adopted for the grant of patents and examining the applications is seldom revealed.

Significantly, the National Knowledge Commission, as also a group of about 150 patent experts and lawyers, have already drawn attention, in their separate notes to the Prime Minister's Office, to such critical issues. The Commission has minced no words in underscoring the need for making public the complete details of patent applications to provide sufficient opportunity for pre-grant opposition. The experts group, on the other hand, has gone a step further and has recommended that all the comments on the patent application files by the patent officials, including the observations recorded by the patent examiners, should be in the public domain to reduce scope for corruption. These are pertinent issues that merit serious consideration and prompt action. Otherwise, India will not only continue to be a laggard in the international IP protection arena but may also be deprived of knowledge-based economic development.