Objective
To understand the importance of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) for a social enterprise.
What are Intellectual Property Rights?
Intellectual Property Rights is the foundation of the new knowledge economy. Understanding these rights is essential, as recognising and enforcing them is vital for every member of society.
Intellectual property is an asset born out of human creativity and the rights associated with it are equivalent to those of tangible property.
We have learnt the hard way about the consequences of being ignorant about intellectual property, paying a significant price for our negligence in the cases of turmeric and basmati rice.
Entrepreneurs and Intellectual Property Rights
For an entrepreneur, the importance of intellectual property lies in brand development and recognition. Identifying and protecting various aspects of their business under various categories, such as patents, trademarks, or industrial designs, is crucial. This protection opens avenues for monetisation through licensing and technology transfer.
Entrepreneurs are primarily of two types: 1. General entrepreneurs, and 2. Social entrepreneurs.
The difference between the two lies in the objective and impact.
In case of general entrepreneurs, the business model works on the idea of creating a business for financial gain, increasing the value of the shareholder, and achieving financial success. The business model revolves around creating new ways to sell products or services to generate revenue. The success is measured with parameters such as profit, return on investment, and faster breakeven.
Therefore, in case of general entrepreneurship, protecting intellectual property rights plays a crucial role in increasing profit margins and establishing the business firmly in the market.
Social entrepreneurs, on the other hand, mainly work on resolving the challenges for societal benefits or developing innovative tools to impact society with sustainable change. Here, gaining financial success, although important, is a secondary objective.
Regardless of their mission, the importance of intellectual property cannot be overlooked by social entrepreneurs. Lack of knowledge of intellectual property within their business model and failure to properly protect it can be detrimental to the core purpose of the business, creating significant hurdles in the smooth operation of a social enterprise.
Social entrepreneurs often misunderstand the purpose of intellectual property protection, viewing it as unnecessary, because their focus is on societal benefits rather than financial gain. They may believe that protecting their innovations could restrict public access, which seems contrary to the core mission of a social enterprise.
Case Studies
In this context, it is important to gain insights from relevant case studies.
Case Study 1
Konkan Railway in India
Mr. Rajaram Bojji
Who was he?
Was Managing Director of Konkan Railway. He was a Mechanical Engineer from IIT Kharagpur.
His concern towards society
He believed in improving quality of life for humans through innovation of technologies.
His contribution
He invented the anti-collision device to address the problem of manual operations to detect and redirect trains on the same track to prevent potential collisions and the casualties or fatal accidents occurring at railway crossings caused by manual gate operations.
Power of intellectual property
During his tenure at Konkan Railway, he sought protection for 17 inventions in the form of patents having financial worth of Rs 8,000 Crore.
His devotion to society
These patents were then donated by him to Indian Railways for societal benefit.
Case Study 2
Dr. Garry Michelson, Philanthropist
Who was he?
He was an orthopaedic surgeon in America. Born on January 14, 1949, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, he graduated from Temple University School of Medicine in 1975.
His contribution
- Innovations in spinal surgery and related medical technologies
- The ‘Michelson Spinal System’ invented by him is a revolution in spinal surgery
- Invented several surgical instruments and techniques to improve the success rates and safety of spinal surgeries
- He had 340 US patents and 953 patents all over the world
Power of intellectual property
- Michelson engaged in legal battles over patent infringement with various medical device companies.
- In 2005, he won a legal victory against Medtronic securing a $1.35-billion settlement.
What did he do with the settlement amount?
- He invested the amount in his philanthropic activities.
- Founded Michelson’s Research Foundation
- A major portion of the settlement amount was contributed to medical research and initiatives taken to improve the life of animals.
Conclusion
- Intellectual property protection is the need of the hour for entrepreneurs, irrespective of the primary purpose of the enterprise.
- It is advisable to protect innovations and inventions under the appropriate category first, and then make them available to the public, rather than risking losses from others claiming and exploiting them.
- Enforcing intellectual property rights can generate funds that can be reinvested for the benefit of the general public.
Disclaimer: This article is the intellectual property of Shalaka Tolye from IP Adventure LLP and was created for Pune International Centre. Unauthorised copying, reproduction, or distribution of the content is strictly prohibited. For permission to use or reproduce any part of this article, please contact [shalaka.tolye@ipadventure.in, info@ipadventure.in].
© Shalaka Tolye, IP Adventure LLP.
Dear sir /madam
Is their any post graduate course on Intellectual Property rights, Trademark, Tradename, Trademark market etc in PIC
Dear Sir,
Thank you for your inquiry. We do not offer any postgraduate courses. We are a think tank. For more information about our organization, please refer to our “About Us” page.