Recently, the DOT (Department of Telecommunication) came out with an Office Memorandum directing the C-DOT (Center for Development of Telematics – the R&D arm of DOT) to take up the following activities on priority:-
- Undertake IPRs/SEPs Management on behalf of the Indian R&D ecosystem as an R&D collective to negotiate and engage with domestic and global IPR licensors.
- Actively participate in IPRs/SEPs-related engagements, and licensing negotiations (FRAND terms) between/amongst domestic or global IPR/SEP holders or prospective licensors on behalf of Indian Technology entities as and when approached by either party and be a party to any agreement (including NDA) related to licensing negotiations between/amongst the SEP holders and prospective licensees.
- Development, hosting, and maintenance of Indian Telecom IPRs/SEPs repository in coordination with TEC, global and regional SDOs (Standard Development Organizations), Academia & Industry.
- Handholding and extending all necessary support to Start-ups, MSMEs, and R&D entities for converting innovations in IPRs and translating research into commercially deployable products.
- Any other facilitation to promote and foster the creation of Telecom IPRs in the country.
The purpose of this note is to discuss whether the directive is sufficient for empowering India and its agencies to drive the objective of facilitating the monetization of SEPs by Indian SMEs and preventing their exploitation.
