IITs to market patents with help from investment firms
IIT Bombay recently joined hands with Intellectual Ventures (which has drawn criticism for being a "patent troll" — those who acquire patents not to develop products but to pressure companies to pay licensing fees) to seek support in marketing and licensing patents the institute holds.
Sitting on a pool of close to 900 patents, the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) are, for the first time, planning to monetise these intellectual properties (IPs) by exploring tie-ups with firms that invest in "inventions".
IIT Bombay, for instance, recently joined hands with Intellectual Ventures (which has drawn criticism for being a "patent troll" — those who acquire patents not to develop products but to pressure companies to pay licensing fees) to seek support in marketing and licensing patents the institute holds. IIT Delhi too has signed up with the venture fund and others like IIT Kharagpur, IIT Kanpur and IIT Guwahati are considering such offers.
“Most of our faculty does research and there’s no inclination towards inventions. With this tie-up there’s a clear incentive to invent,” said Devang Khakkar, director, IIT Bombay. IIT Delhi Director Surendra Prasad agrees: “Securing the intellectual property (IP) has never been a major ambition for a faculty member. Since this tie-up, we have a regular series of patent filing which is picking up now. Besides, arrangements like these would help us protect the IP to an extent.” On an average, IIT Delhi files 20-25 patents annually.
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Industry observers agree that patent disclosures have increased dramatically since the IITs started tying up with these companies. “In a year’s time, patent disclosures have more than doubled. And in the next few years, it would go three-four times higher,” said a senior executive from one of the invested companies. Agrees IIT-B, which has seen the number of patent disclosures double.
