Innovation is playing an important role in the economic development and growth of every country. But still, one main challenge is being faced by the inventors and businesspeople in India is navigating the complex intellectual property right landscape.
The patent pools which are the agreements between multiple patent holders to share their patents with each other, have immersed as a perfect solution to this challenge. In this article on the role of patent pulls in promoting innovations, we are going to discuss about how patent pools work, their benefits and examples of successful patent pools.
What are Patent Pools?
A patent pool is an agreement between two or more patent holders in which they are ready to license one or more of their patents to one another or to any third parties. Normally, the patent pools usually consist of the patents which are related to a particular technology. It allows the companies and innovators to access the variety of patents related to one field that would otherwise be difficult or costly for everyone to obtain individually.
How Patent Pools Work
Patent pools are operated by multiple patent holders who collectively contribute their different patents in a collective pool. This main pool is then managed by licensing entity, which helps the companies to grant the licensing to different companies, organizations or individuals who wants to use these new technologies to create a new product or process which can be used in the market.
The main benefit of patent pools includes the reduction in the risk of patent infringement lawsuits, lower the transaction cost and provides the clear path for licensing an advance technology. Patent pools also help to avoid the patent thickets where overlapping patents claim can stifle innovations.
Benefits of Patent Pools for Innovators in India
Patent pools provide different benefits to the inventors and different companies. Let us discuss about the different benefits of patent tools for innovators in India:
Simplified Access to Technology
One of the best benefits of patent poles is that it simplifies the access to essential technologies. As we know, in industries like telecommunication or any company related to electronics, where thousands of patents are being used to develop a single product (for an example mobile, or computer) patent pools provide a best solution for the innovators to take the license of different patents which are required to create their products. That is why patent pools benefits the innovators by encouraging the innovation and for small companies or startups to make their new product without wasting the time to find out the different patents for their invention in different places.
Lower Licensing Costs
Patent pools help the companies to reduce the cost of obtaining licenses. Instead of negotiating with multiple patent holders individually, now, with the help of patent pools, the inventor can acquire a single license from the pool owners. This collective approach always results in lower the licensing fees of patents, making it easier for companies, and specially for small companies to access the latest and important technologies to make their product more advance, and to launch their product in the market.
Avoidance of Patent Litigation
Patent infringement is one of the most common and difficult tasks for every innovator because, it costs thousands of rupees and also time consuming. But the patent pools have reduce the risk of litigation by providing the clear licensing agreements to everyone who are using their technologies. This does not only save the time of the companies, but also save the money and helps to make the collaborative environment for all where the innovators can focus on their product development instead of going to the court to attend the litigation.
Fostering Collaborative Innovation
Patent pools, the people by joining multiple companies to contribute into their patents with the help of patent pools sharing the intellectual properties helps to foster the innovations with the help of patent pools. The companies can build different products by using the already made technologies by other companies without the fear of infringing the patents of others in the countries like India where industries like pharmaceuticals, IT sectors and Biotechnology are growing in very fast rate, the patent pools can play an important role to promote the collaborative research and development in these fields.
Encouragement for Startups
In India, startups are in growing stage. For the startups, the patent pools can be the perfect solution to grow their business in more fast way. As we know that many startups like the resources to make their product ready for the market, but with the help of patent pools, they can use the technologies which are already developed by different companies without any hesitation by just taking the license from pool holders.
Patent Pools in Action: Global and Indian Examples
There are different patent pools which are successfully being used in a different industry around the world and their laws in India is also growing. There are some examples of few patients post such as:
MPEG LA (Multimedia)
MPEG LA is one of best successful pool, which is working globally. It is bringing the different companies together by making the pool of essential patents for video coding technologies, which are used in DVDs, Blu-ray and other streaming services. Different countries like India, which are working in the same field can take the benefit of this patent pool to manufacture and to develop their product products related to this field.
WIPO Re
(Healthcare and Pharmaceuticals)
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) established WIPO Re. It is a global initiative taken by the World Intellectual Property Organization to promote the collaboration in the field of pharmaceutical to solve the problems being created by the tropical diseases. As we know that India is also growing in the field of pharmaceuticals, our companies can take the different patents from these pools to develop our new medicines to solve the different problems being faced by use due to different diseases.
The Future of Patent Pools in India
The Indian government is taking several initiatives to promote the innovation in India, such as there are many schemes like Startup India Scheme and the Atmnirbhar Bharat Mission. Patent pools are also the part of these efforts and by taking the benefit of Patent Pools, the startups and other companies can simply access the patents which are already been created and simply launch their new products in the market without wasting the money by searching patents individually.
In future, more industries like electrical vehicles, renewable sources of energy and artificial intelligence may establish the patent pools to promote the innovations in different countries or worldwide and streamline the licensing for those patents. Patent pools can also help the companies and innovators to launch their advanced patents globally by providing excess to the newest technologies and remove the barrier to get their patents license by adding their technologies in patent pools.
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Conclusion
Patent pools are important part of promoting innovation throughout the countries by simplifying the process to access the essential patents and by reducing the licensing cost of patents and helps the innovators to focus on the development of their products. As India is a growing country in the field of innovation, the sectors like telecommunications, IT and healthcare, the patent pools can be the beneficial part to  access the latest technologies and to bring the new product in the market.