The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Tiruchi News : System sought to transfer research findings to industry

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jul 20, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Tiruchi

System sought to transfer research findings to industry

By Our Staff Reporter

TIRUCHI, JULY 19 . Research institutions were advised to have a tangible system in place to validate documents and to manage the transfer of research findings to industry, at a programme on `Intellectual Property Rights - Managing Technology', at the Bharathidasan University on Friday.

Interacting with academics, Rama P. Ramanujam, Technology Commercialisation and Partnerships Consultant, Ohio State University Medical Centre, noted that as creators, the research institutions did not get the deserved recognition or revenue owing to inefficient management of technology transfer. Technology can be commercialised only if it was protected by IPR, he said, adding that for managing partnerships with industry, the R and D institutions should build legal relationships to develop product and services.

Several products and services protected by patents were not commercialised. Potential commercial partners would like to see the research validated via peer-reviewed publication. Varsities should have a system for channelling royalty to the creator for further research, he said.

Explaining in detail trade secrets, copyrights, trade marks, patents and agreements, Dr. Ramanujam said while trade marks in the form of brand names, slogans etc., lived for ever, patents would be valid for a maximum period of 20 years. The R and D institutions should send their research findings to the US Patent Office. If the researches were found innovative, they would be covered by the Patent Cooperative Treaty Application, to which 25 countries, including most of the European countries, were signatories. Patents could be obtained on matter, method, material and design. Genetically modified organisms too could be patented.

He advised the R and D institutions to stand guard against insufficient documentation or premature disclosure and publishing since industry would take advantage of it. Confidentiality was critical, he said, citing the instance of an inventor of dental floss, whose invention was rejected at the outset by a leading global pharmaceutical company, which later patented the innovation surreptitiously and commercialised it.

The Vice-Chancellor, C. Thangamuthu, said patenting was a complex issue in India, where there has been a long tradition of safeguarding IPR in Siddha. The wealth of information has been handed down the generations orally. The issue was crucial since the benefits of the system of medicine could not be patented in the global context, for, the actual elements in Siddha could not be deciphered.

The varsity, he said, had made a good beginning in patenting. A technology to enhance silk and seed production by 20 per cent has been developed by M. Krishnan, Head of the Eco-Biotechnology department, with funding from the World Bank routed through the Central Silk Board. It was in queue for patenting. The Department of Science and Technology has offered funds for fine-tuning the research.

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