The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) has launched an ingenuously developed software to automate the process of protecting and translating intellectual property (IP).
The software called ProrIISeTM was launched on Monday by IISc director, Govindan Rangarajan. Released after three years of testing, the software will automate the legal and bureaucratic part of intellectual property protection and translation.
The IISc said that protection is vital if the intellectual property is to be translated to industry for commercialisation. However, the track record of protection and translation in India is poor. A 2016 IISc evaluation showed that the amount of time spent on administering the patent process, instead of on translation, is a major reason for poor protections.
Monitoring the legal, financial and bureaucratic maze manually leads to an inefficient system. An inefficient system also leads to loss of rights, as inventors lose interest in patenting. "It is hoped that by reducing the effort spent on administering IP, time will be released that can be spent on translation to industry," IISc said.
Version 2 of the software will automate the financial component and is set for release in 2021. Version 3 will bring in artificial intelligence approaches to prior art searches required to evaluate a patent. It is set for release in 2022.