| INSIGHT |
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Intellectual
Property awareness in Indian software companies
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 A
short talk with Mr. Chaitanya Singh on the importance of
IP awareness in Indian Software companies. Mr. Chaitanya
Singh has pursued his Masters in Intellectual Property
from Franklin Pierce Law Center, Concord. He worked with
World Intellectual Property Organisation for a year. At
present he works as the legal counsel of Mphasis.
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1.Is IP awareness
important in software services companies? |
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Yes,
IP awareness is very important for software services
companies and it is time that the prevalent software
services companies realized and accorded the kind of
significance that IP deserves in the whole scheme of
things. As per the general contractual terms, the software
services companies typically provide the services that are
considered as “work for hire”. Accordingly, all the IP
rights that are embodied in the software are assigned to
the client or customer, hence the software services
companies feel that they need not bother about the IP.
However, this perception is completely flawed because
during the whole process, IP is created not only in terms
of the software that is created pursuant to the agreement
but there are several other categories of IP also that are
created in terms of processes, tools, techniques, design,
architecture and so on and so forth. The employees of the
company need to be educated about the potential risks
involved in dealing with the valuable IP as the lack of
such awareness can prove costly to a company through loss
of business advantage or liability to the tune of
millions.
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2.What is the level of
IP awareness among software companies in India? what is
the perspective of Indian entrepreneurs and VCs towards
IP? |
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The level of IP awareness among software
companies in India is very low. Right from the top companies
like Infosys or WIPRO to smaller ones there is very little
awareness. The awareness is limited to the first tier
employees or the legal/IP division. The level of awareness
among the lower level employees is dismally low and
unfortunately on a scale of ten it averages somewhere
between 1 and 2.
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3.Why is there such low awareness of IP
among software companies? What are different options
available to entrepreneurs who develop strong IP
portfolios? |
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As I had said earlier, the software services
companies wrongfully assume that all IP they create
belongs to the client or customer that in turn makes them
lackadaisical in their whole attitude towards dealing with
IP. It is human tendency that one would be interested in
protecting and preserving its rights with respect to
something that he owns. Since the companies think that the
ownership of the IP in the software does not belong to
them, hence they do not take proactive steps to educate
their employees about the IP. This results in unawareness
amongst the employees with respect to IP and consequently
a lot of IP that gets created within the process gets
frittered away due to lack of awareness. Moreover,
traditionally, Indian companies were not used to
leveraging intellectual assets for business advantage.
Even in this era of globalization, Indian culture
propagates the belief that knowledge is free for all and
that it shall not be treated and appropriated as private
property and ought to be disseminated freely. As a result,
we did not have an ambience that conducive to the growth
of IP culture and awareness in the country.
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4.What is the
situation in product based companies? |
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The situation is not much different in product
based software Companies either. They are also not much
aware about the value of IP in their product and the steps
to be taken to protect it. Awareness among such companies
is also limited to the top tier alone. |
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| 5.What
do you think Indian software Companies should do about
IP? |
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It is time for Indian companies to realize the
value of IP and to become aware about the IP. Every company
should develop an IP culture and hygiene. They should get a
proper IP portfolio done and an inventory of all the IP that
is created by the companies shall be made. They shall
utilize every intellectual asset they generate to gain
business advantage in the global market. They shall carry
out periodic IP auditing and IP valuation and avail the
services of professional to carry out proper and efficient
Intellectual Property Management and Intellectual Capital
Management. They should train their employees on various
aspects of IP, learn steps to protect, enforce and
commercialize and be wary of using other's IP. It is time to
realize the value of what each company is generating and to
make a mark in the global market as it is a proven fact that
IP is a very potent weapon that has the potential to make or
mar the fortunes of any company. |
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