DRDO Grants Free Patent Access to Boost Indigenous Production

Introduction

To boost indigenous production and give a fillip to the ‘Make in India' policy, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has decided to grant the Indian industry free access to patents held for technologies developed by it.

A new policy formulated by the DRDO recently states that no licence fee or royalty will be applicable on the use of Indian patents held by the research agency. There are hundreds of such patents covering missile technology, aeronautics, naval systems, life sciences, armaments, combat engineering, electronics and communication material.

The previous DRDO policy called for managing intellectual property (IP) rights in an effective, efficient and ethical manner to derive full economic potential and consider opportunities for commercial exploitation of IP and wealth creation.

“Earlier, licence fee for patents and royalty could range anywhere from several lakh rupees to over a crore depending upon the type of technology involved, the cost of the project, baseline price and post-production quantum of sales to non-defence sector,” a DRDO official said. Now, only a processing fee of Rs 1,000 would be charged.

Pointing out that the current IP landscape in the country was characterised by a certain level of disconnect between IP creators and potential users, the policy states that the availability of the DRDO patents to Indian industry at zero cost provides an opportunity for enhancing their capabilities and climbing up in supply chain.

Source

The Tribune, 11 November 2019