Managing Intellectual Property in Collaborative Way to Meet the Agricultural Challenges in India

Research and development in all the fields of technology, including agriculture are taking place at an impressive pace today. In parallel, the number of intellectual property rights being applied proliferate in order to compensate innovators for these efforts and investments and to foster further innovation. Innovations are also being rewarded by temporarily restricting competition in the production of the resulting goods and services. Patent thicket or “patent floods” is surely making its impact in country like India by hindering the development and commercialization of technology. This can grow into a larger problem in near future with many more challenges to come. The concept of patent pools and clearing houses can be a likely solution to deal with this impediment. This paper has attempted to explain the concept of patent pool and clearing house and also a basic suggestive model for Indian National agricultural research system to facilitate the access to best technology options available with less risk of stalking licenses and much less R&D cost.