Intellectual Property Rights, My New Found Love

Dear Visitors,

Greetings.

Age is never an impediment to learn if you are passionate. Am a firm believer in this credo.

So @63, I began diving into the new world of intellectual property rights or IPR as it is known.

Actually, IPR is not that new.

Way back in 1987 while working at The Indian Post (1987-89) in the then Bombay, I used to handle editorial supplements and telecom and computers was one of those chosen field of  interests.

Besides, used to co-report along with senior correspondent K T Jaganathan (now as Managing Editor-Business @ The Hindu).

We have jointly authored several stories on the developments on the C-DoT (Centre for the Development of Telematics), the favorite child of the then telecom czar Sam Pitroda. Tata Institute of Fundamental Research Director Madhav V Pitke, who was also the founding directors of C-DoT, was one of our regular touch points.
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Through him, we flew into Delhi for three day interaction with telecom officials and a meeting with Pitroda and then flew into Bangalore, the headquarters of C-DoT, for a first hand exposure to the development of 10,000 lines RAX. (Today 10,000 RAX is nothing, but big those days). That's where I was exposed to the intellectual property rights on account of inventions made by scientists working there.

Then when I shifted to Delhi in January 1992 as Special Correspondent for the newly launched Business Day, a sister publication of  Mic-Day of  Bombay and an afternoon business tabloid for the first time in India, I began circling around the Company Law Board in Shastri Bhavan for regular coverage of corporate battles among the big names: The Readers Digest case, the Chabbrias etc. Almost for 3 full years I did the CLB stint, thus getting exposed to the legal battle of corporate variety with a high level kerfuffle.
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Not to be missed is the frequent darkening of doors of soliciting firms assisting the entry of MNCs into India following the installation of the PV Narasimha Rao government.  Policy making, policy intervention and legal battles over corporate matters became my stable diet.

So intellectual property rights, court battles, hobnobbing with legal fraternity as part of my learning process are not alien to me.

Now, am re-entering the IPR arena, mostly inspired by the rise of IPR culture in India - particularly after the Made In India launch. There is a lot of talk about IPR and above all, the innate desire to chronicle the IPR progress in India.

Globalisation is in full swing. The kind of data am collecting makes me giddy. The Indian Patent Office and the surge in the number of patent attorney outfits are interesting points.

So, here I go with this new found love: IPR.

Will be blogging at regular intervals.

Cheers
Ramesh Kumar
Greater Noida
22 June 2019