Tuesday, July 28, 2009

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IT firms speed up patent filing

Stepping up efforts to commercialise their intellectual property (IP), Indian IT services firms have accelerated their patent filing process. The top three firms — TCS, Infosys and Wipro — filed together over 150 patent applications in fiscal 2009.

Such a move is an important part of their non-linear growth strategy, where the companies are trying to de-link their revenue growth from the number of people added. This is expected to improve their profitability in a changing business environment.

Patent figures
While Infosys led rivals TCS and Wipro in terms of filing the highest number of patents in fiscal 2009, TCS was granted the most during the year. TCS filed for 58 patents in fiscal 2009 and was granted five — three in India and two in the US. Infosys filed for some 80 patent applications in the US and India and was granted two by the US Patents and Trademark Office. Wipro filed for 13 patents and granted one during the year.

“We have defined an IP strategy with a view to building an effective portfolio and plan to monetise going forward,” said Mr Ananth Krishnan, Chief Technology Officer, TCS. Despite setting up its first software R&D centre way back in 1981, TCS filed for its first set of IPs only in the early part of this decade.

However, with an IP strategy in place, TCS has stepped up its efforts. “We filed for more than 30 patents in the June quarter and currently have some 200 patent applications pending in various jurisdictions,” Mr Krishnan said. TCS managed to save $26 million (Rs 125 crore) through its R&D efforts in fiscal 2009.

Infosys has an aggregate of 200 patent applications pending in India and the US. “As part of our new engagement model, the focus has changed to commercialising the IP from merely developing it,” Infosys COO, Mr S. D. Shibulal, told Business Line recently.

The changed economic conditions, where customers have slashed their technology spending drastically, have forced even the smaller IT services firms such as KPIT Cummins to look at patenting their IPs.

“For the first time, we filed for eight patent applications in fiscal 2009,” said Mr Girish Wardadkar, President and ED, KPIT Cummins Infosystems Ltd. The company is looking to commercialise its IPs and leverage its knowledge assets, Mr Wardadkar said.

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