India has underinvested in intellectual property: Horacio Gutirrez
Horacio Gutierrez is the intellectual property and patents chief of
Microsoft. He spoke to BT's Rahul Sachitanand on the software giant's
evolving views on IP and India's role in a globalising market for
technology during his recent trip to Bangalore. Edited excerpts
Horacio Gutierrez is the intellectual property and patents chief of Microsoft . He spoke to BT's Rahul Sachitanand on the software giant's evolving views on IP and India's role in a globalising market for technology during his recent trip to Bangalore. Edited excerpts
There has been significant underinvestment in IPs by all sectors in India. Indian companies are underinvesting in the development of their own IP portfolios. In 2009, there were about 37,000 patent applications (filed) in India, compared to almost 400,000 in China last year. Only 20 per cent of applications in India were from companies. In China, it was 62 per cent.
The global IP landscape is evolving rapidly. The reality is that the pace of innovation in the technology world has accelerated very significantly. There really isn't a single company that can own all the IP elements necessary in order to sell its products or services. We are all interdependent on each other and trade IP rights. IP has become a kind of currency that companies use to trade with one another in order to bring our products to market.
There is an emergence of a new category of devices, which is an intersection of a pure feature phone and a personal computer. As these technologies converge, there is a process for determining how IP rights in these solutions are settled. There used to be open source on the one hand and proprietary on the other. Now, it is impossible to find a company that is openly open source or based on proprietary software.
The movement of innovation east is a reality. Microsoft employs 5,000 people in India, addressing some of the most thorny issues facing the technology industry. We know that a larger percentage of inventions at Microsoft involve people from China and India than they do in other technology companies globally.
There has been significant underinvestment in IPs by all sectors in India. Indian companies are underinvesting in the development of their own IP portfolios. In 2009, there were about 37,000 patent applications (filed) in India, compared to almost 400,000 in China last year. Only 20 per cent of applications in India were from companies. In China, it was 62 per cent.
The global IP landscape is evolving rapidly. The reality is that the pace of innovation in the technology world has accelerated very significantly. There really isn't a single company that can own all the IP elements necessary in order to sell its products or services. We are all interdependent on each other and trade IP rights. IP has become a kind of currency that companies use to trade with one another in order to bring our products to market.
There is an emergence of a new category of devices, which is an intersection of a pure feature phone and a personal computer. As these technologies converge, there is a process for determining how IP rights in these solutions are settled. There used to be open source on the one hand and proprietary on the other. Now, it is impossible to find a company that is openly open source or based on proprietary software.
The movement of innovation east is a reality. Microsoft employs 5,000 people in India, addressing some of the most thorny issues facing the technology industry. We know that a larger percentage of inventions at Microsoft involve people from China and India than they do in other technology companies globally.
