I would like to start with a quote by Steve Jobs,
“Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower”.
This quote precisely describes about the wonders that innovation can do, and things can be inculcated pretty fast when we meet people who have made innovation their daily life.
But, unfortunately due to the pandemic meeting people has become difficult. In these tough times if you meet such eminent people virtually there can be nothing better than that. And in this situation our Director, Sir Vyankatesh Prabhudesaigave us this huge opportunity for which we all are really grateful.
On the 30th of November, the XI and XII regular students of Mushtifund Aryaan Higher Secondary School, were extremely privileged to welcome a very dynamic personality,Prof Prabuddha Ganguli for a highly exiting and informative interactive session.
It started off with the introduction of ProfGanguli.
Prof Ganguli is analumnusof the Bombay University where he pursued his bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering. He later did his MSc. Chem from IIT Kanpur and did his PHD in a unique topic called chemical physics based on the research which he did in TIFR.Later he completed his post doc research under the Humboldt Fellowship from Johannes Gutenberg University in Germany andWindsor University in Canada.
Prof is an adjunct faculty at IIT Jodhpur and the Co-Principal Investigator at NDLI (National Digital Library of India). Prof has also been the visiting scientist at the prestigious BARC.Prof has a working experience in many top industries like Hindustan Unilever Limited and is currently a consultant to many corporations across the globe. Prof has been closely associated with IIT’s across the country like IIT-B, IIT- KGP and IIT-Jodhpur. Prof is also the author of many books on IPR and has received many awards in this field.Prof Ganguli is currently the CEO of Vision-IPR , Mumbai from 2001 till date.
Prof. Ganguli started his presentation by mentioning that he thoroughly enjoys interacting with young minds and loves the way they decide their future. Prof said that he believes in preparing the young minds of studentsthrough methods of ploughing and airing so that the harvest produced is salutary for the society.
Vyankateshsir also agreed with this thought and said that the main reason he started Aryaans was to encourage young minds. The thing which attracted most of the people was that Prof Ganguli had initiated the processof patenting in IIT B in 2002. IIT B had insignificant number of patent applications / patents in its 4 decades of existence. However, his concerted efforts with the then Dean of R&D in IIT Bombay, Professor Suryanarayan, the number of patents filed from 2002 to 2005 were over 50. Interestingly several of them were by undergraduate students based on their project work.
This was also the positive fall out of the course on IPR and Innovation that he initiatedin IIT Bomaby during that period.
Prof. Ganguli portrayed the power of innovation and thoughts by giving the example of Rabindranath Tagore. Tagore’sinspiring lines exhibited that however dark the present is, if a person can innovate,he can engender a terrific impact towards social change.
Prof. started by questioning, what is Innovation?
Nowadays, needs of the people are growing rapidly and these unmet needs of people propel innovation. He gave an example of how internet (which was not a conceived need for society at the time it was invented) has now become a necessary societal need whch has brought about a major transformation in society especially in our lives and the way in which we live and work.
Sir said that any normal individual can innovate if he knows to
- Adapt others ideas
- Hybridizing ideas to reality
- Inducing new ideas to the society
- Directing and Altering the course of societal change
Elaborating these points,he gave the example of COVID-19 vaccine and said,the development of vaccine which normally takes a minimum of 7-8 years for completion has just now been completed in just under a year.
This is the power of innovation.
Prof then talked about accelerating social acceptance,transacting owned knowledge and influencing markets as they play a prominent rolein revamping the society. Prof said, competing cooperatively is highly beneficial for societal development.
Profalso discussed the process of democratization of knowledge in the context of innovation.Knowledge sharing and its inclusive use in society has also to be based on the mantra of “modernization without degrading morals”.
Then Prof talked about knowledge domains and discussed about the two main groups, namely a knowledge domain that is available for unconstrained use by public and the other domain that is protected and owned which may be used by the pubic, but with prior permission of the knowledge owner. Prof added, when we own knowledge, we control the access rights to it.
Prof Ganguli then briefly discussed innovations in the context of problems related to functionality. The innovations that address functionality issues, lead to inventions which can be protected by patents. The innovations that are associated with the aesthetic aspects only can be protected by Industrial Design Registrations. He also mentioned the other tools of IPR namely protection of new plant varieties, He also explained how problems addressing functional aspects have given rise to the development of seeds, microorganisms and specially designed animals for effective use by society
Prof also gave examples of the growth of Computer related inventions including recent trends in Artificial Intelligence. He said that the speed of inventions has dramatically increased as is evident from the rapid pace with which companies like Apple launch a new iphone practically every year.
Another type of innovation addresses only the aesthetic features and does not consider the functional aspects. This includes the creative elements that go in to make a product (article) look attractive to consumers through distinctive shapes and ornamentation of the article and disregards the functional aspects of these aesthetic features.He gave examples of a tea cup/ coffee mug and said that there are tea cups / coffee mugs of different shapes and ornamentation in the market, but the consumer gets attracted by such aesthetic features and is not guided in their purchase by the functional features. Such articles are protected by industrial design registrations.
He then mentioned how “expressions of the human mind” are protected by another IPR tool called “copyright”. He provided examples of books, paintings, sculptures, etc., and said that such creations are protected by copyright. We could easily understand the logic behind this approach as sir himself had used designed his attractive presentation slides in a unique manner in their layout with different fonts, shapes and colorful.
Then he discussed about the trademark sign which we see on various goods we buy daily. The main purpose of the trademark is to use a mark (such as words, logos, combination of words & logos, etc.) in the course of trade to help the consumer distinctly identify a product / service that is associated with a specific source / company offering those products / services.
Prof gave the example of the unique logos of TATA and APPLE. These multinationals are known by the trademark which they use extensively Therefore, different tools of IPR are used to protect different aspects of an innovation.
Then Prof Ganguli presented a slide showing how various technologies have developed and how much time it took for these technologies to become a reality in society since they were invented. Prof beautifully contrasted the automobile industry with telephone, internet,and cell phone industry.The automobile industry took a long time to diffuse into the society (almost 40 years), whereas the internet and the cell phone industry has shown an almost immediate acceptance in society.
Profused this slide to explain how the speed of innovations have changed demanding fast innovations and their management. He also emphasized on the point that when he was a scientist 3 decades ago there was a lot of comfort zone for technology developers. In contrast, which that comfort zone in terms of time now gone, we have to innovate with immense speed which sets in major challenges for the present generation demanding superfast thinking, thinking relevant, acting relevant and delivering relevant.
Then Vyankatesh Sir enquired if it was possible to file a patent in India even if a person already has a patent in the US for the same invention.
Prof answered this question by saying the one has to follow some basic principles namely, if there is already some knowledge in the public domain then the same invention cannot be patented anywhere else. So, if there is already a patent in an invention in the USA and is published (therefore available in the public domain), then it cannot be patented by someone else in India. However, there are some international conventions that determine the time limit for international filings by the same inventors. We are not going into the details of those laws in this presentation as that would take us into details of the law which is not the intention of this interactive session.
Prof also said that the proceedings in various patent offices are independent proceedings.
Patents are to be filed if one perceives commercialization potential of an invention. Also as the “Rights are Territorial”, one has to appreciate that if someone has a patent in India for an invention, then the person does not have the “rights” in Bangladesh, Nepal, Sril Lanka, Pakistan, USA, etc, unless the person has filed a patent for the same invention in those countries and have got them granted in those countries. Prof added that in 2002-2003 when he was teaching in IIT-B some students came to him with a few patents that were granted in the USA but had no equivalent patents in India. There query was whether they could use those invention in India without the permission of the US patent holders. Professor explained to them to importance of “territoriality of patent rights” and advised them they could safely use those patented invention in India as there were no patents in India for those invention in India. So, they could “copy with pride” and would be both ethically and legally safe.
Then, Prof Ganguli briefly talked about patents being “innovation checkposts” in the innovation highway. One has to be aware of the various patents that may come on the way to innovation. Therefore, before taking a research route to solve a problem, one has to conduct a patent search in all the international databases to besure, that the approach being developed or being followed will not get obstructed by the existing patents which act as checkposts. So, if one identifies such patents that may come on ones’research route, then the person has either to take permission from the patent holder to use the patented invention, or find ways to by-pass the patent. Such patent check posts need to be tackled strategically. But for that one has to conduct a “prior art search” to identify the relevant patents with a forethought in the context of one’s invention / proposed research subject and approach.
Prof said that a patent in India has a life of 20 years from the date of filing, (provided it is granted by the patent office after examination), whereas design registration has a term of 10 years and can be extended by another 5 years. Prof also explained the importance of copyright as a legal IPR tool.
This elaborate yet very precise presentation packed with a lot of information to guide us as “knowledge owners” of tomorrow.
Prof ended his beautiful presentation by giving 3 local Indian case studies which are innovations by local entrepreneurs. These were by way of illustrations to show us how to “plough minds, seed thoughts and harvest innovations for societal benefits”. They are:
- TARALTECH REACTOR – by Anjan Mukherjeehttps://taraltec.com/
This young entrepreneur is a perfect blend of science and innovation. He created a water purifyingdeviecwith his knowledge in engineering he gathered when he was a student in IIT-Bombay but utilized this knowledge most innovatively to design his Taraltec reactor which provides water from a tubewell that is 99.8% free from in the ground water without the use of chemicals, electricity, UV, etc. He has already commercialized this invention for which, he has filed patents in India and in different partsof the world.
- HABITECH NIVARA TANTRA – by Dr. Prafulla Naikhttp://www.prashak.com/nivara-tantra.html
This entrepreneur collaborated with an educational institution to convert innovative methods of making building materials and interlocking blocks using local soil and local skills to construct buildings and novel sanitation systems .Dr. Naik has already commercialised these in various parts of India.
- AMUL – a major cooperative movement that has blended social movement with technology and management.
This by far one of the finest examples of innovation with is a unique blend of a social movement, home grown relevant technologies and best of international management practices. The socio-political movement was initiated by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel to organize farmers as a cooperative for milk collection and local distribution, then including into this the latest technological developments related to treatment of Buffalo milk for preservation, ensuring quality control, systematic collection from the local farmers and then ensuring mass production, packaging and distribution. Prof cited this as a glowing successful example in India which has made its mark felt all over the world.
With these 3 case studies the presentation came to an end and now it was left open for questions. Vyankatesh sir started off with a few interesting questions and then students too asked questions. Prof responded with in-depth answers that set all of us thinking.
Vyankatesh sir questioned that as soon as we have a plan or an idea, should we wait to patent it or immediately patent it?
Prof responded to this question and said,as soon as we have an idea, we work on it and establish the proof of concept. Then make an assessment on its commercialization potential even if details are not worked on at that stage. If it is assessed having commercial potential, then one should file a provisional patent application and work further on the same. Prof, gave an example of a young person entrepreneur who worked in a laboratory in Pune. Most of the traditional Ayurveda doctors use a method in which 3 fingers are simultaneously placed at the 3 positions of the wrist to feel the pulse at those points. The traditional Ayurveda doctored then get into an interactive mode process with the patient to explore the connectivity between the pulses and the symptoms they gather from the patents. Based on these, the doctors make a correlation and arrive at the possible physiological condition of the patient. The young person designed acomprehensive device in which he has been able to systematize the placement of the fingers of a medical practitioner on the wrist of the patient and using a proprietary database arrive at the physiological condition of the patient. This entrepreneur has already filed patents for his inventions and has recently commercialised the same in the market.
Then a student asked a question, is it ethical if people in different countries copy ideas and patent their work based on these?
Prof first said that ideas perse are Prof said all this is ethical as long as we do it in accordance with the law and within the limits of the IPR.
Then Vyankatesh sir asked a very interesting question regarding the use of turmeric suspensions for healing wounds, which was filed as a patent in the US. Prof said that the US patent office granted the patent for this work. This was opposed by CSIR on the basis that the knowledge of theuse of turmeric for medication has been discovered and traditionally used since hundreds of years inIndia . The CSIR then spent several crores of rupees to identify the relevant documentation of this knowledge to successfully challenge and get the patent cancelled (revoked) in the USA. There are several technical discussions related to the differences between wounds, cuts, treating, healing, etc. Prof then brought out the significance of systematic documents, the scientific understanding, traditional practices, etc in the field of patents.
More questions poured in and a student enquired the procedure for patenting. Prof replied that we first have to take the idea, work on it, develop a proof of concept and then file a patent it before publishing it or speaking about it in the public domain.
Then a student asked a question, if we have patented our product and recently commercialized it, and in the process, someone copies it then should we immediately file a case in court or should we fight a case in court in the future?
Prof said this involves the concept of enforcement of rights. Sir said if we have the money to file a case, we should immediately file a case. In case we don’t have money, we can either take a loan or approach the insurance company to file a case.
There was a bit uncertainty regarding the issue of piracy, is copying a book online merely considered as piracy?
Prof replied to this question saying that, copying and distributing a book is against the law unless the author permits it. Photocopying the parts book for personal researc his an exception and is permitted.
Then sir emphasized on how important it is to choose the words while filing a patent. The phrases: this material ‘consists’, ‘comprises’, ‘contains’convey a different technical meaning Prof also advised that every individual who is filing a patent should be technically sound.
Then there was a question by Sir Vyankatesh regarding how to we come to know before filing a patent if the patent of the same type already exists? Prof answered this question saying that there are patent databases to search whether these patents already exist. Sir added that we have to undertake a massive trainingprogramme in our country to train the young researchers in patent database searches and how the results of such searchers can be used to design and conduct research projects, etc. Then came the final question of the day, related to business strategies.
The question was whenever we createa product, should we commercialize it in our own country in order to maintain the brand value or should we expand our business and export our product in other countries as well?
Prof beautifully answered this question by giving an example of laws in a country like China. He illustrated how in China, the government set its policies to attract investments in the country from foreign industrialists, set up partnership or a joint venture business, developed entrepreneurs and absorbed technologies and then took the path to innovations. Now China is well set with their mass production systems, innovations and IPR laws for their strong enforcement.
And with these satisfying responses to all the questions which we had at the back of our minds; the interactive session had come to an end.Then Manali Manjrekar, a student of class XII bestowed a vote of thanks to Prof Ganguli on the behalf of the Institute.
The talk presented by Prof was indeed a blissful experience and has also reflected his devotion towards his field. Not only his qualifications in the industry but his humbleness and personality are surely admirable. Even if we inculcate 10% of what Prof is now, we will surely achieve a lot in life. Professor, you were indeed a perfectionist and made this session an unforgettable one.
I would like to thank you for sparing your invaluable time with us.
I would also like to thank the Director, Sir Vyankatesh Prabhudesai without whom this session would not be possible. Sir I hope we will get an opportunity to meet such eminent personalities time and again.
Last but not the least, I would like to end with-
“Inventions cannot be judged on patent parameters, but patents have the ability to take inventions very far”. ~Kalyan Chakravarthy
Written by
Sairam Sanjay Wani
Student, XI (Reg)