Moving beyond learning: In patents' race, IITs, IISc lead
In the race for patents in 2018, four centrally funded universities are leading. The four institutes which have performed exceptionally well this year are IITs in Bombay, Delhi and Madras, and IISc in Bengaluru. An HT report suggested that IIT Bombay, Madras, and Delhi filed for 104, 132, and 96 patents, respectively, till November 25; while IISc filed for 101 patents.
Four institutes could join 100 patents club this time
According to data available with HRD ministry, only three institutes, namely IIT Bombay (185), IIT Madras (132) and IISc Bengaluru (106), crossed the century mark last year. For the first time, there is a possibility that four institutes could make it to the coveted club, considering there is still one month left before 2018 ends. A senior official in HRD said this seems likely.
The other institutes which have filed for patents
Notably, the students and faculty of IIT Kanpur, IIT Hyderabad, IIT Kharagpur filed for 51, 20 and 17 patents respectively. NIT Suratkhal filed for 11 patents, and for NIT Calicut the number was 5. The number of total patents filed was 675 in 2017 (as opposed to 769 in 2016), and the number is 571 till now. This is expected to rise.
Official reveals why IITs are performing so well
A senior official of the Prakash Javadekar led ministry said there could be plenty of reasons why IITs and IISc lead the race. One of them was that IITs gave attention to research nearly a decade ago, while other institutes only focused on learning and teaching. He added funds was another reason but assured the government is taking steps to improve others too.
Few of the ideas are practical
So what are the patents about? The official revealed few of them have practical purposes. For example, IIT Delhi has acquired a patent for a device which detects mosquito eggs and larvae. It sends the information on the phone and can help in curbing malaria and dengue. Another device converts biogas into fuel, fit for industrial and commercial purposes, he added.
It's important to understand how successful will ideas be
"An important aspect related to patents is also the acceptance. Pure ideas which may not have practical-commercial value may not succeed in market. For some of the institutions like say, IIT Kanpur, the acceptance rate is quite high," said former IIT Bombay director, Ashok Mishra.
