Having finished reading the fascinating book, \u201cThou shalt Innovate: How Israeli\nIngenuity Repairs the World\u201d, by Avi Jorisch, a single thought kept repeating\non a loop in my brain. What is so different about Israel? After all, Israel was\nfounded only 64 years ago on almost barren terrain with hardly any natural\nresources, little water and with more than half its land mass stretching into\ndesert. Six decades later this country is a world leader in science and\ntechnology having the most start-ups per capita worldwide, and the third\nhighest number of patents per head. No small feat. As I sat musing about this, it\nstruck me that we Indians are not very different from the Israelis. Both\ncultures have emerged from an ancient civilization that have strong family\nvalues with emphasis on education and spirituality. The list of similarities is\nan endless study in itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Innovation, suggests author Avi Jorisch, is the sacred calling of\nmodern Israel. The people of Israel love to invent things. Last year, the\nnumber of patents granted to Israeli companies in medical instrumentation put\nit first globally in relation to population size and fourth in terms of number\nof patents. Israel consistently ranks number one in the world for bio-pharma\nand life sciences patents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Working closely with patent attorneys, investors, researchers and\ncorporate business developers, it is not lost on me that a good innovation\nalone is enough to sail the ship. We should work towards generating and\nfostering a sustainable patent-conscious research environment which is now a\ncritical task in our knowledge-driven economy. The scientific community must be\nencouraged and inspired such that each individual has the opportunity to create,\ngrow, and commercialise through the development and exploitation of patents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This stark reality cannot be more obvious than now as the whole world is\non the race to find a cure for the coronavirus. The novel coronavirus outbreak\nis a crisis that the world has not witnessed for a century. Diseases need\nprevention, management and treatment mechanisms. The steps that are being taken\ncurrently are for delaying the spread of the disease and for management of the\naffected patients. However, these steps alone cannot restore normalcy, as human\nlife stands disrupted. In order for the world to go back to normal, vaccines\nand medicines are required.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The entire global community has pitched in to speed up this process. The\nworld intellectual property organization has launched a new search functionality for\nits global patent database, called \u2018Patentscope<\/a>\u2019, to\nfacilitate the location and retrieval of information contained in published\npatent documents that may be useful for innovators developing new technologies\nto fight the covid-19 pandemic. It will provide scientists, engineers,\npublic health policymakers, governments, and members of the public with an\neasily accessible source of intelligence for improving the detection,\nprevention, and treatment of diseases such as the novel coronavirus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Indian pharmaceutical firms have a world class reputation. During the\nHIV\/AIDS outbreak the cost of treatment was drastically reduced by the Indian\npharma companies. Many lives were saved globally as healthcare was made affordable. India\ncontinues to manufacture and supply reasonably priced medicines and diagnostic\nkits matching international standards for Malaria, Tuberculosis, HIV, Hepatitis\nB and C, Dengue, Chikungunya, SARS and H1N1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Recent developments suggest there is widespread global mistrust. The\ncurrent lack of a consistent global policy on IP and health, despite the\nmassive outbreak, would result in further delays for production of vaccines and\nmedicines. India can use this windfall to lead the way having at its disposal\nboth the innovative capability, a robust patent system and cost effective large scale manufacturing\nfacilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the important goals as set out in India\u2019s national IPR policy\nreleased in may 2016 was to create a platform for sharing of research. It\ncalled for creation of a public platform to function as a common database of\nIPRS. Such a platform can help creators and innovators connect to potential\nusers, buyers and funding institutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On the same lines the \u201cOpen Covid Pledge\u201d was developed by the Open Covid\nCoalition, an international group of scientists and lawyers seeking to\naccelerate the rapid development and deployment of diagnostics, vaccines,\ntherapeutics, medical equipment and software solutions in this urgent public\nhealth crisis. The Open Covid Pledge calls on organisations around\nthe world to make their patents and copyrights freely available in the fight\nagainst the Covid-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Indian awareness on\npatents and the possibility of its commercial exploitation is slowly\nincreasing. Indian companies, investors, scientists, bankers and government officials\nshould stop looking at patents as an unnecessary cost and instead should see\nthe bigger picture. In fact for any healthy company, holding an\nintellectual property portfolio has become the norm. With the economy spinning out of control going back to\nfundamental ways of making money, like research and innovation leading to world\nclass products, should be encouraged. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Breakthroughs are imminent and this should help jump start the economy and put India on the global map. To quote Li Keqiang \u201cInnovation is an inexhaustible engine for economic development\u201d. This is very true and protecting that innovation with a patent is going to be the jet engine that is going to propel us to a sustainable and successful enterprise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For more\ninformation read <\/p>\n\n\n\n https:\/\/www.wipo.int\/pressroom\/en\/articles\/2020\/article_0008.html<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/blogs\/toi-edit-page\/to-tackle-the-corona-crisis-enable-and-bring-together-innovative-research-on-a-common-intellectual-property-platform\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n https:\/\/www.ft.com\/content\/5a364eb0-780c-11ea-bd25-7fd923850377<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n