Commercialising domestic patents: Emulating Singapore's example

Development of civilisation through centuries is marked by countless inventions and innovations and without them the world would not have been what it is now. History of development is actually a story of continuous efforts for new inventions and innovations and materialising the same for economic development of a nation. World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) Modal Law for Developing Countries on Inventions, 1979 defines invention as "an idea of an inventor which permits in practice the solution to a specific problem in the field of technology".

An invention is the concentrated expression of a new technological idea while "innovation" can be defined as something original and more effective that "breaks into" the market or society as something new. It is often viewed as application for better solutions that meet new requirements, or existing market needs. An invention is protected by "Patent" which is an exclusive right granted for inventing a product or a process that provides, in general, a new way of doing something, or offers a new technical solution to a problem. A patent gives the inventor the exclusive right to use the same for a maximum period of 16 years in Bangladesh and 20 years in the other countries. A patent is a property which may be bought, sold, hired or licensed, like any other commodity.

Experience shows that while good inventions are the results of specific technological knowledge, experience, imagination and creativity in problem solving, success of innovation mainly depends on marketing qualities of the invention and the entrepreneurial ability of the inventor.

It is widely recognised that most of the product inventions are the result of hard work and long experience of working on the process by the inventors. But it is often found that those who made excellent inventions, cannot convert their ideas into profitable commercial ventures or products despite their efforts. The basic reason behind this is the lack of entrepreneurial experience and support. Commercial success of invention will largely depend on the way it has been presented to the market and its customers. 

All technological development policies are implemented effectively at appropriate stages of the following technological development cycle:

The technological development cycle will rotate as above towards sustainable development of the country.

COMMERCIALISATION OF LOCAL PATENTS: If we look at present scenario of commercialisation of local patents in Bangladesh, we shall find that most of the product patents are the results of innovative ideas and long experience in relevant disciplines. They generally approach the Department of Patent, Design & Trademarks (DPDT), a department under the Ministry of Industries for patent registration. People, who apply for patenting their innovations, generally do not have any entrepreneurial experience or sufficient capital to market their inventions.

Patent drafting is a very complicated issue and thorough technical knowledge is required for a standard drafting which is totally absent in Bangladesh. Moreover, as most of the individual inventors come from poor financial standing, they cannot afford drafting costs. As a result, the learned lawyers in our country are not interested in patent drafting. Those who practice in this line mainly deal with Trademarks and Design and Patent applications are filled by the foreigners. That is why patent drafting in Bangladesh is not up to the mark and does not fulfil the requirements of international standard.

The cost of retaining the patent is also quite exorbitant. It requires nearly Tk.150,000 (One hundred and fifty thousand) to retain the patent right for 16 years in favour of the inventor. It is difficult for an individual inventor to bear the expenses until and unless the invention proves commercially viable.

Bangladesh aims to become a middle-income country by 2021 and to achieve the target our local inventions and innovations deserve more attention of the government so that we are able to compete in a highly competitive international market with our own inventions. As technology and invention are two fundamental components of development, more emphasis should be given to innovations to attain sustainable development. Once technology or invention becomes available in the form of information, the entrepreneurs will come forward to invest in new products rather than importing the same from abroad.

Keeping this point as the focal issue, the Bangladesh Indenting Agents' Association (BIAA) called on the Minister for Industries Amir Hosain Amu, MP on February 02, 2017 under the leadership of Muhammad Ayub, President, Bangladesh Indenting Agents' Association (BIAA) and urged the Minister to take up the issue with top priority. We requested the Minister to form a coordination committee/body comprising of representatives from the Ministry, SME Foundation, DCCI, MCCI, FBCCI, BUET and other related bodies to expedite commercialisation of new inventions. The Committee will perform the following functions:

a) To identify the new inventors in different remote areas of the country.

b) To assist Patent drafting to conform to international standard.

c) To monitor technological development and sustainability of inventions with the help of technically skilled professors of the universities to make it international standard.

d) To identify potential entrepreneurs/investors for commercialisation of the inventions.

e) To execute a tripartite agreement among the inventor, university faculty and the potential investor so that the commercialisation of the invention is secured as soon as the patent is awarded by the concerned authority. The parties of the agreement will get the share of the proportionate profits as per terms of the agreement.

In our country, the local patents are mainly awarded to the government-financed research institutes. As per statistics available in the DPDT, a total of 5,457 patents were awarded until 2016, out of which 671 were local and 4,786 foreign. Number of local patents is very negligible in comparison with foreign patents. No statistics is however available on the number of local patents which were commercially marketed. It appears from the above statistics that a total of 2017 applications were filed by the local inventors out of which only 671 were awarded patents mainly due to lack of knowledge in drafting patent applications. Most of the applications failed to specify the reason for which they want to be protected by law.

The Ministry of Industries has given due importance to the issue. A coordination meeting was held on 29-03-2017 with Md. Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan, ndc, Sr. Secretary, Ministry of Industries and the following decisions were taken in the meeting for protection of IP rights of the local inventors:

i) A Patent Coordination Cell will be formed with the participation of the inventor, entrepreneur and Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce & Industries (FBCCI). The cell will conduct preliminary assessment regarding patentability of the invention and selection of entrepreneur, and will prepare all necessary documents for filing the patent application. If necessary, the cell will seek technical assistance from the Engineering Universities and Ministry of Industries.

 ii) DPDT will submit a report within 3 (three) months identifying the technical and administrative drawbacks of the Trademarks applications.

 iii) DPDT will submit a proposal to the Ministry of Industries regarding publication of "Journal" in the               website of DPDT instead of Bangladesh Government Press. The related clause of the relevant law may       be amended.

 iv) DPDT will submit a report identifying the technological and administrative problems for immediate             solution so that the design applications can be disposed of within 30 working days.

 v) DPDT will submit a proposal to the Ministry of Industries for establishment of an Intellectual Training        Academy.

The government should facilitate commercialisation of new patents in the interest of attaining self-reliance and encourage local inventors.

For protection of IP rights we may follow the policies adapted by Singapore. Singapore recognises the significance of intellectual property for the economy, both as a national resource and also to attract foreign investment. To develop intellectual property as a strategic and competitive asset, Singapore adopts an essentially pro-active lP rights policy for the development of high value-added and creative-content industries. ln 2000, the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) was converted into a semi-autonomous statutory body administering the lP system in Singapore. Singapore has public education campaigns led by IPOS and National Science & Technology Board aimed at promoting greater public awareness on lP rights. Today, Singapore is one of the leading nations in terms of patent filings and creation of lP assets.

The writer is secretary of Bangladesh Indenting Agents' Association (BIAA). [email protected]