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Individuals outdo firms in software patent filings

Mamata Singh in New Delhi

Patenting of software in the country has been dominated by individuals rather than companies.

Eighty three software-related applications were filed between 1999 and 2001, among which 41 were by individuals and 32 were by companies.

A reason why there are larger number of individuals in the list of applicants could be that the filing fee for individuals is only Rs 1,500 compared to Rs 5,000 for companies, according to the intellectual property rights bulletin of the Technology and Information Forecasting Assessment Council.

Also, many software companies come under the category of small-scale industries, which may be proprietorship companies, making it easier to file under individual names.

The companies and institutions that have filed the applications include NIIT, Sony India, Tata Consultancy Services, Tata Infotech, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Webdunia.com, the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, the Indian Institute of Technology and the University of Delhi.

The number of applications is quite small keeping in mind the software boom in the country.

This, however, may be because the Indian Patents Act, before its amendment, was silent on the issue of software, which had led to varied interpretations of the law.

Indian companies and individuals may have, therefore, avoided filing applications in the country.

While the amended Patents Act has excluded the patenting of software per se, the term 'per se' is not defined in the Act, the bulletin says.

However, it may be generally construed that a software with a practical application or a technical effect may not remain a software per se, it adds.

Of the top 20 software exporting firms in the country, ST Microelectronics has the maximum number of patent applications -- eight -- filed in the US patent office.

Wipro's US-based unit secured a patent in 1999 on network management using browser-based technology. Most inventors are Indian citizens.

Kudrollis Software Inventions, a Mumbai-based company, received a US patent in 2001 on abbreviating and compacting text to cope with display space constraints, while Satyam Enterprise Solutions and Touch Technologies, based in the US, received a joint US patent in 2001 on telephony platform.

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