1. On patents: Protect your rights
Basab Chaudhuri

2. An interesting news
The Telegraph on Sept , page 3 gives an interesting news
The caption is: Apple seeks patents for paper bags
The news runs like this: Apple Inc., the US company that sprang from ideas germinating in a suburban garage and gave the world iMac, the iPhone and the iPad, among other products, has now filed a patent application for a paper bag

3. The story runs …..
The application (of Apple), published by the US Patents and Trade Mark Office on September 15, describes a retail shopping bag made from white paper with 60 per cent “post consumer content”, the paper industry’s terminology for recycled paper.
“The proportion of recycled paper in this shopping bag is large compared to standard paper bags, and the special reinforcement adds to the bag’s strength”

4. Paper bag picture

5. Does the news strike you?
To me it is interesting
An electronic giant takes patent on paper bag
Paper bag has wide application
Recycling conserves natural resources
This is a step forward towards saving the environment
Innovation is not in the sky alone, it is present in every nook and corner
Researchers have to look for them
Watch out and sniff in ………………….

6. Why innovation is patented?
Because it has to be protected
Vidya is not only for enhancement of knowledge
Knowledge needs to be converted into wealth
There has been friendship between Goddess Saraswati and Goddess Lakshmi
They are not isolated from each other any more; they have decided to become inter-dependent

7. How do you keep your wealth?
In almirah or in Bank locker where wealth is safe and secure
How do you keep your knowledge safe and secure?
Why is it a necessity today?
Because commerce is an essential wing for civilization to flourish; clipping off that wing will not help you. Poverty of thought is not glorious and a thought capable of fetching money must be kept in a safe deposit vault

8. Property …. Needs protection and demarcation
Adam Smith, in his book An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of a nation said that the wealth of a nation depends on capital, labor and mineral resources
That was Economics in the 18th century
Vis-à-vis natural resources and low-skilled labor, human creativity, innovation, technology and ingenuity are important in today’s economics (21st century)

9. Erich Blotch in 1990 said …
“In the modern market place, knowledge is the critical asset. It is as important a commodity as the access to natural resources or to a low-skilled labor market was in the past. Knowledge has given birth to vast new industries, particularly those based on computers, semiconductors, biotechnology and designed materials”
Erich Blotch was former Head of US NSF

10. So what do we see …. Material prosperity today depends on knowledge
In his book Birth of Plenty William Bernstein cites four prerequisites for prosperity:
1. Property rights (where advances are not confiscated by the government)
2. Scientific rationalism (where religious beliefs do not overturn scientific advances)

11. Previous slide continues ……….
3. Capital markets (with some honesty)
4. Efficient communication and transportation (selling produce at far-off places)
All the four conditions mentioned above were put to use by England during industrial revolution that brought prosperity
Today all developed and developing economies follow the above criteria; so there has been intensification of competition

12. Property right
Right to exclusion – it prevents trespassing (Even Sadhak Ramprasad put fencing around his house)
Patents create property from information
A patent is an exclusive right granted for an invention, which is a product or a process that provides a new way of doing something, or offers a new technical solution to a problem.
It provides protection for the invention to the owner of the patent.
The protection is granted for a limited period, e.g., 20 years

13. Patent protection means
That the invention cannot be commercially made, used, distributed or sold without the patent owner’s consent
A patent owner has the right to decide who may - or may not - use the patented invention for the period in which the invention is protected
The patent owner may give permission to, or license, other parties to use the invention on mutually agreed terms

14. Patent protection
The owner may also sell the right to the invention to someone else, who will then become the new owner of the patent
Once a patent expires, the protection ends, and an invention enters the public domain, that is, the owner no longer holds exclusive rights to the invention, which becomes available to commercial exploitation by others

15. Obligation of patent owner
All patent owners are obliged, in return for patent protection, to publicly disclose information on their invention in order to enrich the total body of technical knowledge to the world (specificity of information kept a secret)
Such an over-increasing body of public knowledge promotes further creativity and innovation in others
In this way, patents provide not only protection for the owner but valuable information and inspiration for future generations of researchers and inventors
Visit

16. Little History I
The ancient Greeks in 500 BC granted protection to investors
The first patent law was enacted by the Venetian Republic in 1474 (Remember Merchant of Venice?)
Massachusetts gave Joseph Winslow a patent to make salt in 1633, the first in North America
Article 1 of the U. S. Constitution states: “The Congress shall have power ….. To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries,”

17. Little History II
Examples of silly patents (apparently not a disqualification) in History
A method for swinging on a swing
A face-mask to prevent eating
An anti-thumb-sucking device
A banana case
Animal ear protectors for doggies
A bike with a sail
An interactive life-size bowl of soup

18. Little History III
As I said, social and economic progress based on grant of ownership of knowledge was known in the 15th century Venice
What was “Privilege” that time is “Patent” today
Galileo was granted a privilege at Venice in 1594 on his invention of a machine “for raising water and irrigating land with small expense and great convenience” on the condition that it had never before been thought of or made by others (basically a pump. Right?)

19. Flying machine (March 5, 1889)

20. Advt incandescent lamp

21. Galileo’s application
Stated “it not being fit that this invention, which is my own, discovered by me with great labor and expense, be made the common property of everyone”;
Continued Galileo that if he were granted the privilege, “I shall the more attentively apply myself to new inventions for universal benefit”.
Galileo, the father of modern science, was unwilling to divulge his invention
The Venetian Council saw merit in Galileo’s argument and granted him a privilege for 21 years

22. 19th and 20th century
19th century UK and 20th century USA made full use of technological innovations and intellectual properties to become economic giants and superpowers
It is doubtful that without patent protection, epoch-making technological innovations built around inventions such as electric dynamo, the combustion engine and the transistor would have occurred so quickly
Chemical, Pharmaceutical, Biotechnological, info-tech and nano-tech – all have flourished/ are flourishing through IPR

23. University – Industry Interaction
In flourishing economies, University and Industry are having close association
University is the cradle of ideas (implementability is not the criterion for traditional research)
Industry is the screening and funding agency (translation into reality – implement and get commercial benefit)
Idea generated through University R & D: tested, perfected and packaged as a technological product through funds available from industry, goes to market and helps making money
This is Synergy that western economies have attained so efficiently

24. Two US Acts of 1980
Bayh-Dole Act of 1980 and Stevenson-Wydler Act of 1980 with further amendments and augmentation have shown the world the kind of remarkable progress a society can make when governments act with magnanimity
US government in 1970s realized that Federal government-funded research results, although available in open literature, were languishing for lack of additional investment needed to turn them into marketable products

25. Bayh-Dole Act
The purpose of the act was “to use the patent system to promote the utilization of inventions arising from federally funded research or development”
Descriptions of inventions were to be legislatively protected from public disseminations and from requests under the Freedom of Information Act for a reasonable period to allow filing of patent application
Two acts laid the foundation for unlocking dormant inventions and discoveries and catalyzed further inventions and discoveries on a scale unimaginable in earlier times

26. Media reaction The Economist in its December 14, 2002 issue wrote:
“Probably the most inspired piece of legislation to be enacted in America over the past half-century was the Bayh-Dole Act of 1980 ………………… More than anything, this single policy measure helped to reverse America’s precipitous slide into industrial irrelevance”
Thanks to the Act, University R & D labs could become engines for economic growth
Many countries followed USA. Private spending in R &D increased substantially and overshadowed govt. R & D spending

27. Stevenson-Wydler Act
Collaboration between govt. R & D labs and private enterprises made possible and vibrant through the Stevenson-Wydler Act, as amended by the Federal Technology Transfer Act
Collaboration under a Co-operative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA)
Agreement allows collaborating partners to optimize their resources, share technical expertise in a protected environment, share the resulting IP and speed up commercialization of technology

28. Joint Project
Both University and private partner(s), may enter into a joint project by providing personnel, services, facilities, equipment or other resources
Only the private partner can provide direct funds to the joint project
Generally, both parties will have the right to use any patented technology resulting from the joint project
The AIDS drug AZT was developed by Burroughs-Wellcome with the NIH in a CRADA
CRADA proposals and reports are exempted from the Freedom of Information Act

29. On CRADA Projects
Contracting parties not to reveal technological information or research results without mutual consent
The US example is being emulated by other countries, developed and developing
University-Industry collaboration has become the key element in the industrial policies of most governments of the industrialized nations
Developed and developing countries trying to ensure spending 3% GDP on R & D in the ratio of 1:2 between government and private

30. Rise of IP Year % US Exports through IP 1947 10 1986 37 2009 50 Beyond
Increasing

31. Shift in business strategies
From transactions to relationships
From technology features and functions to knowledge and expertise
Quality product at reasonable price to customized solutions as per client’s need
Smart companies provide clients with new thinking, managing and structuring themselves, equipping them with new tools and capabilities
Patent portfolios are now corporate profit centres
Not only Economy of scale, but also economy of expertise

32. What to come next Mega research programme
Corporatization of Universities
Within the University campus, companies will have incubation centres – university – industry interface will become blurred
Universities will run in corporate style
Useful patents will bring money for the company and the University
Taking patent is not for enriching CV; it must fetch money and strengthen economy

33. Effect on business Think why East India Company came to India
Now capital is mobile (please come and invest – so occupation is no longer necessary)
Labor is mobile (relaxed visa rules)
First-mover advantage (transient)
Brand (ephemeral)
What remains is patent portfolio or patent raj
Not silly patents; solid money-earning patents
In modern times, poverty is not glorious; wealth and well-being are synonymous

34. Process vis-à-vis Product Patent
In process patent a process was patented
Developing economies used to find different route to reach the destination
In TRIPS regime, that is, product patent regime (after 2005) a molecule is patented
So it becomes a monopoly for that molecule – owner
This has made life more difficult
Drug companies take patent on specific molecule so that no other company can have the same drug
Increased monopoly, increased competition, difficult for developing nations

35. Some great minds …… Did not take patent rights
Marie Curie on radiation therapy
She dedicated her discovery to the mankind
Our own Jagadish Chandra Bose did not want to be rich by taking patents on radio waves
But that was “different time”
Science is no longer pursuit of knowledge only, science has to produce concrete knowledge that can be converted to process and/ or product and contribute to national economy

36. Industry – Institute Interaction
What is it in India?
By the term we mean some superficial engagement
Real interaction is development of an idea in the University Laboratory and its transformation on a large scale through industry intervention (nucleus to crystal)
We are at infancy in this respect as compared to western countries
By interaction we mean placement and jobs – that is not proper appreciation

37. Patent Laws
If someone trespasses into the landed property, litigation happens
There are standard laws for dispute resolution
Litigation may happen with intellectual properties
There are laws protecting intellectual property rights
Universities/ Institutes of Juridical Sciences conduct these law courses
Conventional security to cyber security: laws exist
Commonly understood property to IP: laws exist

38. Thanks to
Rajendra Kumar Bera from whose article The global importance of Patents published in Current Science, Vol 96, No. 5, 10 March 2009: I have extensively borrowed
I give Bera full credit; without that paper I could not have prepared the slides
Swami Shastrajnanda for kind invitation
Students and researchers who heard me patiently
And the Almighty who makes everything including patents and intellectual property possible