Prabuddha Ganguli is an expert on intellectual property rights (IPR) and a consultant for the Geneva-based World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO). When he was in Calcutta recently to deliver a lecture at the Academy of Technology in Hooghly, Prasun Chaudhuri caught up with him. Here are excerpts from the interview:
q If we look at a list of modern inventions, we will find almost no Indians. Americans, Chinese, Koreans and Germans are much ahead in the race. Are Indians less innovative?
Indians are as innovative as people from any other country. In the Global Innovation Index (GII) of 133 economies, India has climbed from 81 in 2015 to 39 in 2024. India ranks first among 38 lower-middle income economies. In the 2024 index, the US, China and Korea ranked third, 11th and sixth respectively. A country’s innovation ecosystem is dependent on several correlated factors as is illustrated in the GII ranking process. India has made significant improvements in the last decade, but has a long way to go.
q Indians were possibly the first to have come up with town planning, standardised weights and measures and metallurgy during the Indus Valley civilisation. Why couldn’t we continue this tradition?
The Concise History of Science in India, published in 1971 by the Indian Academy of Science, records that India was very advanced in various fields right up to 12th century AD. Thereafter, creative endeavours showed signs of decay largely due to traditional compulsions and political vicissitudes. Knowledge acquisition was the privilege of a select class. Furthermore, the artisans worked within a rigid caste system with only vertical transmission of knowledge and no lateral exchange across professions. Training of the mind did not go hand-in-hand with skill sets. From the 12th to almost the middle of the 19th century, the social milieu was least conducive to technological innovation in India.
q Does our education system kill the spirit of innovation?
The education system plays a significant role in developing a culture of innovation. Emphasis on bookish, rote and information-dumping-based learning does not spark innovation. During the colonial period, the British strategically replaced the traditional Indian education system with a system that alienated children from their environment and we are still suffering for it. Hopefully, the New Educational Policy (NEP) will help to reignite minds and encourage them to act on issues that confront society. Rabindranath Tagore was a torch-bearer for such a process when he set up Santiniketan.
q Would you regard jugaad as frugal innovation? Are they worth patenting?
Actually, jugaad is an improvised fix, a cost-effective and ingenious solution. Any invention that is novel, has a technical solution that is not obvious to a skilled person in that field and is capable of industrial application is patentable. If a jugaad satisfies this global benchmark, it can definitely be patented. It should not be underplayed as a trivial need-based intervention.
q How can our youth turn their innovative ideas into businesses?
Our education system should facilitate a spirit of inquiry so that the youth get sensitised to the problems and unmet needs of our society. They should then investigate the options that were used earlier to solve these problems and why they failed. Then they should design better solutions. Once they come up with an idea, they should work on their “proof of concept” and protect the concept with appropriate IPR tools — such as patents, industrial design registrations, copyright, trade secrets and so on. They can take advantage of the start-up India programme of the department for promotion of industry and internal trade to register the start-up (at startupindia.gov.in) and find mentors to guide them through the process of setting up and sustaining the business.
q Does the Indian patent system encourage reverse engineering instead of invention?
Reverse engineering has nothing to do with the patenting system in India or elsewhere. (Reverse engineering is the process of analysing a product, device or system to understand its design, construction or functionality.) If someone reverse engineers a product and develops another that satisfies the three benchmarks of novelty, inventive step and usefulness, it should be in principle patentable.
q How can schools and colleges encourage the spirit of innovation?
We have to introduce innovations-IPR integrated modules at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels. These should be able to familiarise our students with the innovation-value chain and how IPR plays a significant role in designing innovations, protecting them and creating strategic marketing niches. Such courses should be taught to all students, whether they are in the field of science, technology, humanities or management.