Expect Heavy Selling At 4700 Level
Till 1995, the 10,000 scientists of the 40-odd laboratories of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) resolutely stuck to the motto "publish or perish". When Dr R A Mashelkar took over as director-general of the organisation in July of that year the maxim was changed to "patent, publish and prosper". The result: the number of patents filed by CSIR went up from six in 1993-94 to 350 by March 1999. And the target is even more impressive: 500 patents by 2001.
"If we want to become an exporter of knowledge, the buyer must require that the knowledge is protected in the US," explains Mashelkar. In 1998, CSIR secured the highest number of patents (66) filed by an Indian organisation in the US. No other organisation comes even close to the CSIR. The combined total of individually-owned patents is a distant second to CSIR. This is
followed by Texas Instruments, Hoechst Aktiengesellschaft and Ranbaxy Laboratories in that order, with each claiming a
handful of patents to its credit. (see chart).
It seems that the CSIR, known for its tradition of pure science and research papers, has made an impressive transition to the practice of applied technology and patenting. The target of 2001 is well within sight.
But while CSIR's achievement is acknowledged by all, some