Indian Pharma- export thrust leads to import dependence.

In the post-2000s period, India’s policymakers went on to promote an imbalanced growth of sales revenue in the case of large domestic pharmaceutical firms in an accelerated and highly skewed way. Large firms were allowed to grow by increasing their sales revenue through the expansion of pathways of low road to industrial development.  They were were allowed to produce and sell branded generics and combination products in the domestic market. Second, large firms were allowed to outsource production to small-scale firms for sale in the domestic market. Third, domestic firms supplied contract manufacturing and research services to foreign firms. Fourth, large firms were allowed to build strategic alliances and collaborations with other large firms of domestic and foreign origin. Fifth, trade was liberalised with a view to encourage exports embedded in imported active pharmaceutical ingredients. Consequently, there has been a rise in the number of large firms who do not undertake in-house manufacture of the core ingredient of the pharmaceutical formulations, or APIs, by themselves. That has made India dependent on China for key starting materials (KSMs), intermediates and APIs . 

The “success story” of the Indian pharmaceutical industry will be over when China enters the finished products market globally, which it is starting to. 

The Drug Discovery and Development Industry in India— Two Decades of Proprietary Small-Molecule R&D

Initially, post the 2000s, drug discovery research drove innovation activity by stressing on in-house R&D capabilities for close to 30 domestic pharmaceutical firms . However, the engagement of domestic pharmaceutical firms with drug discovery for new drug development has been on the decline from 2012. The number of patents filed on new chemical entities (NCEs)  by the domestic pharmaceutical firms is small . Presently, there are only three firms pursuing some activity in drug discovery and new drug development .
Read the paper.

Innovations in Public Administration in India

Conclusion in this special article by Dipti Gupta, Ashok Kumar Pandey, Amit Garg.

An analysis of the Prime Minister’s awards in the paper provides certain insight into the innovation typology in Indian public administration and its distribution. 

First, the technological and management innovations are predominant in Indian public administration. However, the citizen-centric and collaborative innovations in administration need to evolve much more in order to achieve citizen satisfaction and trust in service provision, so as to provide high quality of services consistently.

Second, the award structure change in 2016 depicts a shift towards a top-down approach promoting innovation related to central schemes rather than being oriented to local context. Priority should be to integrate people’s needs for services with various relevant policies of the government and awarded innovations, dovetailing them in that order. Feedback on service quality from the people is also to be incorporated in service assessment continuously.

Third, the public service innovation strategy should incorporate an institutional set-up for scouting and cataloguing public administration innovations with a focus on context, resources, and individual, team or organisational initiatives to create replicable templates of flexible order out of these.

Fourth, Prime Minister award process can be made more transparent by making all the competing applications visible in public domain and considering beneficiaries’ feedback while deciding the award winners, thus, validating the whole process. An online public innovation repository can help achieve this.

India's S&T policy under Indira Gandhi as narrated by Ashok Parthasarathi.

Lecture by Ashok Parthasarathi, DOWN THE MEMORY LANE RECALLING INDIA’S NATION – BUILDING EXERCISE is remarkable for his insights on early years on India's S&T policy.  Glimpses on his important part of Indian history:
Space Commission: After death of Sarabhai, Satish Dhavan was identified as successor and before accepting the offer, he gave his perspective and laid down conditions , direct with Prime Minister.

When PM opened the envelope, she found a six-page handwritten letter laying out a complete space profile from the current Sounding Rockets of the Ionosphere through the Scientific Satellite Aryabhatta the Remote Sensing Satellites. Dhavan called Bhaskara, to the Application Technology Satellite -6 to the APPLE to the SLV-3 our first Satellite Launch Vehicle to the Indian National Satellite (INSAT) to the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle for Launching Sun-Synchronous Communication Satellites in Polar Orbits to, finally launching Geostationary Satellites called the Geostationary Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV).
Dhavan then came up to Delhi and met Indiraji. The 20-minute meeting went very well. Dhavan laid down three conditions for his finally taking up the job. First, that the Space Commission and Department of Space should have the same kind of powers and responsibilities as did the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC)’ Secondly, like the AEC again the Head- quarters of the Commission and the Department should, not be in Delhi but in Bengaluru, what with headquarters of the mammoth Hindustan Aeronautic Ltd, the National Aerospace Laboratory (NAL) of CSIR and the Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE) and the Gas Turbine Research Establishment (GTRE) both of the Defense R&D Organisation Bengaluru was the Aerospace Capital of the country. Dhavan’s third and last condition was that it would be difficult- indeed in correct-for him and the institution he was currently heading- the Indian Institute of Science (I. I. Sc ) also in Bengaluru to suddenly and abruptly terminate a 25-year long association by his (Dhavan’s) leaving it. So he requested PM to agree to there being a smooth and gradual transition of the following kind. Dhavan would continue as Director IISc for a three year period after he took over as Chairman Space Commission. 
 

Battle for next generation SEP- CWA 17431 or CWA 95000

SEP issues sit at the heart of future technology developments that will support internet of things (IoT) deployments across consumer and enterprise markets. Meanwhile, 5G technologies will have an increasing role to play in the future economy by enabling the rise of the IoT.Not surprisingly, there is hot debate among companies involved in forging Europe’s nascent IoT.

On one side is a small group of companies that have shifted their business models from putting products into the market, to maximising profits from SEP licensing, including Nokia, Ericsson, InterDigital, and Qualcomm. These are the companies that hold a large portion of the patents that are essential for the implementation of key interoperability standards such as 4G/LTE, wifi and Bluetooth, as well as in emerging standards that will drive future 5G networks. Their guidelines is called CWA 1 or  CWA 17431. Qualcomm, Nokia, Interdigital, Dolby, and Ericsson are important members of this group.

The App Association founded an open and inclusive effort to develop a set of industry guidelines for SEP licensing, dubbed the CEN CENELEC Workshop Agreement2, or CWA 2/ CWA 95000. Participants included SEP holders and licensees of all sizes as well as those from industries just starting to jump into IoT, such as the automotive and healthcare industries. Apple, Intel, Samsung, and Cisco are important members of this group.

Independent inventor Kris K Panchoo from Maritius allege copying of his idea by FIFA

Kris K Panchoo is an independent innovator from Mauritius. He alleges his idea of a better referee system was copied by sports organization FIFA.
Problem: The system of refereeing was a 2-side observation of the infringement of the game - on one side is the central referee and on the other side is the lineman. From this system numerous problems were occurring because they could not detect everything as they are both far from the play action and the 22 players would often obstruct clear vision to detect infringement of the game.
Solution by Panchoo: a 3-side observation - on one side is the central referee, on the second side is the lineman and on the 3rd side is the Goal-lineman which is the new member I created to perform. I.e a Triangular observation. From this triangular system, refereeing errors would drastically be reduced but not to perfection because players would still obstruct clear vision. It took me like a decade to find the real solution. From writing of Indian mystics I shift the goal-lineman position from ground level to an elevated level near the goal post in order to have a Panoramic view. From this system nothing could go unseen.
Protection: He received advise  that proposed system of refereeing football relates to a scheme or method of playing a game and is consequently specifically excluded under patent law. Hence he registered it as copyright in India.
He alleges Infringement by FIFA & UEFA knowingly without acknowledging / license.
Details as given by inventor:

21.12.1986 TS – Triangular System of Refereeing Football was invented by its copyright owner – Kris K. Panchoo  but not Not disclosed 

1986 to 1996 A whole decade of research to finally transformed TS into TPS & TPS2 for a perfect and unfailing system of match control.

(TPS – Triangular and Panoramic System of Refereeing. TPS2 is another advanced version)

02.07.1996 FIFA and UEFA informed about an unfailing/perfect system of refereeing, without any disclosure of the system.

18.07.1996 informed by fifa that proposal has been submitted to Fifa’s Task Force 2000.

15.10.1996 Fifa invited Kris to have  system tested by the Mauritian International referee, Mr Kim.

21.10.1996 By telefax - I refused to discuss or prove TPS to anybody else apart from fifa’s for two reasons :

 21.10.1996 Immediate reply from fifa, rejecting my proposal of discussion and proving. 

ALLEGATION- FIFA REJECTED THE IDEA OF INVENTOR BUT STARTED USING IT UNDER A DIFFERENT NAME-additional assistant referee (AAR)

https://www.uefa.com/news/newsid=2048377.html

The inventor is looking for legal help to enforce his rights.

The DNA Technology (Use and Application) Regulation Bill, India

The Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) is a set of instructions found in a cell.  These instructions are used for the growth and development of an organism.  The DNA of a person is unique, and variation in the sequence of DNA can be used to match individuals and identify them. DNA technology, therefore allows for accurate establishment of an individual’s identity.¹

DNA-based technology can be used to aid criminal investigations.  For example, the identity of a criminal offender may be determined by matching DNA found at the crime scene with the DNA of a suspect. In addition, DNA-based technology helps in identification of victims in the event of terrorist attacks or natural disasters such as earthquakes.  For example, DNA technology has been used to identify victims of terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre in 2001, and disasters such as the Asian tsunami in 2004. Further, DNA profiling can be used in civil matters, such as parentage related disputes. 

Currently, the use of DNA technology for identification of individuals is not regulated.  In the past, several expert groups including the Law Commission, have looked at the use and regulation of DNA technology. The Commission submitted its report as well as a draft Bill in July 2017.²   In this context, the DNA Technology (Use and Application) Regulation Bill, 2018 was introduced in Lok Sabha on August 9, 2018.  The Bill regulates the use of DNA technology for the purpose of identification of persons in criminal and civil matters.    

Press release and report of Law Commission 

http://lawcommissionofindia.nic.in/reports/Report271.pdf

Where did Swedens Top 100 innovations originate?

This study has investigated how 100 of the most important Swedish innovations have emerged.The results indicate that 47 percent of the top one hundred innovations were created by inventors as employees of companies, while individual inventors and entrepreneurs have contributed 33 percent and university finally accounts for the remaining 20 percent. Companies and individuals often have a combination of technical expertise and market knowledge that allows radical innovations to emerge. Companies often may have a cash flow that sometimes can be used for funding extensive development.
An important conclusion is that the independent inventors' role has become more prominent in recent decades. Of the twenty major innovations during the period 1955-1979 25 percent of those emerged from independent inventors. Of the 20 innovations between years 1981 to 2006 no less than 45 percent came from this category. The independent inventors in other words have become increasingly important in Sweden.
Some important innovations from independent innovators:
The Respirator, Sparkling mineral water, The Screw propeller, The telephone handset, 

(Extract from report, Author Dr. Christian Sandström,
Ratio and Chalmers University of Technology, christian.sandstrom@chalmers.se  )

Trade fairs to advance SME internationalisation

The purpose of the study is to find out how trade fairs affect the factors in theory and practice, and how scarce resources should be allocated to gain an efficient trade fair outcome.
Black (1986) defines trade fairs as “events that bring together, in a single location, a group of suppliers who set up physical exhibits of their products and services from a given industry or discipline”. Trade fairs can be roughly categorised based on their geographical coverage, i.e. whether they have international, national or local focus.  Moreover, market coverage classifies fairs regarding their appeal on one particular industry, i.e. vertical trade fair, or appeal on all sorts of goods and services from different industries, i.e. horisontal trade fairs. (O’Hara 1993.)10 most common objectives of trade fair participation: 1. make direct sales, 2.maintain contact and image with former customers 3. make contact and create image with new potential customers, important especially for companies penetrating new market areas 4. introduce a new product or a new line, fairs are a more efficient way to introduce a new product than traditional sales call 5. demonstrate nonportable equipment 6. on-the-spot technical problem solving, increases time usage efficiency 7. find new ideas or applications 8. build morale of local sales representatives 9. counter participation by competitors, enables attendees to compare own products to competitors’ ones 10. recruit personnel.
Authors Miika Kreivi, Matti Muhos, Lingyun Wang, and Pekka Kess illustrate the benefits with 3 cases from China fair. 

Patent Infringement Risk-Singapore introduces Intellectual Property Insurance Initiative for Innovators (IPIII)

I talked about Patent Infringement Rik in my 2004 paper-Covering Patent infringement risks in technology transfer agreements, advocated insurance as solution.

This article analyses the emerging scenario; closing gaps between Indian lab transactions and state-of-art, liberal interpretation of patent infringements by US courts, aggressive patenting strategies of MNCs, globalisation of operations by Indian licensee’s  and advocates a mechanism to convert `uncertainty’ into `risk’ and covering of `risk’ with insurance. 

The Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS), Lloyd’s Asia and Antares Underwriting Asia announced ( June 2019) a new initiative to support innovative enterprises as they enter global markets. Called the Intellectual Property Insurance Initiative for Innovators (IPIII), it will give innovative enterprises insurance coverage for legal expenses that may be incurred in intellectual property (IP) infringement proceedings worldwide.Under IPIII1, enterprises and innovators with a Singapore patent, trademark or registered design can take up an insurance policy with substantial cost savings that pays the legal costs of enforcing IP rights or defending against allegations of IP infringement.
More information on IPIII and Antares’ IP insurance policy at www.ipos.gov.sg/protecting-your-ideas/ip-insurance and
www.antaresunderwriting.com/intellectual_property_insurance/ respectively.
The policy pays the legal costs arising from:  • Allegations of infringement of your intellectual property - cover for legal fees to pursue a potential infringer  • Allegations of infringement of someone else’s intellectual property - cover for legal fees to defend an allegation of infringement  • Allegations of infringement against your licensee - cover for legal fees to defend an allegation of infringement made against a licensee  • Disputes between you and your licensee - cover for legal fees to ensure a licensee performs within the terms of their licence agreement.
The insurer gives 20% discount under this policy.

DRDO products for export

Details of products for export are available:
https://www.drdo.gov.in/drdo/pub/ebooks/DRDO_Developed_Products_for_Export/html5forpc.html?page=1&bbv=1&pcode=

DRDO technologies for licensing

DRDO has listed several dual use/ commercial technologies under category B. They can be checked at:
https://www.drdo.gov.in/drdo/English/index.jsp?pg=cat-b-technology.jsp

The following agencies can be contacted for Technology Transfer

1. National Research Development Corporation
2. Confederation of Indian Industry
3. PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry
4. The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India

 Technologies transferred are listed at:
https://www.drdo.gov.in/drdo/English/index.jsp?pg=cat-b-tech-delivered.jsp

Additional list of technologies ready to transfer are at:
https://www.drdo.gov.in/drdo/English/index.jsp?pg=cat-b-tech-ready.jsp

Public Procurement Policy revised to boost Make-In-India

Government of India revised 2017 order on local preference in public procurement.
1. upto Rs50 lakhs only the local supplier shall be eligible to bid,
2. purchase preference to local supplier where the total value is more than 50L but divisible among bidders.
3. The minimum local content is 50%.
4.The margin of purchase preference can be upto 20%.
5.Self certificate by local supplier accepted on local content.
6. supplies protected under IPR exempted from local content stipulation.

India is not a member of WTO's GPA and has chosen to be observer only.

Why India needs a reindustrialisation drive

Why doesn’t India have an industrial policy, given that even the neo-liberal bastions, its biggest critics, are seeing in it a viable response to the relentless Chinese challenge?

Instead, we are going in the reverse direction—with a 14% decline in our high-tech industry and the percentage of GDP devoted to research and development (R&D) decreasing from 0.85% in 2011 to 0.63% in 2015, an anomaly of serious dimensions in today’s technology-driven world.

India needs a reindustrialisation drive to create a level-playing field for the country’s private manufacturers and increase their R&D intensification. Consider this: The much-touted Indian services sector, which forms almost 61% of the economy, generates around $183 billion of exports, while the beleaguered manufacturing sector, the serial sacrificial lamb in trade negotiations (to save H1B jobs) with only 16%, generates $210 billion! It is clear which one is the most productive sector of our economy, and which ones creates more multipliers, jobs and domestic value-addition.

Read more on this article by By Smita Purushottam

Inventor Assistance Program-WIPO

Officially launched in 2016, the Inventor Assistance Program aims to level the playing field for inventors who have great ideas but struggle to secure patents due to a lack of funds. The WIPO-led public-private partnership helps these inventors get professional support from patent experts who offer legal services at no cost to the inventors – a boost for individual innovators, as well as their countries’ economic development. This WIPO established the Inventor Assistance Program to level the playing field for under-resourced inventors in developing countries by pairing them with a specialist to help draft and prosecute their patent applications.

Volunteers provide free assistance before the inventor’s local patent office and in selected jurisdictions. The program operates in five countries today: Ecuador, Colombia, Morocco, the Philippines, and South Africa. For the inventors wishing to protect their invention at the international level, the IAP also provides support for the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) national and regional phase entry in the United States of America and in Europe. The program plans to expand to Japan in the near future.

Already, the IAP has helped 39 inventors. So far, five patents have been granted in Colombia. The covered inventions include a device that stabilizes vehicles on wet, muddy roads, specialized kitchen equipment to cook lasagna, a machine that helps the visually impaired distinguish coins, modular furniture and an automated car covering by inventor Ivan Rizo.

Source: WIPO

2019 Emerging Therapeutic Company Trend Report

Some of the key findings from this report prepared by BIO are:
• Venture Capital Investment: A record $12.3 billion in venture funding went to U.S. emerging therapeutic companies in 2018, with 95% toward novel R&D and only 5% into drug improvement R&D for existing drugs. Venture investment into innovative U.S. therapeutic companies continues to outpace Europe (5.7x), Asia (4.6x), and the rest of the world (35x) despite a record $5.2 billion for Ex-U.S. companies.  First-time Series A financing broke a record in the U.S. with 109 new companies receiving funding, indicating a robust interest in early-stage biotech.
• IPOs: U.S.-based R&D-stage emerging therapeutic companies were able to raise $5.1 billion from 47 IPOs in 2018, a record dollar amount and the 2nd highest number of IPOs in a decade. Ex-U.S. based R&D-stage emerging therapeutic companies raised $2.3 billion from 22 IPOs, a record dollar amount.
• Follow-On Public Offerings: Public market follow-on offerings for U.S.-based R&D-stage emerging therapeutic companies remained strong, with $11.5 billion raised in 2018 across 118 offerings (valued at $10 million or more). Ex-U.S.-based R&D-stage emerging therapeutic companies raised $3.2 billion from 28 transactions in 2018, a record year in dollars raised and the number of financings.
• Licensing: Global R&D-stage licensing deals (valued at $10 million or more) brought in $9.1 billion in upfront payments, a 107% increase over 2017. Asian emerging company assets accounted for a record 18 of these deals in 2018, albeit reaching only 11% of the total funds raised.
• Acquisitions: The number of global R&D-stage emerging therapeutic company acquisitions rebounded from a decade low of 21 in 2017 to 28 in 2018. A record $32.5 billion was paid upfront for the 28 R&D-stage companies. U.S.-based companies accounted for 66% of the R&D-stage emerging company acquisition targets. The number of global market-stage emerging therapeutic company acquisitions reached a decade low of four acquisitions for $2.2 billion (upfront).
• Global Clinical Pipeline: Total active clinical-stage programs reached a record 6,984 with emerging companies accounting for 73% of these programs. Emerging companies have 94 marketing applications for new drugs (NDA/ BLAs) under review at the U.S. FDA. U.S.-based emerging companies account for 62% of these submissions. 

Fintech Startups- regulatory framework

On April 18, 2019, the RBI announced the Draft Enabling Framework for Regulatory Sandbox (“Proposed Framework”), detailing the proposed features of the sandbox. The Proposed Framework is a draft for public comments, and is not effective yet.

The Indian fintech sector has witnessed exponential growth and, by some accounts, is presently the world's second largest fintech hub with more than 2,000 entities operating in this sector.¹ While the term “fintech” has emerged from a combination of the words “finance” and “technology”, there is no universal consensus on what innovations fall under the “fintech” umbrella. Some of the major products and services that are now synonymous with fintech innovations include the digital payments ecosystem, peer-to-peer lending platforms, crowd-funding, crypto-assets and blockchain technology, distributed ledgers technology, Big Data, smart contracts, robo-advisors and aggregators.

However, as traditional law and policy development is slow to catch up with the rapid pace of technological innovation, innovators look towards regulators to develop new approaches to support this rapid speed of growth.

In view of the growing significance of fintech innovations,² the RBI set up an inter-regulatory ‘Working Group on FinTech and Digital Banking’ in July 2016³ to study the regulatory responses to such innovations across the globe. The Group included representatives from the RBI, Securities Exchange Board of India (“SEBI”), Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (“IRDAI”), and Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (“PFRDA”), select financial entities regulated by these agencies, rating agencies and fintech consultants and companies.

On February 08, 2018, this Working Group released its report, which, among other things, recommended the formulation of an appropriate framework for a regulatory sandbox. The Working Group noted that sandboxes offered benefits including limited testing which would answer questions, before the product is made available more broadly, on the product’s concerns as well as its potential for success. It observed that the objective of a sandbox should be “to encourage more fintech experimentation within a well-defined space and duration where regulators will provide the requisite regulatory support, so as to increase efficiency, manage risks better and create new opportunities for consumers.”

Read more :   http://www.nishithdesai.com/information/news-storage/news-details/newsid/5501/html/1.html

Scheme for Facilitating Start-ups Intellectual Property Protection (SIPP)

Patenting is expensive and many startups do not have expertise in drafting claims. Government of India has designed this scheme wherein the startup can take service of patent expert called facilitator for drafting claims and patent application. Startup pays only statutory patent filing costs. For drafting patent , the government pays direct to the facilitator. List of facilitators can be seen here.

Technologies for Licensing from IOC RandD centre

Indian Oil's  R&D Centre is India's foremost commercial centre of research excellence in the areas of lubricants, refinery processes, pipeline transportation, alternative fuels fuel additives, engine testing, materials sciences and environmental sciences. Indian Oil holds 554 active patents in India & Foreign countries.
Example: Mosquito Larvicidal Oil composition
Disclosed is a very effective non-toxic mosquito larvicidal oil (MLO) composition which eliminates mosquito larvae and pupae by suffocating them, when the composition is applied on stagnant water surface. It is bio-degradable as well as non-toxic to plant and animals, particularly fish, in the area of its application. It poses no danger to human beings because it does not enter into the human food chain. The MLO forms an unbreakable thin film on the water surface. This film prevents the larvae and pupae present in the water from breathing in oxygen from the air above. Consequently, they die of suffocation within a short period. lit is devoid of side effects like pesticide resistance, resurgence of pests and numerous undesirable effects on flora and fauna that are common in similar mosquito larvicidal oil compositions. The MLO is an optimized combination of mineral oils and surfactants emulsifiers for excellent spreading and film formation characteristics. The mineral oil can be paraffinic or naphthenic, hydrocracked or mixture of these. The surfactants/emulsifiers are required for the spontaneous spreading of the oil layer over water surface and stability of the oil film after application on water surface.
Check list of technologies available for commercialisation here. 

Improving Technology Commercialisation- strategy papers from India and USA

Towards close of 2018, we see two important strategy papers. NITI Aayog released paper titled- Strategy for New India. NIST released paper titled- Return on Investment Initiative forUnleashing American Innovation. Commercialisation of technology developed in universities with public funding is one of the issues.
What India says
“Lab to Land” time is too long. Renowned public funded institutions like the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR), Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO), Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR) etc., along with prominent universities across the country, have developed many frontline technologies. However, the rate of transfer of these technologies to industry and for societal benefits is low. The major weaknesses of public funded R&D and technology institutions like CSIR, DRDO, BARC, ICMR and ISRO are their poor marketing skills and information dissemination. Some measures for enhancing technology commercialization by public funded institutions are provided below: 
1. Value addition centres may be set up in each of these institutions for (i) up-scaling technologies, (ii) improving technologies from Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 4 to TRL 6/7, (iii) demonstrating industrial scale pilot production, (iv) coordinating with investors to incubate entrepreneurs, (v) bridging the gap between industry and technology development teams, (vi) enabling formal technology transfer, (vii) enabling commercialization and marketing and (viii) providing technology support during production. 
2. DST should create a National Technology Data Bank in coordination with all publicly funded R&D institutions. This will provide a central database for technologies that are ready for deployment or under development. 
3.Public funded research institutions should consider shifting their focus to the development and deployment of socially relevant technologies in areas such as clean drinking water, sanitation, energy, affordable healthcare, organic farming, etc. These technologies have large potential for commercialization.
What Americans say:
Measures of technology transfer in the U.S. from 1996 to 2015 demonstrate over $1 trillion in economic growth and millions of new jobs. Critical technologies such as life-saving drugs, vaccines, and medical devices, the internet, global positioning system or GPS, and countless other innovations underpinning every aspect of the American way of life are traceable to groundbreaking work at Federal Laboratories, federally funded universities, and private sector R&D organizations. Removing impediments to effective technology transfer and collaboration will accelerate economic value creation. The PMA includes the Lab-to-Market (L2M) cross agency priority (CAP) goal, which aims to improve the transfer of technology from federally funded R&D to the private sector to promote U.S. economic growth and national security. The L2M CAP Goal is organized around the five strategies, which also serve as the organization for the chapters in this green paper: 
1. Identify regulatory impediments and administrative improvements in Federal technology transfer policies and practices; 
2. Increase engagement with private sector technology development experts and investors; 3. Build a more entrepreneurial R&D workforce; 
4. Support innovative tools and services for technology transfer; and 
5. Improve understanding of global science and technology trends and benchmarks.

Discussion
Indian strategy document is silent on engaging private sector. Can government funded institutes scale up technology from TRL 4 to TRL 6 without involvement of private sector?

World Intellectual Property Indicators 2018 : creative economy

Applicants around the world filed almost 3.17 million patent applications in 2017. From 1883 to 1963, the patent office of the U.S. was the leading office for world filings. Application numbers in Japan and the U.S. were stable until the early 1970s, when Japan began to see rapid growth – a pattern also observed for the U.S. from the 1980s onward. Among the top five offices, Japan surpassed the U.S. in 1968 and maintained the top position until 2005. Since the early 2000s, however, the number of applications filed in Japan has followed a downward trend. Both the EPO and the Republic of Korea have seen increases each year since the early 1980s, as has China since 1995. China surpassed the EPO and the Republic of Korea in 2005, Japan in 2010 and the U.S. in 2011 – and it now receives the largest number of applications worldwide. Applicants from China filed around 1.31 million equivalent patent applications in 2017, which is more than the combined total for applicants from Japan (460,660), the Republic of Korea (226,568) and the U.S. (524,835). Those four origins, plus Germany (176,235), accounted for the bulk of the global total. However, it should be noted that only 4.6% of all applications from China are filed abroad, while 95.4% are filed in China. In contrast, filings abroad constitute 43.5% of total applications from Japan and 44% from the U.S.
In 2017, an estimated 1.4 million patents were granted worldwide, up 3.9% on 2016 figures, and represent 17 consecutive years of growth (see figure 1.7). China (420,144) issued the largest number of patents in 2017, followed by the U.S. (318,829), Japan (199,577), the Republic of Korea (120,662) and the EPO (105,645). These five offices issued more than 1.16 million patents between them – 83% of the world total.  India granted 50.2% more patents in 2017 than in 2016, with grants increasing from 8,248 in 2016 to 12,387 in 2017. Non-resident grants accounted for 85% of the total increase.

Applicants from China were the most active applicants in the world in 2017, filing 4,041 plant variety applications. This represents a 48.6% growth in filing activity for Chinese applicants – the fastest growth among the top 10 origins. They were followed by applicants from the Netherlands, who filed 3,320 applications. The U.S. (2,084), France (1,068) and Germany (865) were ranked third, fourth and fifth largest origins, respectively.
Creative Economy:  Data on the 2017 revenues generated by the three sectors – trade, educational and STM – are available for 11 countries. Those 11 countries generated USD 248 billion revenue in 2017. China (USD 202.4 billion) reported the largest net revenue, followed by the United States of America (U.S.) (USD 25.9 billion), Germany (USD 5.8 billion) and the United Kingdom (U.K.) (USD 4.7 billion)
(source: WIPO)

Agri-Startups India

Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (FICCI)-PwC Knowledge Report on Agri-Start-ups: Innovations for boosting the Future of Agriculture in India, was launched by Suresh Prabhu, minister of commerce and industry, Government of India, at the International Conference and Awards for Innovations by Agri Start-ups organised by FICCI in New Delhi. High lights:

• India houses a total of 366 agri based start-ups, of which over 50 per cent came into existence in 2015 and 2016. The combined revenue of all agritech start-ups in India is estimated to be less than $100 million whereas global market is worth $350 billion. Geographically, Karnataka and Maharashtra together account for almost 50 per cent of the total number of agri start-ups opened in the last five years.
• Big data based agri start-ups:Development of farm-specific, data-driven diagnostics to determine soil and crop health has come up as a big opportunity area. Start-ups are leveraging drones or tractor-based solutions to get data (both on weather and agricultural) on field to determine risk. Growing smartphone penetration will enable precise decision making in farming activity, helping farmers to drive increased productivity and revenue while reducing unit costs.
• Start-ups developed around the market linkage model: Innovations must be included to help farmers with timely and accurate estimation of sowing and harvesting in sync with consumer demand patterns. Such linkages operate at the two critical ends of the supply chain: input and output models. These models aim to link producers to remunerative sourcing agencies for procurement and to profitable buyers for output sales.
• Start-ups developed around Farming as a Service (FAAS): Specific farm practices are being identified for provision of technological breakthrough services. Activities such as equipment renting and crop care practices are areas likely to see market traction. FAAS seeks to provide affordable technology solutions for efficient farming. It converts fixed costs into variable costs for farmers, thus making the techniques more affordable for a majority of small farmers. Its services are available on a subscription or payper-use basis in three broad categories, which are crucial across the agriculture value chain.
• IoT enabled technology based agri start-ups: Smart farming, including high-precision crop control, data collection, and automated farming techniques, will remove inefficiencies and bolster productivity. Information on crop yields, rainfall patterns, pest infestation and soil nutrition can be used to improve farming techniques over time. Low capex for predominantly software based solutions is the key feature for such solutions.

Download the report.

Draft National Policy on Electronics 2018 (NPE 2018)- what is new?

In the long wish list, there are few statements/ intentions that stand out.

• Admission:  Replacing M-SIPS scheme with schemes that are easier to implement such as Interest subsidy and Credit default guarantee, etc., in order to encourage new units and expansion of existing units in electronics manufacturing sector.(5.1.4).

• Contradicting: Exempt the import duty on identified capital equipment not being manufactured in the country, to reduce capital expenditure for setting up/ expansion of existing units.(5.1.6). Levy Cess on identified electronic goods to be considered to generate resources for promotion of certain critical sub-sectors of electronics manufacturing such as semiconductor wafer fabrication and display fabrication units.(5.1.9).
• Confusion persists: Promote path-breaking research, grass root level innovations and early stage Start-ups in emerging technology areas such as....having major economic potential, with a special focus on applying the outcomes, including frugal solutions, to solve real-life problems. (5.6.1)
• Daring: ...acquire & pool, Core and Peripheral IPs and make them available to the Industry (5.6.4). Promote investment in mega facilities abroad, such as an existing FAB facility, including support for setting up of R&D units abroad, where eco-system exists for a particular technology.(5.15).

Download document. Comment by 15th November 2018.

EPO guidelines on AI

EPO release guidelines on the patentability of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning technologies. Artificial intelligence and machine learning are based on computational models and algorithms for classification, clustering, regression and dimensionality reduction, such as neural networks, genetic algorithms, support vector machines, k-means, kernel regression and discriminant analysis.
Artificial intelligence and machine learning find applications in various fields of technology. For example, the use of a neural network in a heart-monitoring apparatus for the purpose of identifying irregular heartbeats makes a technical contribution. The classification of digital images, videos, audio or speech signals based on low-level features (e.g. edges or pixel attributes for images) are further typical technical applications of classification algorithms. Classifying text documents solely in respect of their textual content is however not regarded to be per se a technical purpose but a linguistic one (T 1358/09). Classifying abstract data records or even "telecommunication network data records" without any indication of a technical use being made of the resulting classification is also not per se a technical purpose, even if the classification algorithm may be considered to have valuable mathematical properties such as robustness (T 1784/06).

Global Young Scientists Challenge 2018 (GYSC)

With a view to improve ideas with cross-pollination, Global Young Scientists Challenge was held in India on 8th & 9th September 2018. Science projects of hundred students from India, Malaysia, Laos, China, Russia, Philippines were show cased. International jury headed by Dr Zengpei, CIA, China selected the winners. Awards were presented by Minister for Human Resources of Andhra Pradesh , Sri Ganta Srinivara Rao on 9th.

Drone Regulations 1.0- India

Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), which monitors India’s drones or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) ecosystem has released India’s drone policy called Drone Regulations 1.0, that dictates a process for creating an unmanned air traffic control system for running drones in the low-altitude airspace. These regulations will enable the safe, commercial usage of drones starting December 1, 2018. 
Drone Regulations 1.0 are intended to enable visual line-of-sight daytime-only and a maximum of 400 ft altitude operations. Air space has been partitioned into Red Zone (flying not permitted), Yellow Zone (controlled airspace), and Green Zone (automatic permission). 
Instead of simply digitizing a paper-based process for registering and operating drones, India has formulated an all-digital process. The Digital Sky Platform is the first-of-its-kind national unmanned traffic management (UTM) platform that implements “no permission, no takeoff” (NPNT). Users will be required to do a one-time registration of their drones, pilots and owners. For every flight (exempted for the nano category), users will be required to ask for permission to fly on a mobile app and an automated process permits or denies the request instantly. To prevent unauthorized flights and to ensure public safety, any drone without a digital permit to fly will simply not be able to takeoff. The UTM operates as a traffic regulator in the drone airspace and coordinates closely with the defense and civilian air traffic controllers (ATCs) to ensure that drones remain on the approved flight paths.

Key features of Drone Regulations 1.0 are:

Notification of Final Regulations for Civil Use of Remotely Piloted Aircraft System

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation has issued today the Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR) for civil use of Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS) commonly known as drones. The regulation was developed after extensive consultations among various stakeholders, and will be effective from 1st December, 2018.

As per the regulation, there are 5 categories of RPAS categorized by weight, namely nano, micro, small, medium and large.

Operational/ Procedural Requirements:

All RPAS except nano and those owned by NTRO, ARC and Central Intelligence Agencies are to be registered and issued with Unique Identification Number (UIN).

Unmanned Aircraft Operator Permit (UAOP) shall be required for RPA operators except for nano RPAS operating below 50 ft., micro RPAS operating below 200 ft., and those owned by NTRO, ARC and Central Intelligence Agencies.

The mandatory equipment required for operation of RPAS except nano category are (a) GNSS (GPS), (b) Return-To-Home (RTH), (c) Anti-collision light, (d) ID-Plate, (e)  Flight controller with flight data logging capability, and (f) RF ID and SIM/ No-Permission No Take off (NPNT).

As of now, RPAS to operate within visual line of sight (VLoS), during day time only, and upto maximum 400 ft. altitude.

For flying in controlled Airspace, filing of flight plan and obtaining Air Defence Clearance (ADC) /Flight Information Centre (FIC) number shall be necessary.

Minimum manufacturing standards and training requirements of Remote Pilots of small and above categories of RPAS have been specified in the regulation.

No Drone Zones:

The regulation defines “No Drone Zones” around airports;near international border, Vijay Chowk in Delhi; State Secretariat Complex in State Capitals, strategic locations/vital and military installations; etc.

Operations through Digital Platform:

Operations of RPAS to be enabled through Digital Sky Platform. The RPAS operations will be based on NPNT (No Permission, No Take off). The details including links for the digital sky platform shall be available in DGCA website from 1st December, 2018. There will be different colour zones visible to the applicant while applying in the digital sky platform, viz, Red Zone: flying not permitted, Yellow Zone (controlled airspace): permission required before flying, and Green Zone (uncontrolled airspace): automatic permission.

Enforcement Actions:

The enforcement actions are, (a) suspension/ cancellation of UIN/ UAOP in case of violation of regulatory provisions, (b) actions as per relevant Sections of the Aircraft Act 1934, or Aircraft Rules, or any statutory provisions, and (c) penalties as per applicable IPCs (such as 287, 336, 337, 338, or any relevant section of IPC).

Sovereign Patent Funds (SPF)

In the year 2000, a new patent aggregation business emerged under the name Intellectual Ventures (“IV”). Armed with more than five billion dollars from global companies such as Microsoft, Intel, Sony, Nokia, Apple, Google, Yahoo, American Express, Adobe, SAP, Nvidia, and eBay, IV aggressively acquired patents. Within its first ten years of existence, the privately-held company occupied the enviable spot of being one of the top five U.S. patent owners. In March 2009, IV expanded its reach globally to Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, China, India, and other countries, hoarding patents in important industries as it opened new offices on foreign soil. Indian innovators happily sold their patents for small amounts reported to be around 5000USD.As of today, IV owns a portfolio of 70,000 patents and collects more than three billion dollars in licensing fees.

Alarmed by the rise of powerful patent aggregators in the United States, governments from other countries have decided to counter with their own initiatives of aggregating patents through the establishment of Sovereign Patent Funds (“SPFs”). In the last few years, Japan, South Korea, China, Taiwan, and France have each launched SPFs. The Japanese government, through the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, established its sovereign patent fund, the Innovation Network Corporation of Japan (“INCJ”), in July 2009. In 2010, the South Korean Ministry of Economics established a sovereign patent fund, Intellectual Discovery (“ID”). In August 2011, Taiwan created its first sovereign patent fund, the Taiwan Medtech Fund.  In 2014, China stoked fear in the patent market by establishing the Ruichuan IPR Funds.
Further Reading: https://lawreview.law.ucdavis.edu/issues/51/4/Articles/51-4_Nguyen.pdf

Patent Cooperation Treaty Yearly Review 2018

Highlights from the report.

• An estimated 243,500 international patent applications were filed under WIPO’s Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) in 2017.  With 56,158 filings, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) received the highest number of PCT applications; it was followed by the State Intellectual Property Office of the People’s Republic of China (SIPO; 50,674), the Japan Patent Office (JPO; 47,425), the European Patent Office (EPO; 36,714), the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO; 15,830) and the International Bureau (IB) of WIPO (10,212).
• The business sector accounted for 84.8% of all published PCT applications, followed by individuals (8%), the university sector (5.4%) and the government and public research organizations (PROs) sector (1.9%).
• Huawei Technologies was the top PCT applicant in 2017, with 4,024 published PCT applications. With 2,965 published PCT applications, ZTE Corporation moved from first to second place. These two Shenzhen-based companies were followed by U.S.-based Intel Corporation (2,637), Mitsubishi Electric Corporation of Japan (2,521) and Qualcomm Incorporated of the U.S. (2,163).
• Among educational institutions, the University of California (482 published PCT applications) has remained the largest user of the PCT System since 1993 . The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (278) ranked second, followed by Harvard University (179), the University of Texas System (161) and Johns Hopkins University (129). 
• Computer technology (19,122) was the most frequently featured technology field in published PCT applications in 2017, followed by digital communication (18,400), electrical machinery, apparatus, energy (15,223) and medical technology (15,024).
• India filed 1603 PCT applications in 2017, 1528 in 2016 and 1412 in 2015. One third of Indian PCT applications have USA as designated country. 
• India is an attractive destination for PCT applications. Indian patent office received 25,896 national phase entries in 2016 and 27,882 in 2015. 96.4% of PCT applications received at India office had date of priority.
•  A relatively high share of PCT filings from India related to pharmaceuticals, Singapore - semiconductors, China- Audio Visual Technology, Computer technology, Sweden- Digital communication, Japan- Electrical Machinery, Israel- Medical technology, Netherlands- Optics, France- Transport.
•  In 2017, less than half of all PCT applications (47.6%) were published in English, followed by Japanese (19.4%) and Chinese (15.7%).

Government seeks public comments on Data protection bill; September 10 deadline

Two weeks after the draft of the data protection Bill was submitted by the Justice BN Srikrishna committee, the government has invited comments from stakeholders and public on it. Inviting comments on the draft, the ministry of electronics and IT has given time till September 10 which can be posted on the website. 
This follows EU Bill General Data Protection Regulation.

“EU GDPR was an over-reach. The Indian law seems a bit more rational and gets the balance right between the rights of the individual and the public good that comes from the digital economy. Having said that, the clauses on processing of data on reasonable grounds should have been less vague and the bill should have defined some accountability on part of the government when it processes personal data of the users without consent,” Suneeth Katarki, Partner, IndusLaw,

Read both and form your own opinion.

Right to be Forgotten:
GDPR’s Article 17 has outlined the circumstances under which EU citizens can exercise their right to be forgotten or right to erasure. The Article gives individuals the right to get personal data erased under six conditions, including withdrawal of consent to use data, or if data is no longer relevant for the purpose it was collected. However, the request may not be entertained in some situations such as if the request contradicts the right of freedom of expression and information, or when it goes against  public interest in the area of public health, scientific or historical research or statistical purposes. The B.N. Srikrishna Committee report has laid significant emphasis on obtaining the consent of an individual to process and use personal data. The committee said consent must be “informed”, “specific” and “clear”, and needs to be capable of being withdrawn as easily as it was given. 

The draft Personal Data Protection Bill, 2018, has a section on the Right to be Forgotten. But the proposed bill does not provide right to erasure. 

Section 27 of the bill has listed out three scenarios in which an individual will have the “right to restrict or prevent continuing disclosure of personal data” or the right to be forgotten, in a sense. This will be applicable if data disclosure is no longer necessary, the consent to use data has been withdrawn or if data is being used contrary to the provisions of the law. An adjudicating officer will have to determine the applicability of one of the three scenarios. The officer will also have to determine that the right of the individual to restrict use of her data over-rides the right to freedom of speech or right to information of any other citizen. (Source: Livemint)

Andhra Entrepreenurs

This second book by Indian Innovators Association looks at the history of Andhra — this is not a story of Rajas and Sultans but of Entrepreneurs. The market is the battlefield. More specifically, it is about the Farmer Capitalists of Andhra and their technocrat successors. 

What is unique about them? They are different; they are neither from the trading community nor from the deserts. The long prologue takes the reader to chapters on the Farmer Capitalists of Andhra, second generation Andhra entrepreneurs, an introduction to the fourth industrial revolution and ends by looking at some opportunities for smart Andhra entrepreneurs. 

“Now is the time for successors to farmer capitalists to reinvent farming with tools of the fourth industrial revolution.”

The book is currently available:

Notion Press Store: https://notionpress.com/read/andhra-entrepreneurs

Amazon.in: https://amzn.to/2mXMhf2

Flipkart: https://bit.ly/2LFBdBV

Infibeam:  https://bit.ly/2NUxFIT