CSIR Technologies for COVID-19 Mitigation, July 2020

CSIR has developed several COVID-19 focused technologies and products ranging from sanitizers & masks to improved tests and diagnostics and ventilators, buildings and structures. The technologies, products and processes listed in the compendium are available for non-exclusive technology transfer. Out of 105 technologies and products in this compendium, 58 have been transferred to various industry partners. For the others, the technologies are in different stages of readiness, the most basic being a working prototype. Interested start-ups and industries may contact the concerned CSIR laboratory for further discussion, and technology transfer.

The updated list includes:

• Rapid and Economical Diagnostics (7),
• Development of Repurposed Drugs/New Drugs & Vaccine (8),
• Hospital Assistive Devices and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) (49),
• Supply Chain & Logistics Support Systems (3)

Telemedicine and telehealth

The guidelines in the 2020 document distinctly define the concepts of telemedicine and telehealth.

Telemedicine: The delivery of healthcare services, where distance is a critical factor, by all healthcare professionals using information and communication technologies for the exchange of valid information for diagnosis, treatment and prevention of disease and injuries, research and evaluation, and for the continuing education of health care providers, all in the interests of advancing the health of individuals and their communities. 

Telehealth: The delivery and facilitation of health and health-related services including medical care, provider and patient education, health information services, and self-care via telecommunications and digital communication technologies. The categories of medicines that can be prescribed are :

List O: It will comprise those medicines which are safe to be prescribed through any mode of tele-consultation. In essence they would comprise of o Medicines which are used for common conditions and are often available ‘over the counter’. 

List A: These medications are those which can be prescribed during the first consult which is a video consultation and are being re-prescribed for re-fill, in case of follow-up.

List B: Is a list of medication which RMP can prescribe in a patient who is undergoing follow-up consultation in addition to those which have been prescribed during in-person consult for the same medical condition.

Yet to come are guidelines on Data Protection and Doctors' liability.

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare drafted the Digital Information Security in Health Care Act to secure confidentiality and privacy in health-care systems. Meanwhile, the judiciary has attempted to safeguard an individual’s right to privacy. In Justice K.S. Puttaswammy v Union of India, it was held that right to privacy was a facet of Article 21 of the Indian Constitution. It further held that “the right of an individual to exercise control over his personal data and to be able to control his/her own life would also encompass his right to control his existence on the internet.” 

On Doctors' liability -The conduct of medical malpractice was brought under the Consumer Protection Act, 1986, due to the landmark case of the Indian Medical Association vs. V. P. Shantha & others, The judgment in this case defined medical care as a “service” that was covered under the Act, and also clarified that a person seeking medical attention may be considered a consumer if certain criteria were met.

 

Development of the Farm Machinery Industry in Japan : A Case Study of the Walking Type Tractor

Indian Government is reported contemplating restriction on import of Chinese Power Tillers. India has been assembling power tillers for decades and most of them are based on Japanese technology.
This case explains how Japan developed Power Tiller/ Walking type tractor.

The evolution of the walking type tractor occurred in three phases. The first phase involved the actual transfer of technology from abroad. Garden tractors such as Bee Man, Utilitar and Simar were imported in the early 1920s and demonstration of cultivation was performed in some prefectures. The imported tractors turned out to be inappropriate for the natural, economic, and social conditions of Japanese agriculture. The import of garden tractors thus ended within a short period. The second phase saw the invention of a Japanese type tractor called the "power tiller." It incorporated some of the designs of imported garden tractors built before World War II. The power tiller was subject to several defects and was used only in limited areas. This led to the third phase in which walking type tractors were invented and widely diffused. These tractors signified the completion of an appropriate technology for Japanese agriculture. The defects of the power tillers were corrected and hand tractors and tailor type tractors were also developed with reference to imported garden tractors. The quality of these walking type tractors were good enough to replace draft animals completely. These walking type tractors were diffused at a high speed and reached their peak in 1974 when 3.4 million such tractors were in use in Japan. Export of the walking type tractors started increasing in the mid-1960s. In 1982 about 30 percent of the total production of walking type tractors was exported. 

The Role o the Public Sector in the Development f of the Walking Type Tractor
 Pre-War period:  an agricultural experiment station carried out a comparative examination of imported garden tractors in 1922. Although the results of the study suggested that imported garden tractors were not well suited to Japanese agriculture, the study made clear the importance of developing a cultivating machine which was adapted to local agricultural conditions. Secondly, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry promoted the diffusion of the power tiller by holding national machinery and implements fairs.
Post-war period:With the enactment of the Farm Mechanization Promotion Law in 1 9_ 53, the farm machinery testing scheme was legalized.Secondly, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry entrusted the Okayama Prefectural Experiment Station to conduct research on small-scale power tillers from 1947~48. In this way, the transmission clutch was improved and engines were made smaller and lighter. 
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Interview at Medcircle on future of innovations in new normal.

During the COVID crisis, the flood of innovations from Face masks to testing has 5 enablers.

• Standards, WTO & ICMR,

• Testing and validation at DRDO and other places,

• Local demand, especially public procurement,

• Freedom to Operate from Patent perspective,

• Capability to come with creative imitations, catch up products in a speedy manner.

We expect innovations to flourish in New Normal where the 5 enablers exist,” he says.

Agree???

Read full interview

Using Inventions in the Public Domain- WTO guide

Developing New Products- there are millions of patents free to use in India. That is knowledge on tap.

Information and knowledge in published patents and patent applications plus other public domain knowledge can be utilized to help conceive, refine and/or formalize a concept for a product, protect the idea for a product and map its path to commercial viability.
This guide is organized in three distinct modules that review and explore the applicability of information from inventions in the public domain. The modules are as follows:
MODULE I Review of the public domain as a function of geography and time, with a focus on: (1) the public domain in developing and least developed countries and (2) the relationship between patents and the public domain.
MODULE II Exploration of public domain knowledge in patents, the relationship between patents and other intellectual property rights, and using the insights gained to find opportunities to leverage existing inventions and public domain knowledge for facilitating business success.
MODULE III Using and integrating public domain knowledge in product development processes from an idea’s conception to its analysis, design, testing, market launch and post-launch analysis for continuous improvement.
Download the guide.

Identifying Inventions in the Public Domain- WIPO Guide

A public domain invention is a publicly disclosed invention not covered by any enforceable patent rights in a specific country, at a defined time, such that anyone may freely use that invention in that country at that time, without liability for patent infringement. Using this conceptual framework, the guide teaches you a three-stage process for searching and analyzing published patent documents using the tools of freedom to operate (FTO) determination.

DESCRIBE (Module II)  – Gather information from the client about the invention: · What is the invention and what does the client plan to do with it? · Where does the client plan to use the invention?  When does the client plan to use the invention? – Describe the invention and its planned use. 

SEARCH (Module III)  – Break down the invention into parts and identify features to search. – Choose search parameters and resources: keywords; patent classification symbols; databases; countries; year(s); language(s). – Search for patent documents with claims that might cover the invention or one of its essential features, and identify potentially relevant documents to analyze.

 ANALYZE (Module IV) – Analyze each potentially relevant patent document: · Analyze claims to determine the scope of patent rights. Could a claim be interpreted in such a way that it might be found to cover the invention or one of its essential features? Yes/No/Cannot determine. · Determine the legal status of each analyzed patent. Is it still in force? If so, where is it enforceable and for how long? If not, is it expired, abandoned, invalidated, disclaimed or revoked? Is the legal status ambiguous or unsettled?

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How to identify the cow?

Farmers never had any problem in identifying their cattle, many were even give names like pet dogs. The problem is different with bureaucrats, bankers, insurance companies- to them all cows look the same. 

One the tourist attraction for foreigners in Delhi is sight of stray cattle and they do not miss an opportunity to take photo. Obviously governments think it is a bad publicity for the nation and regularly introduced schemes to control population of stray cattle on streets. Delhi government hired about 150 stray cows’ catchers who are supposed to bring 10 cows per day. These people know that of all the cows are removed they will eventually they will lose their job. Due to the corruption, these stray cattle often make their way back on street and are often caught multiple times.

Under PATSER we supported one project for tagging the cows with RFID, even after 15 years it is still a major issue- in 2019 under smart city project Ahmadabad had taken a project to insert RFID tags in 70 bovines per week.

Now comes Facial Recognition technology from startup Moofaram, Mantra.  Egyptian scientists have developed a computer-based technique to identify cattle using nose prints.

Independent innovator cheated - case from Sweden

Stefan Hultberg is a Swedish inventor who presented his idea about secure bank identification in 2007. It turned out that it was rather early for his idea, as the concepts of mobile apps and security did not yet go together. In 2010 Stefan made a new attempt. His idea was different, as it built mainly on software development, while the technologies banks were using at the time included sim-cards and sms communications. Stefan's company, Accumulate, started a pilot project together with the banks' jointly owned company, Finansiell id-teknik. Accumulate received some compensation for this pilot project but this was not even sufficient to cover the firm's own costs—they had no less than 15 patents registered for this solution. Stefan Hultberg suggested a licensing model which entailed that each user pay some sort of royalty fee for using the app. The banks did not agree. During this time, Accumulate had had meetings with the banks where details about how the solution worked had been revealed—including details about the source code under the protection of non-disclosure agreements. In autumn 2010 Finansiell id-teknik announced they were not interested in Accumulate's idea and that they would build their own system. Stefan Hultberg claims that this is an identical copy of the system suggested by Accumulate. In 2017 the Swedish Patent and Market Court accused Finansiell id-teknik of patent infringement. 

The lawsuit is on-going.

Modified 5G standard developed in India, adopted by ITU

TSDSI has successfully introduced an indigenously developed 5G candidate standard, based on 3GPP Technology, at the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) in 2019 for IMT 2020 ratification. The TSDSI-RIT incorporates India specific technology enhancements that can enable longer coverage for meeting the LMLC requirements. The TSDSI-RIT, geared mainly to address the LMLC requirements, exploits a new transmit waveform that increases cell range developed by research institutions in India (IIT Hyderabad, CEWiT and IIT Madras) and supported by several Indian companies.

(https://tsdsi.in/indias-5g-technology-tsdsi-rit-moves-another-step-forward-at-itu/

Historical milestones as narrated by Prof Kiran Kuchi,IITH:

 1. Meity funded CEWiT at IITM around 2005 (Bhaskar, Jhunjhunwala and Co.) I joined CEWIT in Jan 2008. Phase-1 of Indian crack at Standards Essential Patents (SEP) started with a 4G version of WiMax. Myself, Klutto and others at CEWIT developed first set of WiMax centric SEPs incorporated into IEEE 802.16m (4G version of WiMax) between 2008-11. WiMax did not take off and those efforts did not pay off at first.

2. 2011-2015 was a cool off period until TSDSI was born (Kumar first Chairman, Abhay Second and now Bhaskar 3rd Chairman of TSDSI). 5G NR standard development started at 3GPP 2016-18. Myself and Kultto made 30+ international trips  to push a waveform designed to have large coverage (now morphed into LMLC). It took 3-years to push this tech into 3GPP.

 3. 2018-20 LMLC (large cells + the waveform introduced by our team at 3GPP etc) concept introduced first at TSDSI SG1 then pushed through ITU by Prof. Ganti and team over 2-years, with support from TSDSI, DOT, IITs.

 4. Some 20 patents cover the essential aspects of this waveform that is now part of TSDSI ITU spec and also part of 3GPP rel-15,16/17.

 5. About 10-15 years from concept to standardization. Qualcomm and others have implemented this tech in 5G phones but Nokia and Ericsson had been adamant to include in the base station. I am sure with TSDSI spec approved at ITU. It will get into these networks as well. Another year to two before you see this on the field.

 6. I would like further add that Satish Jamadagni VP at Jio, vice chairman TSDSI, supported this effort by cosigning some 100 contributions at 3GPP, back channeling with MNCs several times. I must say that he convinced  Jio to  support this Indigenous effort. I worked very closely with him for about 4 years on this project...

PATENTING OF MICRO-ORGANISMS IN INDIA, HOME OF PIONEER Ananda Mohan Chakrabarty

Prior to 1980, Inventions pertaining to microorganisms and other biological entities were subject to product patents in India i.e patents were granted for processes and products obtained using microorganisms but no patents were given for microbes as such. Louis Pasteur received a U.S. Patent No 141072 for process of fermenting beer but no patent was given for the living entity “yeast” per say. However, in 1980, Ananda Mohan Chakrabarty developed a “genetically modified” bacterium capable of breaking down crude oil.  This property of degrading crude oil was not not found in the naturally occurring bacteria and thus this invention was thought to have significant value for cleaning up oil spills. With effect from 20.05.2003 India has started granted patents in respect of invention related to microorganisms.

When an invention involves a microorganism, completely describing said invention in the description to enable a third person put the invention into practice becomes difficult.  It would be virtually impossible to describe the microbial strain, its isolation, selection and modification to guarantee that the other person will obtain the same strain from the same environment. In such a situation, the microorganism itself will form an essential part of the disclosure and a sample of the microorganism must be deposited in a recognized institution for its availability to the public. The depositor should, in particular, ensure that the deposit is made in the name of the applicant for the patent and a sample of the microorganism is deposited to an International Depositary Authority before filing the patent application. There should be sufficient time for delays in the mail or customs formalities (if the sample is being sent by mail). If the sample is found to be non-viable by the International Depositary Authority (IDA), a replacement sample has to be provided by the applicant for the patent.

Two microbial culture collections have acquired status of IDA:

(a)    Microbial Type Culture Collection and Gene Bank (MTCC), Chandigarh, UT, India

(b)   Microbial Culture Collection (MCC), National Centre for Cell Sciences, Pune, Maharastara, India

MTCC chrages one time fee for such a deposit.

·        Non-Profit organizations: The depositor has to pay a one time fee of Rs.20,000/- PER CULTURE (Rs.15,000 deposit fee + Rs.5,000/- for making ampoules) + 18.00% GST.

·        Commercial organizations: The depositor has to pay a one time fee of Rs.25,000/- PER CULTURE (Rs.15,000 deposit fee + Rs.10,000/- for making ampoules)+ 18.00% GST.

Example: Patent Number 251658: a novel microorganism which is suitable for the production of hydrogen. This organism is a strain of Thermoanaerobacterium thermosaccharolyticum under the deposition number FERM BP-10793 or its variant.

The curious case of vanishing spray used in Football matches

Since the first use of vanishing spray in a Fifa World Cup match, the beautifully simplistic, potentially universal addition to the game has continued to feed into evermore leagues around the world. Pablo Silva, an Argentine entrepreneur and journalist patented it -US20120148741A1/. Allemagne was the first to start working on the problem in 2000. Both became partners in 9:15 Fair Play.  It took six years of lobbying by Allemagne and Silva, eventually resulting in the International Football Association Board, who oversee the game’s rules, approving the spray for widespread use, in March 2012. In 2013, the Club World Cup in Morocco would be the final testing ground for Fifa to grant the spray approval for the 2014 World Cup. 

As per reports financial rewards were nonexistent: “The sprays for the World Cup were given for free. Fifa only gave me two tickets for the final of the World Cup for retribution ... The inventors also charged FIFA with stealing their idea, not paying them but licensing imitations from several parts of the world...

Quoting from daily mail...Five months before the World Cup, Mr Allemagne and his Argentinian business partner Pablo Silva received a written proposal from Thierry Weil, FIFA's marketing director, offering to buy his invention for £380,000.

Mr Allemagne said: 'We didn't respond. The figure was far too low. Grandona, FIFA's finance chief, later had a conversation with Pablo in which he told him not to worry, that after the World Cup the spray would be much more, at least £30million.'...

Patents and Additive Manuafcturing

AM brings together different technologies, some of which have existed since the 1950s: computer-aided design (CAD), computer-aided manufacturing (CAM), laser and electron energy beam technology, computer numerical control (CNC) machining and laser scanning. Applying these technologies to a variety of materials led to the start of a whole new industry at the end of the 1980s, generating a growing number of patent applications. The commercial use of AM emerged in 1987 with 3D Systems’ stereolithography (SLA), a process that solidifies thin layers of ultraviolet (UV) light-sensitive liquid polymer using a laser. The last 30 years have witnessed the growth of AM into a fully fledged industry.

 Initially, AM was almost exclusively used for producing prototypes, and it soon became well 

established in that field. It has since been deployed to make end-products, and this is where the sector reveals its strongest growth potential. AM can provide complex intermediate components and final products that in the past could only be made by hand or by several consecutive work steps. As almost any geometric form can be produced by AM, the technology is now used predominantly for small series of highly complex components. However, the shift from prototyping to end-product manufacturing requires further development in the sectors of hardware, e.g. printers and printing methods design and print software as well as materials used in printing.

Twenty-five companies accounted for about 30% of all AM patent applications filed with the EPO between 2000 and 2018. They include large companies from a range of sectors, including transportation, chemicals and pharmaceuticals, information technology, electronics, imaging and consumer goods, as well as pure 3D-printing specialists such as Stratasys, 3D Systems and EOS. The US and Europe dominate the ranking, with 11 US companies and eight European companies in the top 25 applicants. Of the top European applicants, five are German companies.

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Patents and COVID innovations

COVID Crisis unleashed creativity of Indian Researchers and Innovators like never before. Is India becoming an Innovation nation?  

Here, we look at basics of IPR and some of the COVID 19 innovations.