Trademark awareness inadequate in India

A seminar on 'Role of Trademarks in Mar­keting of Goods and Services and the TRIPS Agreement' was organized recently in Hy­derabad by tlle Confederation of Indian In­dustry in collaboration with the World Intellectual Property Organisation (\\tlPO), the Department of Industrial Development and United Nations Development Pro­gramme (UNDP) .

Speaking at the seminar, Shri G S Jaiya, WIPO Senior Counsellor (for Asia and the Pacific) said that although the number of applications for trademarks sent annually to WIPO by Indian and British manufacturers are almost the same, considering the respec­tive populations of the two countries the number of Indian applicati'ons is inadequate. He said, there is a fair amount of awareness about the importance of trademarks in India but it needs to be more widespread.

Shri R K Sinha, Secretary, Ministry of In­dustry, in his inaugural address said that though the new Trademark Bill is yet to be passed by Parliament, it should be imple­mented speedly to generate confidence and interest among producers and consumers alike. Small entrepreneurs should pursue the trademark regime as actively as big busi-

ness houses. Mr Sinha said there is a need to make the small entrepreneurs aware of the fact that goodwill associated with brand name is the deciding factor for the con­sumer.

MNCs rushing for filing drug patents in India

According to the data available with the Cen­tral Drug Research Institute (CDRI), Lucknow, 68 process patents for drugs and medicines were applied for by foreign com­panies till Jan' 96, while only 9 patent appli­cations were filed from Indian drug firms.

The US drug giant, Eli Ully tops the list of patent applicants with a total of 15 applica­tions to its credit followed by Janseen Phar­maceuticals of Switzerland (9 applications). Eli Ully has tied up with Indian company Ranbaxy Laboratories for bringing in new technology in drugs besides marketing ex­pertise. A majority of the patent applications of Eli Lilly are in the area of process for preparing enzymes from microbial sources, excitatory amino acids, different formula­tions of insulin and anlithrombotic agents. Janseen's applications pertain to formula­tions of anti-fungal and anti-migraine drugs.

In India, only process patents are accepted and not product patents. According to CDRI scientists, this sudden increase in drug proc-

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ess patenting could be in anticipation of the independent drug pricing authority which was expected to be sympathetic to industry.

MNCs top, the patents filing list

According to an analysis carried out by the patent facilitating cell of the Technology In­formation, Forecasting and Assessment Council (rIFAC) of the Department of Sci­ence & Technology, New Delhi, the number of applications filed in India by multinational companies is 10 times more than. the num­ber filed by Indian companies in the elec­tronics sector. Indian companies have filed only 29 applications as compared to 226 by top multinationals during the last few months.

The telecom giant Motorola Incorporated tops the list with 33 patents. Among others, Daewoo ~lectronics of South Korea filed 31 patent applications, Seimens Akteingesell­schaft, 19; lonica International Ltd, 11; Qual­comm Incorporation, 11; IBM Corporation, 6; Thompson Consumer Electronics, 6; and Discovision Associates, 6; General Electric Co, 5; Phillips Electronics NY, 5; and Sony Corporation, 5.

Public funded institutions such as CSIR and Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) filed 7 applications and 17 applications were filed by native individuals. The areas covered mainly by Indian companies are multiplex­ing, biomedical devices (cardiac pace­maker), data transmission system, sensors and consumers devices.

Daewoo has filed patent applications mostly in the area of optical detection system, proc­essing of video signals, washing machine and humidity sensors.

According to the TIFAC analysis nearly half of the patent applications (about 110) were convention applications which would give

the companies a priority date in India. In other words, a patent if granted would be effective from the original date on which it was filed in convention country.

Japan marches ahead of Europe in technology patenting

According to an analysis carried out by Prof. Pierre Papon and Mr Remi Barre for the UNESCO's World Science Report 1996, Ja­pan is marching ahead of Europe in techno­logical skill and patenting and is catching up with the US. During the last six years, Ja­pan's share has been one-fourth of the pat­ents filed in the US marking an increase of 11% in comparison to the US share which has increased by only 5% during the same pe­riod. The share of patents filed by the Euro­pean Union (EU) countries in the US has declined by 24% during the same period. Newly industrialized countries together ac­count for only 1.3% of the patents in the US.

Of the patents filed in Europe, EU maintains the lead, accounting for nearly 50% of the patents filed followed by US (27%) and Japan (21%). No other country's share is above one percent. However, the EU countries have lost 9% of their share in six years while Japan gained 29% and the US 3%.

An analysis of area-wise patenting in Europe showed that the' Triad countries - US, Japan and EU' - enjoy almost the same share in electronics/ electricity sector. The US is stronger in instruments/optics as well as in chemistry and pharmaceuticals. The Euro­peans are strong in most areas but during the last six years they lost ground in elec­tronics and instruments/optics. Japan in contrast, showed sharp increase in its strength in most ateas except chemistry and pharmaceuticals.

244 J. INTEUEC. PROP. RIGHTS,JULY 1996

Although the sources of R&D funding are different in the three regions of the ' Triad' (The EU, US and Japan) , the pattern of R&D spending was found to be similar. In Europe nearly 38% of funding is from public 'civilian sources (only 17% in US). in the US 24% comes from military funds (only 1.4% in Ja­pan); while industry provides 76% of R&D funds in Japan (only 53% in Europe) . In all the three regions between 13-18% is spent in public resear h institutions, 13-19% in uni­versities and 63-74% in industry.

Brazil changes patent law

A new patent law recently passed by legisla­ture in Brazil extends intellectual property protection to foods and pharmaceuticals. With the passing of the new law Brazillian laboratories Vlould no more be able to copy patented drugs and sell them freely in the country which is the world's sixth largest market for phar:rnaceuticals.

The new law Vlould bring country in line with the international practices. While support­ers of the new law claim that it will not only stimulate foreign investment but would also help build up an indigenous drug industry, its critics think otherwise. They feel the low level of R&D spending by Brazillian firms would give foreign-owned companies a chance to lock up all commercially viable research in tlle couritry. According to Sara Kanter, technical director of Brazil's Ass0-ciation of the National Pharmaceutical Labo­ratories in Sao Paulo, the Brazillian pharmaceutical industry is still in the copy­and- innovative phase and the market share does not allow to have capital enough to invest in research. She predicts that the new law could lead to 90% of the Brazillian aca­demic research in the field being absorbed by multinational companies.

What has angered Kanter's group and sev­eral other organizations,

including scientific societies is a clause that extends protection to existing patents that have not yet yielded marketable products. This so-called 'pipeline' provision would pre­vent a Brazillian lab, for example, from work­ing on a product patented by a US or British drug company that is still under develop­ment

UK Parliament looks at patents

In view of the widespread apprehension about the consequences of patenting of hu­man DNA or genetically modified organ­isms under the new Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) system the UK Parlianlentary Office of Science and Technology (POsn has conducted a study covering the current patent system, its interaction with new tech­nologies and the role of patenting in public research. It has now corne out with a report Patents, Research and Technology - Compati­bilities and Conflicts. Some of the important issues covered in the re;port are:

• The ethical and moral dimensions in some new biotechnology inventions, where there is a debate over how far the patent system shouLd handle society's disquiet over 'inventions' such as the on­comouse, or should be used to patent human genes .

• The future role of the UK Patent Office in the face of an increasing trend to file pat­ents at a European or international level

• The breadth of claims made for some new technologies (especially biotechnology); is it right that patents should be given to cover whole species or crops such as cot­ton?

• The role of exclusions of some forms of technology from patenting; should com-

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puter programs continue to be protected by copyright, or be more readily patent­able?

• International harmonization of IPR sys­tems

• The extent of patenting in public research in a climate of increasing emphasis both on basic research and wealth creation

• The role of the European Commission, particularly with respect to' its efforts to apply a directive on biotechnological in­ventions as an overlay on existing na­tional and European patent systems.

The report is available from posr, House of Commons, 7 Millbank, London SWIP 3JA, UK