Page 237 - DMGT401Business Environment

Business Environment

Notes

Caselet MNCs have Injected Spirit of Innovation

he Indian IP landscape has gone through a huge transformation over the last few
decades. Today, one can see a paradigm shift in the attitude towards protecting IP.
TEngineering talent in India has realised the importance of innovation, and of filing
patents and protecting their innovation. One would wonder how did this consciousness
come about in country where IP laws are frail and where respect for innovation is almost
absent?
We certainly have the globalisation and IT boom in the country to thank for this change.
Before the influx of large corporations setting up shop here, IP protection and patent filing
was sporadic at the least, and patents weakly protected at best. The arrival of MNCs has
helped in two major transformations-it has injected a spirit of innovation in the R&D
environment, and it has propelled the culture of patent filing in India.
A large number of MNCs have set up full-fledged R&D centres here. Over the years, these
research centres have become an important and critical part of the innovation they showcase
globally. As a result, our engineering talent has not only had the chance to work on many
exciting, innovative and revolutionary projects, but also they have had a chance to represent
their own fresh ideas, which have been promoted by their employers, through the proactive
patent filing process, and eventually developed into products that are used around the
world. This is a great motivation for any developer or engineer to constantly push the
envelope to innovate and see his or her ideas being recognised on a global platform. The
MNCs in India have provided a great stage for Indian engineers to be seen as global
cerebral talent.
IPR protection or innovation was not a priority for Indian companies till recently. The
reasons ranged from little R&D investment, no or limited competition from foreign players,
license regime, and archaic and difficult to navigate IPR laws. Customers also had got
used to the poor quality products and services being dished out on the pretext of 'self
reliance' and 'made in India'. Overall, there was no market for innovation and no need for
people to innovate.
This led to a culture where innovation was neither recognised nor rewarded. There was no
incentive for companies to innovate or hire people who could innovate. The result was the
migration of our best and the brightest to western countries where they could demonstrate
their talent and creative skills.
The opening up of the Indian markets in 1991 and subsequent arrival of MNCs in India
changed everything. The MNC brought about greater awareness of IPR and that forced the
country and government in particular to start recognising IPR as even an issue to consider.
This led to India becoming a signatory to international treaties like the agreement on
Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property of the WTO.
MNCs on one side created demand and aspiration for innovative products, on the other
hand their engineering and R&D centres nurtured an environment where people developed
the skills to innovate and got exposed to the world of IPR. In fact, some of the MNC R&D
centres are producing IPR at the same rate as any other global R&D centre.
Indian employees got a chance to innovate and rapidly acquire the knowledge how to the
process; and it became a showcase of the quality of Indian talent.

As the MNC R&D centres move up the value chain, we believe that this culture of innovation
will only become stronger and more widespread in India.
Source: financialexpress.com

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