August 17 issue of Nature discusses frivolous patent filing
U.C. Lavania, a senior scientist at CIMAP, wrote in the Aug 17 issue of the journal Nature:
"Obtaining a US patent, especially on plant varieties, is an easy alternative to publishing in peer-reviewed journals for high-profile scientists, because money for filing patents is easily available, with no questions asked about the financial viability of the discovery."
Nature even nicknamed CSIR [Council of Scientific and Industrial Research in India]as "India's patent factory" after noting that its US patents exceeded the total number of patents granted to its counterparts in France, Japan and Germany combined.
The IANS story noted: CSIR director general Ragunath Mashelkar, whose slogan "patent or perish" propelled the craze for US patents, said it was too early for CSIR to expect big monetary returns considering that only about three percent of all existing US patents are ever licensed. "For us to be noticed, we need a portfolio of patents. That is what we are creating," Mashelkar added.
Additionally the story noted: "Most of the patents are not even worth the paper it is printed on," said Suresh Chandran, who handled biotech patents in India before becoming licensing manager for a firm in Singapore's Biopolis.
"May be it is a passing phase...but I can tell you that we waste quite a lot on this activity," he said.
"Obtaining a US patent, especially on plant varieties, is an easy alternative to publishing in peer-reviewed journals for high-profile scientists, because money for filing patents is easily available, with no questions asked about the financial viability of the discovery."
Nature even nicknamed CSIR [Council of Scientific and Industrial Research in India]as "India's patent factory" after noting that its US patents exceeded the total number of patents granted to its counterparts in France, Japan and Germany combined.
The IANS story noted: CSIR director general Ragunath Mashelkar, whose slogan "patent or perish" propelled the craze for US patents, said it was too early for CSIR to expect big monetary returns considering that only about three percent of all existing US patents are ever licensed. "For us to be noticed, we need a portfolio of patents. That is what we are creating," Mashelkar added.
Additionally the story noted: "Most of the patents are not even worth the paper it is printed on," said Suresh Chandran, who handled biotech patents in India before becoming licensing manager for a firm in Singapore's Biopolis.
"May be it is a passing phase...but I can tell you that we waste quite a lot on this activity," he said.
posted by Lawrence B. Ebert at 4:58 AM
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