Intellectual Property Rights are rights
that are conferred by a sovereign authority of a nation. They help
convert an intangible creation of the mind into a tangible asset that
can then be treated like any other movable property.
If this is going to be
the century of knowledge, then one must understand why. This is because
knowledge has the capacity, through the process of innovation, to get
itself converted into wealth and social good. But what is important is
that it’s not just knowledge that can be converted in wealth. It is the
usable knowledge, and not only the usable knowledge, it is the knowledge
that is protected that alone can create wealth because the right to use
that knowledge is given to the individual who has created that
innovation and that is where the basic concept of IP and IP protection
comes in and this is where India has to become particularly strong.
Why PATENT Information?
The publication of
patent specifications is an essential feature of the patenting process
throughout the developed world. Patent specifications set out the full
technical details of how an invention works. Over 30 million patents
have been published so far and each year one million new ones appear.
This makes patents the largest single body of technological information
available anywhere. Furthermore, the vast bulk of this information
cannot be obtained from any other source, i.e. it is true that
approximately 70% of all information contained in patent document is
never published anywhere else other than in the original specification.
Patents also provide commercial information which gives an insight into
what new markets competitors are developing or even which countries can
be seen as providing their main markets. For these reasons, at least,
patent information should provide an essential part of any
organization's information portfolio.
Why is the knowledge of IPR
necessary?
It is important because
R&D and Technology Groups main aim is to generate technology. They may
lose out say by experimenting on known technology. They should be able
to give an international patent search. They should know what, where and
how to obtain a patent. They should have a budget for filing patents,
for maintaining patents, for fighting infringements etc. They should
have a policy on sharing of revenues. Industry Association Research
Institutions should have an IPR policy for cooperative R&D efforts for
group of industries.
IPR Initiative at TATA STEEL
• With the
implementation of WTO’s Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights
(TRIPS). Intellectual Property (IP) has been given considerable
importance at Tata Steel. In order to energies the process of creation,
protection and leveraging of IP assets, two committees were formed i.e.
IP Executive Committee and Team IP.
* The role of the IP
Executive Committee shall be to draw up the Company’s IP mission
statement, to approve the roadmap for IP initiatives in the Company, to
monitor the IP program and to evaluate the performance of the Team IP.
* The role of team
IP, determining IP goals and timelines Inventorying and cataloguing
of IP assets of the Company updating IP inventory setting
Responsibility. Matrices Training and upgrading of IP knowledge,
including coordinating between various IP organizations
Benchmarking/Identifying best practices and improving review mechanism
• IP Road Map : Determining IP goals and timelines.
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