Target patent literacy

MUMBAI, October 5: The Indian scientific community is plagued by patent illiteracy', according to Dr R A Mashelkar, Director General, Coun...

MUMBAI, October 5: The Indian scientific community is plagued by patent illiteracy8217;, according to Dr R A Mashelkar, Director General, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research CSIR.

Terming the sluggish patent procedures in India as a major pitfall, he revealed, 8220;India has a backlog of 26,000 patents. There are just 37 patent examiners. Due to this, many want to file their patents in the USA or Europe, where things move faster.quot;

The man who changed the face of scientific research in India said while scientists abroad think of how to convert their theses and research works into hard cash, scientists here are still living with academic fantasies. 8220;It is surprising and pathetic to note that a majority of our scientists do not know anything about patent regulations. This is because we have become victims of a mindset that divorces academic work from its industrial implications,8221; he said.

After he took over as chief of CSIR, he drafted an ambitious plan Vision 20008242;. 8220;We hope to secure at least 1000 patents by the year 2000. We have identified 160 plants of medicinal value. Our aim is to isolate the plant-based bioactive molecules which can work against disease-causing germs,8221; Mashelkar explained. At CSIR, if a scientist gets patent rights for something, he gets 40 per cent of the royalty. 8220;Unlike other government institutions, everything here is flexible,8221; he said.

8220;I want science and research to be more pragmatic, where we can make money and provide industrial infrastructure in new areas. It is this attitude towards research that fetched us a revenue of over Rs 200 crore last year,8221; he asserted.

It was Mashlekar8217;s sustained fight with an American institute that won India8217;s case on the turmeric issue on August 13 this year.

Mississippi Medical Centre got patent rights from the US Patent and Trademark Office for isolating Curcumin, the active molecule in turmeric. Seeing the imminent danger, CSIR took the initiative and fought in a US court that turmeric8217;s medicinal value had been recognised by Indians ages ago.

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8220;If we had not fought the case, Americans would have acquired all the marketing rights for turmeric in the world. There8217;s a total unawareness on this issue even at the political level. CSIR fought this case as a matter of principle and prevented the country from an embarrassing crisis,8221; the CSIR chief said.

The CSIR has prepared a CD-ROM containing complete information about all natural medical herbs 8211; the first of its kind. 8220;To fight such cases, we should have adequate information. That8217;s the reason we compiled this huge data base,8221; he said.

8220;In the case of turmeric, we had sufficient evidence to prove that turmeric8217;s medicinal value was an Indian concept. In case of neem, we didn8217;t have such evidence,8221; said Mashelkar. Few years ago, an American company isolated Azidarachtin, the active molecule in neem, and got exclusive marketing rights.