China imposes $975 million fine against Qualcomm and caps royalty rates at 3.5 percent (4G) and 5 percent (3G).

As per reports, China's National Development and Reform Commission ("NDRC") published its decision in theQualcomm case, which resulted in a $975 million fine against Qualcomm for alleged violations of the Anti-Monopoly Law. The decision provides useful guidance with respect to the NDRC's views regarding several intellectual property licensing practices involving standard-essential patents ("SEPs").

Qualcomm charged excessive royalties. 

• First, Qualcomm engaged in portfolio licensing that included expired patents in the portfolio. In doing so, Qualcomm did not provide licensees with lists of patents covered by the licenses, and did not demonstrate that newly added patents were of the same value as patents that were expiring. Even if that were true, the NDRC said that it was unreasonable not to provide licensees with a list of patents when Qualcomm offered long-term or even non-fixed term licenses. 
• Second, Qualcomm required some licensees to provide royalty-free grantback licenses for relevant wireless communications patents that are not SEPs. The NDRC determined that this practice is not reasonable, and that Qualcomm should take into account the value of grantback licenses when negotiating licensing terms. Third, Qualcomm required licensees to pay royalties based on the price of the finished product, which the NDRC concluded misappropriated value based on unpatented components.  
• Finally, Qualcomm included in its license portfolio non-SEPs that some licensees did not want to license. The NDRC also noted that the practice of requiring royalty-free grantbacks could discourage licensees from technical innovation and have the effect of restricting or eliminating market competition.

Qualcomm unreasonably bundled the sale of non-SEPs with SEPs as a package at a constant licensing rate. 

The NDRC rejected Qualcomm's three reasons for bundling non-SEPs with SEPs: 

(1) it offered to license SEPs separately but licensees prefer the package of non-SEPs and SEPs; 

(2) it is difficult to differentiate non-SEPs from SEPs so licensees are at risk if they license only SEPs; and 

(3) bundling non-SEPs with SEPs does not restrict competition and licensees are free to license a competing technology. 

The NDRC did not accept these explanations, finding that some licensees were not offered a license to SEPs only; non-SEPs and SEPs can be differentiated on a patent list; and bundling non-SEPs with SEPs restricted competition in the market for non-SEPs, hampered innovation, and harmed consumers.

Qualcomm imposed a "no-challenge" requirement on the sale of baseband chips. 

The NDRC objected to Qualcomm's practice of requiring purchasers of base band chips to enter into an agreement that provided that the purchaser would not challenge the license agreement. It found that given the nature of the issues it identified in Qualcomm's license agreements, it was improper for Qualcomm to require licensees to waive their right to challenge the agreements.

The NDRC's decision orders Qualcomm to cease engaging in the identified practices:  (1) Qualcomm must provide patent lists, and it cannot require royalties for expired patents; (2) it cannot require grant backs without consideration; 

(3) it must cap royalty rates at 3.5 percent (4G) and 5 percent (3G), and apply those royalty rates to modified royalty base representing 65 percent of the net sales price of the overall terminal unit; 

(4) it cannot bundle non-SEPs without reasonable cause; 

(5) it cannot require acceptance of royalties for expired patents, grantbacks without consideration, bundling non-SEPs without reasonable cause, or "no-challenge" clauses as conditions for supplying base band chips. 

In addition, the NDRC imposed a fine equal to 8% of Qualcomm's revenue within China for 2013, which was 76.102 billion yuan, resulting in a fine of 6.088 billion yuan (US$975 million).

The NDRC's decision is available here.

INDIANXT 2015, Gurgaon, 4-5th June 2015

IndiaNXT 2015 is an interactive-twin-workshop using megatrends to map the 'next big thing' from and in India. Megatrends are the emergent changes in the society that are going to affect everything and everyone. These are the paradigm shifts happening at the intersection of cultural, social, economic, political, technological, regulatory and market forces. Megatrends understanding can help all sectors of consumer facing organizations in preparing a scenario and a co-created vision for future.

IX International Warsaw Invention Show ,12 – 14 October 2015 Main Building of Warsaw University of Technology.

Association of Polish Inventors and Rationalizers  invite Indian Innovators to participate in IWIS 2015 to showcase their inventions and solutions. IWIS 2015 has support from the President of the Republic of Poland Bronisław Komorowski and also from the International Federation of Inventors' Associations IFIA and the Association of European Inventors AEI.

Registration :
http://iwis.polskiewynalazki.pl/?lang=en



Indian Innovators Association, member of IFIA is offered exhibition space of 4 sq.mts and will be offered to young Indian Innovators. 




Contact:

Director of the API&R Office





Agnieszka Mikołajska







Biuro KR SPWiR
Stowarzyszenie Polskich Wynalazców i Racjonalizatorów
 ul. Sternicza 46
 01-350 Warszawa
 tel: +48 22 633 84 82
biurospwir@gmail.com
www.polskiewynalazki.pl

Innovate for Digital India contest

The Intel & DST - Innovate for Digital India Challenge seeks breakthrough solutions that provide easy, effective technology in the hands of every citizen to help them enhance the quality of their lives.
Challenge Themes:

• Innovation to create citizen’s device platform with features that are relevant and drive mass adoption of technology such as biometric sensing capabilities, peripherals using other sensors, intuitive user interface, gesture recognition, and multi-lingual & voice support.
• Innovation to create apps that accelerate delivery of e-governance services through eKranti/MyGov apps on mobile platform.

Eligibility

• Start-ups or business entities entering the Challenge must have been formed in and in accordance with the laws of India
• Applicants (majority shareholders) are required to be Indian resident nationals
• While individuals can apply to this Challenge, top three teams to be considered for equity investment must have a private limited company in accordance with laws of India, by 31st October 2015
• Participants are required to be at least 18 years of age on 1st of June, 2015

grex- connecting private investors with unlisted companies

GREX connects investors with startups and is in now alpha stage. In addition to investors and companies, the platform has a category called Sponsors, defined as 
A sponsor is a legal entity (company or LLP) that handholds the companies to make them capital ready. Sponsors are grass root players, having helped companies raise capital. They also bring deep financial knowledge along with other statutory capabilities. 
The companies seeking funds need to register with a sponsor.
Details: http://www.grex.in/howdoesitwork.html#faq
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9gJWY_guM8

Startup Village 1000 days impact report

Startup village delivered more than it promised -

• Surpassed target of 48 incubated startups in 5 years with 533 active startups in 1000 days. 
• Raised private capital / angel investment of Rs 27 crores.
• The startups (all together) are valued at Rs 292 crores and most of them at MVP stage. 
• Created about 3000 jobs
• Many of the student startups did not takeoff, the primary reason is that the students got (better) jobs. Entrepreneurship  adds value to the CV.

Cluster Observatory-India

Cluster Observatory developed by FMC (Foundation for MSME Clusters)  is a compendium of cluster resources for undertaking cluster intitiatives. It covers profiles of 1194 industrial clusters, 3094 handcraft clusters, 568 hand loom clusters and 154 Micro-enterprise clusters.

  

AP Biotechnology Policy 2015: incubators and incentives for research

The policy envisages establishment of incubation centres at:
a. Mega Life Sciences Park in Vizag
b. JNTU in Kakinada
c. Sri Venketeswara Veterinary University in Tirupati
d. Dr. NTR University of Health Sciences in Vijayawada

These will be established in PPP mode. More interesting are fiscal incentives for R&D.

In order to promote innovation and applied R&D in the research & academic institutions, the Government of Andhra Pradesh proposes to offer special incentives for organizations engaged in applied research and development activities encompassing the following:

i. Co-financing of industry sponsored research: GoAP proposes a matching contribution of up to25 lakhs for biotech related projects of public importance where an equal amount has been funded by private/public sector companies. The research outcomes will be reviewed by APBC.

ii. Collaborative Research Grant: The scheme aims at accelerating collaborative research for market driven product development between scientists from at least three A.P based research institutions and/or academic institutions. Government proposes to offer financial assistance up to25 lakh per project per annum towards covering scientist and technician cost. This will be approved on case to case basis by the APBC

constituted by the Government.

iii. Attracting Global Talent: To attract global talent for conducting breakthrough research

in the State, the Government proposes “Yellapragada Subbarao Life Sciences Scholarship”. The objective is to incentivize joint research programs of A.P based institutions with researchers pursuing post-doctoral India specific life sciences research in top 100 global institutes/universities. Government shall provide financial support not exceeding 5 lakh for a period of 6 months limited to 10 researchers per annum. The scheme will also be applicable to Scientists interested in sabbatical research work. The program and engagement of the researchers shall be approved by APBC.

iv. Patent Registration: GoAP proposes to provide financial assistance towards expenses

incurred for patent registration. The financial assistance will be limited to 75% of the cost subject to a maximum of􀀀25 lakh. This assistance will be given only to those projects that are approved by APBC.

Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles in India (FAME) policy

Government has broken down the incentives program into several divisions for both battery operated and/or hybrid models. Here are the details:

• Rs 1800 to Rs 29,000 for Two Wheelers
• Rs 3300 to Rs 61,000 for Three Wheelers
• Rs 1.3 Rs 1.38 Lakh for Four Wheelers
• Rs 17,000 to Rs 1.87 Lakh for Light Commercial Vehicles (LCV)
• Rs 34 Lakh to Rs 66 Lakh for Buses

In order to be transparent, Minister Geete also provided a details breakdown of the usage of Rs 795 crore budget which will be spent in the next 2 years:

Components of the scheme	2015-16	2016-17
Technology Platform(Including testing infrastructure)	Rs 70 cr.	Rs 120 cr.
Demand Incentives	Rs 155 cr.	Rs 340 cr.
Charging Infrastructure	Rs 10 cr.	Rs 20 cr.
Pilot Projects	Rs 20 cr.	Rs 50 cr.
IEC/Operations	Rs 5 cr.	Rs 5 cr.
Total (Rs.)	Rs 260 cr.	Rs 535 cr.
Grand Total (Rs.)	Rs 795 cr.

On Technology Platform the Minister said one of the prime focus area under the scheme is to develop indigenous technology and R&D capability to develop and manufacture the entire range of electric components and sub-systems necessary for hybrid and electric vehicles. He said the Technology Advisory Group on Electric Mobility (TAG-EM) under the Co-chairmanship of Shri Ambuj Sharma, Additional Secretary, DHI and Prof. Jhunjhunwala of IIT Madras with senior members from the DST, Industry and Academia has been set up which is steering various initiatives in this field. 

The minister said Four Sub-Groups have been set up on vehicle system integration, motors and controllers and power electronics; batteries and battery management system and charging infrastructure.  In each of these areas centres of excellence (COE) are being set up to provide the required thrust and short-term, outcome oriented results.

He said a number of R&D projects have already been initiated by DHI, for example - development of off-line and real-time simulators for Xevs systems, design development for light weight vehicles, technology for solid state lithium ion battery and COE for motors etc.

AP government offers commercial orders (post-project) to innovators

India Innovators often complain that for all their efforts, they often get awards but no rewards. Public procurement still has no place for commercial products/ solutions developed by Indian innovators. AP Govt now offers start-ups the lifeline in the form of preferential market access, valued upto Rs 50 crores annually. As per the policy:
Eligibility: (Any Startup/ MSME/Enthusiastic First Generation Technocrats/ Entrepreneurs from Andhra Pradesh, with an annual turnover between Rs 50 lakhs and Rs.25 cr, in Electronics and IT sectors can apply with suo moto proposals.
subjects/themes:  Identity and Access Management, e-Service Delivery, Cloud services, Knowledge Management, Software Defined Networks, Social Benefits Management Systems, Project Portfolio Management, Location Based services, Disaster Management, GIS-based applications in the areas of Urban Development, Agriculture & Rural Development, Water Resources Management, Mines & Minerals, Forest & Environment, Disaster Management, Tourism Development, Development of GIS Databases & Layers, Traffic Management, Management of Utilisation of various assets through the use of GIS, Government/ Community lands Management (Section D6 of the Blueprint) , Localization Products and Tools namely, content development in Telugu and thereby bridging the digital divide, development of language technologies for text to speech and speech to text, voice recognition, machine translation, voice web, to enable language independent delivery of services. (Section D3 of the Blueprint), Use of Social Media by Government agencies in lines with the Framework and Guidelines by GoI.(Page 37 of the Blueprint).

Patents of Procter & Gamble

P&G is in news with Indian Patent office rejecting its patent for Smart Napkin, for lack of inventive step.
P&G had claimed that the napkin indicates — through colour changes — whether the user needs to reposition or replace it after a certain time has elapsed, and if the genital area needs to be refreshed to prevent germ growth.According to P&G, the napkin provides an absorbent article that changes colour in response to external stimuli to give relevant indications to the user. The FMCG major argued that the invention involves the use of piezochromic, photochromic or thermochromatic materials and was different from the features available in the marketplace.
“Based on the above facts and on the circumstances of the case, the objections with respect to inventive step under Section 2(1)(j)(a), sufficiency of disclosure and the objection under Section 3(d) raised are still not met and maintained. Therefore, it is hereby ordered that the invention disclosed and claimed in the application titled ‘absorbent article for feminine hygiene’ has been refused to proceed further,” the assistant controller said.
More about P&G patents on IP Watchdog.

AP Industrial Policy: patent reimbursement and technology acquisition

The new industrial policy has interesting provisions with regard to patent reimbursement and technology acquisition.
Biotechnology
• Technology acquisition fund of USD 1.6 Million to be set up. Additional interest subsidy @ 3% per annum on term loans towards purchase of capital equipment necessary for technology upgradation for a period of 5 years, subject to maximum of USD 4800 per year to MSME units
• Financial Assistance towards expenses incurred for patent registration limited to 75% of the cost, subject to maximum of USD 40,000/-
• Promotion of innovation and applied R&D in research and academic institutions to be done by co-financing industry sponsored research, collaborative research grant and scholarships.
Automobile/ Auto components

• 75% reimbursement of the Patent Cost, subject to a maximum of USD 40,000 and 50% of all charges, subject to a maximum of USD 8000 for obtaining patent registration

IEEE amends it Patent (FRAND) Policy endorsing royalty payment on chip and not on the product.

Readers are familiar with court cases concerning royalty payments on essential patents for standards. Licensors like Qualcomm, Ericsson demand royalty of final product (mobile phone) whereas Indian Licensee feel royalty should be on the chip and not on the mobile or other form of finished products incorporating the chip. On February 8th the standard setting organisation IEEE voted to change patent policy and these changes largely relate to the commitment of IEEE members to license patents to users of IEEE standards on terms that are “fair, reasonable and nondiscriminatory” (FRAND). 
The contentious part says:

“Reasonable Rate” shall mean appropriate compensation to the patent holder for the practice of an Essential Patent Claim excluding the value, if any, resulting from the inclusion of that Essential Patent Claim’s technology in the IEEE Standard. In addition, determination of such Reasonable Rates should include, but need not be limited to, the consideration of:

• The value that the functionality of the claimed invention or inventive feature within the Essential Patent Claim contributes to the value of the relevant functionality of the smallest saleable Compliant Implementation that practices the Essential Patent Claim.
• The value that the Essential Patent Claim contributes to the smallest saleable Compliant Implementation that practices that claim, in light of the value contributed by all Essential Patent Claims for the same IEEE Standard practiced in that Compliant Implementation.
• Existing licenses covering use of the Essential Patent Claim, where such licenses were not obtained under the explicit or implicit threat of a Prohibitive Order, and where the circumstances and resulting licenses are otherwise sufficiently comparable to the circumstances of the contemplated license.

The vigorous pubic debate over the IEEE amendments highlights a rift in the standardization world between Patent Centric and Product Centric firms.  The business models that these firms have adopted are different, yet they have co-existed for decades.  Some have predicted that important contributors will leave IEEE as a result of the recent amendments. 

Qualcomm argument; 

Defining a “reasonable” royalty using controversial and unworkable valuation methodologies—including tying a royalty rate to the “smallest saleable component” of a standard-compliant device—all of which are intended to minimize licensing fees for SEPs.

Indian perspective

 IEEE endorsed a calculation based on the value of the chip inside the device, even if many other aspects of the device benefit from or use the contributed technology. This benefits local assembly of mobile phones and most other network based products and can enable Make-In-India.

Declaration of the Organic Farmers community of India at the 5th National Organic Farmers’ Convention, 2015, Chandigarh, India

the participants representing the organic farming community of India, declare:

1. Organic farming practices CAN meet all the food and nutritional needs of our nation, and it is the only sustainable way to safeguard the food security of present and future generations. The growing number of organic farmers and rising demand for organic produce is evidence of its rapid spread.
2. The IAASTD World Agriculture Report, authored by 400 international experts, including UN representatives, and endorsed by 58 nations, including India, recommends agro-ecological practices and small family farms, suitably adapted to local needs and conditions. It adds that GM crops are no solution to hunger, poverty, climate change as well as ecological, energy and economic challenges.
3. We categorically reject Genetically Modified Organisms as an unnecessary technology with numerous potential hazards. It is also an example of bad science. We also object to open field trials of GM crops, since they pose a threat to our food, farming and environment, while blatantly disregarding recommendations of several Government, Parliament and Supreme Court appointed committees.
4. We pledge to safeguard the integrity of our eco-systems and work towards the conservation, protection and re-generation of soil health, water resources, forests, biodiversity and seed sovereignty.
5. Land, water and other natural resources must be prioritized for sustainably meeting basic needs and nutritional security. Land under food cultivation must not be allowed to be diverted for other purposes through forced land acquisition. Similarly, water resources for irrigation must be directed to essential food needs rather than water guzzling monocultures of sugarcane or other industrial non-priority uses.

Continue reading.

XI International Salon of Inventions and New Technologies, October, 1-3 (2015) Sevastopol (Russian Federation).

X International Salon of Inventions and New Technologies and International Forum was held in Sevastopol on September 25-27, 2014. Leading innovative organizations, companies and firms from 18 countries took part in the Salon’s proceedings. India innovators interested in exploring Russian market are invited to participate in the XIth International Salon of Inventions. The business negotiations could include:

•  sell patent
• sell licenses
• find manufacturers
• find investors or financiers
• find sales agents.

Contact: 

Mr. Yuriy Skomorovskyy, Dr.S. (Biol), Prof., Gen. manager 

of Salon, +7-978-7915913, e-mail: el-voz@yandex.ru 
 

IIT Kanpur and KIIT in Global University Business Incubator ranking.

University Business Incubators (UBI) Index, is a Sweden-based global body that identifies top incubators by evaluating their performance over time. Rice University tops the list in 2014 and none from India find a place in top 25. However SIDBI incubator at IIT Kanpur is ranked in the Asia & Oceania list of top 10, also KIIT Technology Incubator gets award as Top Challenger in the same category. Both richly deserve the honour.

The Economic Contribution of University/Nonprofit Inventions in the United States: 1996- 2013,

The report, entitled, “The Economic Contribution of University/Nonprofit Inventions in the United States: 1996- 2013,” estimates that during this 18-year time period academic-industry patent licensing bolstered U.S. gross industry output by up to $1.18 trillion, U.S gross domestic product (GDP) by up to $518 billion, and supported up to 3,824,000 U.S. jobs.

2013 survey:

• 818 start-up companies formed around academic patents (up 16% from 2012)—which is more than two new companies created every working day of the year;
• 4,200 start-ups in operation, mostly located in the same state as the parent research institution, creating regional economic development;
• $22.8 billion in product sales from commercialized academic inventions; and
• 719 new products introduced into the market (up 22% from 2012) – or more than two new products introduced every day of the year.

Data Exclusivity for Pesticides

The subject is in news again. Some important documents/ views are:
TRIPs provision
“Members when requiring, as a condition of approving the marketing of pharmaceutical or of agricultural chemical products which utilize new chemical entities, the submission of undisclosed test or other data, the 2 ntroduction origination of which involves a considerable effort, shall protect such data against unfair commercial use. In addition, Members shall protect such data against disclosure, except where necessary to protect the public, or unless steps are taken to ensure that the data are protected against unfair commercial use.”

Report on Steps to be taken by Government of India in the context of Data Protection Provisions of Article 39.3 of TRIPS Agreement  by Mrs Satwant Reddy,  Secretary Department of Chemicals & Petrochemicals Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers Government of India and Mr Gurdial Singh Sandhu,  Joint Secretary Department of Chemicals & Petrochemicals Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers Government of India , 31st May, 2007.
Test Data protection: WIPO perspective

Protection of Regulatory Data, position paper by CropLife America.

Road to Technology Transfer

http://www.fuentek.com/techtransfer-process-infographic.php

Building Global Innovators (BGI) invites proposals from Indian startups

BGI is a deep innovation global accelerator based in Lisbon (Portugal) and Cambridge (MA/USA). BGI is directed at would-be tech entrepreneurs and Innovators (tech start-up / university spin-outs under 5 years old), working on 4 market verticals:

1. Medical Technologies & Health IT,

2. Smart cities & Industrial Tech,

3. Enterprise IT & Smart Data,

4. Ocean Economy.

Every year:

- 20 teams are selected to BGI accelerator and benefit from expert mentoring amounting to over 1.150h, which includes boot camps in Lisbon (Portugal) and Cambridge (USA). This free of charge in kind support is valued at 1 million €.

- About 11 out of the 20 accelerated teams attracts some form of venture financing (40% non dilutive and 60% risk capital sources).

- 4 selected ventures are also supported by BGI Award sponsor - Caixa Capital, with up to €500.000 in convertible notes.

5th edition awardees are: nuRISE, lokkupp, doDOC, CorPower Ocean

Last date: 24th May 2015.

Contact:

Arindam Dutta

BGI Ambassador in India 

website:  http://www.startupfacilitator.com 

Author, An Entrepreneur's Journey in pre-Liberal India (Amazon and Kindle)

Member At-Large Advisory Board

Acara, U of Minnesota, USA

http://acara.environment.umn.edu/about/acara-at-large-advisory-board/

mob:  +919830236263

skype: arindamd 

Global innovation has become a three-horse race. Three countries—the US, Japan and China—accounted for over 60% of patent applications in 2014

Global innovation has become a three-horse race. Three countries—the US, Japan and China—accounted for over 60% of patent applications in 2014, according to a report released by the World Intellectual Property Office (WIPO)

• The U.S. was the primary country of origin for PCT filers in 2014, with 61,492 applications and 7.1% growth. Japan followed with 42,459 applications, representing a 3% decline on 2013. Applicants from China filed 25,539 applications – an 18.7% annual increase.
• Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. of China, with 3,442 published PCT applications, overtook Panasonic Corp. of Japan as the largest applicant in 2014. U.S.-based Qualcomm Inc. was the second largest applicant in 2014, with 2,409 published applications, while China’s ZTE Corp. took third place with 2,179 PCT applications.
• After China, India (1,394) is the largest user of the PCT system among BRICS countries, followed by the Russian Federation (890), Brazil (581) and South Africa (297).
• The University of California, with 413 published applications, is the top applicant among educational institutions followed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (234), the University of Texas System (154) and Harvard University (147). 
• Computer technology with 17,653 published applications – or 8.4% of the total – accounted for the largest share of PCT applications, followed by digital communication (7.7%) and electronic machinery (7.3%). Amongst the top 10 fields, computer technology saw the fastest growth (+19.4%), followed by medical technology (+17.1%) and digital communication (+14.5%). 
• The share of pharmaceutical patenting via the PCT has continuously declined since 2007. Pharmaceutical patents represent the seventh largest field. Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp. is the largest filer with 171 applications, followed by Novartis AG (141), F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG (135) and the University of California (111).Universities and public research organizations show a strong presence in this field, accounting for 26% of pharmaceutical PCT filings. This is in contrast to computer technology and digital communication where these entities accounted for 4.6% and 2.8%, respectively.

4th edition of WalloniaTech India programme launched

The goal of the innovative WalloniaTECH programme is to identify the brightest entrepreneurial talent in India and connect these entrepreneurs with investors and strategic partners in Belgium and Europe in order to turn their innovations into a global success.

This year applications are invited from companies with breakthrough technologies in the following sectors: • Aeronautics and Space Industry • Life Science • Agro-industry • Transport and Logistics • Mechanical Engineering • Environment and Sustainable Development.

The selected companies will be invited to participate in a special training program and investor’s forum in Wallonia, Belgium in September 2015 (tentative), in order to expose them to the European market and provide them with support and mentoring services for accelerating their expansion in Europe through Wallonia.

The WalloniaTECH INDIA program will culminate with a "Technology Commercialization conference and Investment forum" where the participants will have the opportunity to pitch their business plans in front of an audience composed mainly of public and private investors and technical partners.

For clarification contact: 

Dr Anil Wali, Managing Director, FITT, IITD,mdfitt@gmail.com

International Conference on Innovation for Inclusive Growth -10th and 11th February 2015,at Hotel Taj Palace, New Delhi.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), the World Bank Group (WBG) and the United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and social Research and training centre on Innovation and Technology (UNU-MERIT) are jointly organising an International Conference on Inclusive Innovation on February 10-12, 2015 at Hotel Taj Palace in New Delhi, India.

The conference will foster discussion and policy exchange among stakeholders on the contributions of innovations to inclusive growth, and serve to share lessons learned. It will consist of three components providing a multidimensional perspective on the question and leveraging the joint expertise of participating institutions. 

See OECD report  on conference in South Africa in 2012:

Additional information on the conference’s webpage 

THE CITY OF NIZAMS SOON TO BECOME THE HUB OF ENTREPRENEURS: The Entrepreneur Zone (TEZ) unveiled

The Entrepreneur Zone (TEZ) is a joint
initiative of Zen SkillProc Pvt Ltd and Institute of Public Enterprise (IPE). TEZ has designed a 6 month modular program for entrepreneurs. TEZ will be a trainer, mentor and incubator run by industry professionals. 

As the first engineering industry promoted incubator, this might turn out to be a different type with focus on products in line with Make-In-India.

For more details, attend seminar on 7th Feb.The session would be taken by Dr. Nandita Sethi, Director & Academic Head, TEZ
Date​ : Sat 7th Feb 2015

Venue: IPE, Osmania University Campus​

​Time: Session I - 11

​ ​

- 12

​o'clock

​

and Session 2 - 12 - 1.00

​pm

​

Register with: Anubhav Tiwari at +91 7799568181 or mail to info@tez.co.in

What incubators want from FM in the budget 2015.

iSPIRIT Expert Team on Incubators submitted their wishlist. Some recommendations:

1.      Incubators should be recognized and notified as “Single Window Clearance” point for starting and closing a business, set up by Incubatee companies. New provisions could be incorporated in the Companies Act to establish such procedures, with time limits. 

2.     The Incubators be exempt from: a) Income Tax under the applicable sections of IT Act, b) Customs Duty or any other applicable taxes for import of equipments, consumables, raw material, components and spares up to a limit of Rs. 20 crore ad valorem, and c) CST / Excise / VAT or any other applicable taxes for purchase of goods required for the Incubator.

3.      “Donors” who contribute funds to the Incubator for furtherance of the objects of the Incubator should be eligible for 200% tax benefits as currently applicable to R&D investments. As an additional motivation, the benefit of such an investment can be carried forward for three successive assessment years.

4.The Incubators currently run SEED Funds given by the Government which are at present less than Rs. 5 crore per Incubator and with an investment cap  1.      of Rs. 50 lakh per enterprise. These being risky investments, the gains made out of successful exits, should be tax exempt as these resources are redeployed for investment, similar to the current pass through status accorded to VC’s.

5.      The Incubators should be recognised as crowd funding platforms under SEBI. The SEBI should work with Incubators to workout modalities in this regard.

6.      The Incubators should be authorised and empowered to approve and notify Incubatee Companies to avail of the benefits extended from time to time.

7.      To be considered as par with SEBI approved Investors as per provisions in Section 56(2).

8.      There is a restriction on compensation/salary of CEO/MD of Section 25 (Sec 8) companies which is grossly inadequate. This must be raised to a minimum of Rs.2 lakh per month and can be made applicable to the approved Technology Business Incubators.

Market leaders to Category Kings: Fast mover takes all.

Report by Play Bigger `Time To Market Cap: The new metric that matter' elaborated on this concept of Category Kings.
TTMC is the measure of the time it takes a company to reach certain market capitalization milestones such as $500 million, $1 billion, or $5 billion. Time is measured by the number of years since the company was founded. Market cap is measured by (a) a company public market
capitalization, or (b) a company valuation at the time of purchase, or (c) the most recent post-money valuation from a round of financing.
Category Kings, the companies that dominate the rest of their competitors in a particular market, rise above the rest. Think Facebook, Twitter, Uber, Airbnb, Workday. Category Kings take a greater percentage of a category’s total market cap now than in any previous era. Most Category Kings win 76 percent of the category’s valuation.
Consumers Vs Enterprise
Is there a difference in TTMC by category of company?
Consumer companies had a much faster TTMC than enterprise
companies by a wide margin. However, enterprise companies went thru the same phenomenon, though stretched over longer time periods. So within the enterprise group, while not as fast as for consumer, were enterprise companies where TTMC was still accelerating, with enterprise companies reaching $500 million almost twice as fast for Era 3 (2009-13) compared with Era 1 (2000-3).

Lessons from the Chinese patenting system

Peter K. Yu, Drake University Law School, in his paper `

Building the Ladder: Three Decades of Development of the Chinese Patent System' traces the development of the modern Chinese patent system. It begins with a historical overview of the protection China offered to inventions during the dynastic and Republican eras. The article then identifies five different stages of development of the modern Chinese patent system. Going from stage to stage, this article demonstrates how a developing country could strategically build a patent system that is tailored to its own social, economic and technological conditions. The article concludes with five key lessons China's patent reform can provide to other developing countries.

Five Lessons:

First, a one-size-fits-all model does not work well at the global level, and retaining policy space is essential to the successful development of a country’s patent system. As commentators have widely noted, overprotecting intellectual property rights can harm a country as much as under-protecting them. While policy makers and industry leaders from intellectual property-exporting countries are eager to offer policy advice on how best to improve the patent system, policy makers from developing countries should pay close attention to their countries’ local needs, national interests, technological capabilities, institutional capacities and public health conditions.

Secondly, and relatedly, countries should maximise the flexibilities available in the existing international patent system.To be certain, the policy space available under today’s system is much more limited than what was available in the system’s early days.countries could still decide whether they want to promote the development of utility models, prohibit patent grants on second indications or introduce public interest exceptions into their laws.They

could also explore the use of alternative models to generate incentives for inventors.

Thirdly, countries that dare to develop their patent system at different paces or in different directions than what major intellectual property-exporting countries expect will likely be heavily criticised as pirating nations, or even “rogue” players in the international intellectual property community.

Fourthly, there seems to be a “crossover point” at which countries go from a pirating nation to a nation respectful of patent rights.Such crossover took place in many once-developing countries, including the United States, Germany, Japan, Singapore and South Korea.

Finally, there is no quick and easy solution to the massive piracy problems confronting developing countries. It took developed countries centuries to develop their patent system to its current stage.

Fund of Funds- IFC Venture Capital Funds

Annual report 2013-14 shares information about the 3 funds managed by IFCI viz. India Automotive Component Manufacturers Private Equity Fund-1-Domestic (IACM-I-D), Green India Venture Fund (GIVF) and India Enterprise Development Fund (IEDF) with an aggregate corpus of `508 crore. The focus of all the three funds was on investments in mid-sized companies involved in setting-up niche business models in respective industry sectors with the prospects of scalability. The above mentioned funds were floated in June 2008. The funds are SEBI registered “Trust” funds. IDBI Trusteeship Services Limited is the trustee to all the three funds and IFCI Limited is the settlor. The funds have received contributions from 38 investors including 9 Banks, 5 Insurance Companies, 2 Financial Institutions and 22 HNIs. All the three funds were fully invested by 2011 and partial disinvestments have also started in these funds. Under these three funds,  investments made in 29 companies. The Company earns an annual management fee @ 2% p.a. on the outstanding fund corpus, of about ` 360 crore as on March 31, 2014. Besides, IFCI Venture is entitled to profit sharing on divestment since it also acted as an investor in all the three funds.

Success stories

http://www.amtek.com/

http://www.surgiwear.org/

http://www.gmt.co.in/

http://indsphinx.com/

http://www.marckindia.com/

http://www.oceansparkle.com/

http://www.sqlstar.com/

The so called venture funds do not invest in new technology ventures or start-ups.

Innovators Exhibition, Egypt, 8-9th March 2015

Hebatalrahman, Founder & President of Egyptian inventors syndicate is coordinating Egypt's first innovation exhibition and invites participation by Indian Innovators.
Dates: 8-9, March 2015
Venue: Beni-Suef University
Concessional travel by Egypt Air available and accommodation in University Hotel available.

Contact:
A.S.Rao, President, Indian Innovators Association, indiainvents@hotmail.com
and
Hebatalrahman A, 

Dr.eng consultant in material science

founder & president of Egyptian inventors syndicate

president of the Egyptian society for women &youth inventors

acebook:https://www.facebook.com/hebatalrahman.ahm

hebatalrahman11@yahoo.com

Medical Devices- expectations from Indian industry

Rajiv Nath, forum coordinator, Association of Indian Medical Device Industry (AIMED) listed the excitement and expectations in Indian Medical Times.

FDI only in Greenfield project :“The country remains heavily import dependent with nearly 70 per cent overall import dependency and in some device segments like medical electronics nearly 90 per cent. In this context, the biggest setback has been government’s decision to permit 100 per cent FDI in brownfield projects. We are not against 100 per cent FDI in greenfield projects but 100 per cent FDI in brownfield is short-sighted and will only increase the distress level of Indian medical device manufacturers by making them easy target for cherry picking by MNCs and will also defeat the very purpose of reducing import dependency or encouraging manufacturing of medical devices within the country.

“Last time, when FDI was permitted in this sector but without putting conditions to achieve the end objective i.e. encourage manufacturing within country, the whole idea got defeated as MNCs simply put up marketing and trading shops in India without creating manufacturing bases. They simply imported goods and sold it here increasing the country’s import dependency. This time too, such things are going to happen. In a letter to the Union Minister for State, Department of Commerce & Industry, Smt Nirmala Sitharaman, we have demanded a blanket ban on 100 per cent FDI in brownfield projects.

“Even for greenfield projects, there has to be a condition that at least 60 per cent of overall goods being sold by a foreign company in India have to be manufactured within the country. Unless this is done, we firmly believe that manufacturing of medical devices within the country will never take off and we will continue to be heavily import dependent.

Rationalization of Tax Structure: Due to myopic import taxation policy we have a situation where import duty on raw materials and semi-finished goods (which goes into making of medical devices) is higher than import duty on finished goods. This means, it is cheaper to import medical devices rather than manufacture it in the country. So, why would anyone invest in manufacturing or continue to be manufacturer when they will never be able to match the price parity with imported items. If the government really wishes to encourage ‘Make in India’, it has to remove this anomaly at the earliest.

Domestic Preferential Public Procurement Policy: Countries such as China and US are not only leading manufacturers of medical devices but they also follow a ‘Domestic Preferential Public Procurement Policy’ whereby they give 15-20 per cent price preference to domestically manufactured goods in public procurement. India follows no such policy. We have petitioned the government through a representation to Mr V K Subburaj, Secretary, Department of Pharmaceuticals, Government of India to formulate a 15 per cent price preferential ‘Buy Indian Procurement Policy’ in Indian Public Healthcare System which will also be in sync with policies followed in countries such as US and China and will also be in line with Prime Minister Modi’s vision of ‘Make in India.’

De-clubbing of Medical Device sector from Drug and Cosmetics Sector: Currently, medical device industry in India is governed under the provisions of the Drugs & Cosmetic Act 1940 & Rules 1945 and nodal regulatory authorities are Drugs Controller General (India) and Directorate General of Health Services, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare! At present, there is no nodal or separate body for regulating or supporting medical device industry. So, this sector is nobody’s baby but everyone’s business! World over this does not happen as medical device industry is different from drugs and cosmetics. We have demanded changes in the Act and the creation of a separate regulatory authority for medical device industry. Medical device sector should never have been and should not be clubbed with drugs and cosmetics.

Electronic Development Fund (EDF) to be set up as a “Fund of Funds” to participate in “Daughter Funds”

As part of the “Digital India” agenda of the Government, it is envisaged to develop the Electronics System Design and Manufacturing (ESDM) sector to achieve net zero imports by 2020. Setting up of EDF is one of the important strategies which would enable creating an electronics industry ecosystem in the country in this regard.

Creating a vibrant ecosystem of innovation, research and development (R&D) and with active industry involvement is essential for a thriving electronics industry. It is with this objective that an Electronic Development Fund (EDF) is proposed to be set up as a “Fund of Funds” to participate in “Daughter Funds” which in turn will provide risk capital to companies developing new technologies in the area of electronics, nano-electronics and Information Technology (IT).

Assuming that the average participation of EDF in Daughter Fund is 25%, the policy will help leverage four times Government funding in the area of R&D and innovation. It will help create a battery of Daughter funds and Fund Managers who will be seeking good start-ups (potential winners) and selecting them based on professional considerations.

The policy provides a framework where the decision to support R&D is based on market conditions and through industry professionals well versed with industry requirements.

Download policy.

Workshop on Design Innovation and Creative Problem Solving , IIT Hyderabad, India Jan 15-17 2015

This workshop aims to introduce broad areas of design innovation and creative problem solving.The emphasis will be on methodologies like TRIZ, systematic Innovation and Technology Forecasting.
Facilitators
Prof. Gaetano Cascini, Professor, Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy
Dr. Shankar Venugopal, Director, Technology & Innovation,
Cummins Inc., Pune, India
Dr. Bala Ramadurai, Co-founder, TRIZ Innovation India, Pune, India
Registration
For online registration
www.iith.ac.in/teqip/upcoming/Design/registration
Contact
Convenor
Organising Committee
Workshop on Design Innovation & Creative Problem Solving
Department of Design,
Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad
Ordnance Factory Campus,
Yeddumailaram 502205, Dist: Medak,
State: Telangana
Phone: +91-40-23017120
mobile: +91-8106691649
E-mail: teqipdesign@iith.ac.in
Website: www.design.iith.ac.in

Comments invited on National IPR Policy

DIPP placed on web draft policy on National IPR and invited suggestions. Salient features:

Objective 1 - IP Awareness and Promotion
Create awareness on a bigger scale. Since signing of TRIPs  workshops are held as regular events and scientists cannot be said to be unaware of IPR.

Objective 2 - Creation of IP 
Audit and bench line studies- more reports do not help.

Facilitate creation and protection of ‘small inventions’ through a new law
on utility models; Small invention?

 Introduce the ‘first-time patent’ fee waiver and support systems for
MSMEs and reduce transaction costs in other ways (e.g. prior art search); Is small fee and Google search for prior art limiting IP creation by MSME?

 Provide statutory incentives, like tax benefits linked to IP creation, for the

entire value chain from IP creation to commercialization;  These possibly will be fiscal incentives. Challenge is how to provide these benefits to units not recognised by DSIR. Need to understand why less than 10% of earmarked funds are utilised by DeitY for patent reimbursement.

Objective 3 - Legal and Legislative Framework
Reports on Standards not required. Sending teams to standard setting meetings also will not help. Influencing global standards with IP generated in India is a wish, governments do not set private standards. Companies are invited to the consortium only when they are working on state-of-art technology. The gold plated gate-pass to standard setting committee needs funding for a long period to private firms Indian owned and MNC owned. The legal requirement is AMENDING GFR (GENERAL FINANCE RULES) OF INDIA PROVIDING FOR GRANTS TO PROVATE FIRMS AND PROVISION TO WRITE-OFF INVESTMENT IN FAILED INNOVATIONS.

Objective 4 - IP Administration and Management
Rank and pay of officers is important. The highest ranking official should be of the rank of Secretary to GOI.

Objective 5 - Commercialization of IP
All assumptions need thorough checking. IP commercialisation is a topic for universities, nations should focus on IP trade. Funding IP acquisition  by researchers to MSME is also a nation building  activity.

Objective 6 - Enforcement and Adjudication 

Training Police and Juduiciary: ongoing process. quick results cannot be expected. what IP crimes are more relevant to India?

Objective 7 - Human Capital Development
Need to check sustainability of IPR cells in educational institutes from experience of TIFAC, NRDC etc.

Thrive Solar Energy invites proposals from women entrepreneurs for setting up solar lamp assembly units.

Thrive Solar Energy Private Ltd., (THRIVE SOLAR) located in Hyderabad is focused on designing and developing high quality, low-cost LED home lights that help serve the millions of poor in inaccessible areas in Asia and Africa. Thrive solar proposes to help set up around 500 SOLAR LED lights manufacturing and assembly centers in India to help empower women, provide local employment, increase the work skills and provide for kerosene free and well lighted rural India.
Investment required -Rs 5.25 lakhs.
Contact for DPR: ranga@thriveenergy.co.in

India Water Week - 2015

India Water Week 2015 - is being organised by the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, National Water Development Agency and Central Water Commission from January 13-17th 2015 in New Delhi. 
This year's theme is "Water Management for Sustainable Development"
Details: http://www.indiawaterweek.in/index.aspx