Despite the pretensions of being a global engineering talent pool, India is increasingly falling behind even countries like China in innovation, according to a white paper released by Delhi-based Zinnov Consulting.
According to the paper, the number of patents filed in India is just one-eighth that of China. This is despite the fact a large number of patents filed in India are by non-Indian persons and companies.
However, patents filed in India, has increased at an average of 11% per year for the last three years to reach more than 36,000 patents annually, the agency said.
It identified issues such as lack of education and awareness about IP, its value and difficult access to capital to invest in IP creation as the primary reasons for the lag.
Also the lack of IP infrastructure in the form of IP agents, law schools, and special IP courts have also contributed to the sorry state, the agency said.
Patents are essential to protect innovations from being copied and commercially exploited by other firms and their filings give an indication of both innovation as well as commercialization of technology in a country.
Zinnov suggested remedies like bridging the gap between the Venture Capitalists & startups to help attract capital, helping technical professionals (IP creators) to better articulate their business model to result in commercialization of IP and set up a IP sharing mechanism between universities and industry. It also urged Indian government and industry to consult different stakeholders to replicate the success witnessed by other emerging emerged nations in IP.
