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https://cis-india.org
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Political is as Political does
https://cis-india.org/digital-natives/blog/political
<b>The Talking Back workshop has been an extraordinary experience for me. The questions that I posed for others attending the workshop have hounded me as they went through the course of discussion, analysis and dissection. Strange nuances have emerged, certain presumptions have been questioned, new legacies have been discovered, novel ideas are still playing ping-pong in my mind, and a strange restless excitement – the kind that keeps me awake till dawning morn – has taken over me, as I try and figure out the wherefore and howfore of things. I began the research project on Digital Natives in a condition of not knowing, almost two years ago. Since then, I have taken many detours, rambled on strange paths, discovered unknown territories and reached a mile-stone where I still don’t know, but don’t know what I don’t know, and that is a good beginning.</b>
<p> <strong>The researcher in his heaven, all well with the world</strong></p>
<p> This first workshop is not merely a training lab. For me, it was the
extension of the research inquiry, and collaboratively producing some
frames of reference, some conditions of knowing, and some ways of
thinking about this strange, ambiguous and ambivalent category of
Digital Natives. The people who have assembled at this workshop have
identified themselves as Digital Natives as a response to the open call.
They all have practices which are startlingly unique and simultaneously
surprisingly similar. Despite the great dissonance in their
geo-political contexts and socio-cultural orientations, they seem to be
bound together by things beyond the technological.</p>
<p> Each one chose a definition for him/herself that straddles so many
different ideas of how technologies interact with us; there are writers
who offer a subjective position and affective relation to technologies
and the world around them; there are artists who seek to change the
world, one barcode at a time; there are optimist warriors who have waged
battles against injustice and discrimination in the worlds they occupy;
there are explorers who have made meaning out of socio-cultural
terrains that they live in; there are leaders who have mobilized
communities; there are adventurers who have taken on responsibilities
way beyond their young years; there are researchers who have sought
higher grounds and epistemes in the quest of knowledge. The varied
practice is further informed by their own positions as well as their
relationship with the different realities they engage with.</p>
<p> How, then, does one make sense of this babble of diversity? How does
one even begin to articulate a collective identity for people who are
so unique that sometimes they are the only ones in their contexts to
initiate these interventions? Where do I find a legacy or a context that
makes sense of these diversities without conflating or coercing their
uniqueness? This is not an easy task for a researcher, and I have
struggled over the two days to figure out a way in which I can start
develop a knowledge framework through which I can not only bring
coherence to this group but also do it without imposing my questions,
suggestions or agendas on you. And it is only now, at a quarter to dawn,
as I think and interact more with the different digital natives that
things get shapes for me – shapes that are not yet clear, probably
obscured by the blurriness of sleep and the rushed time that we have
been living in the last few days – and I now attempt to trace the
contours if not the details of these shapes.</p>
<p> <strong>Questioning the Question</strong></p>
<p> The first insight for me came from the fact that the Digital Natives
in the workshop talked back – not only to the structures that their
practice engages with, but also the questions that I posed to them.
“What does it mean to be Political?” I has asked on the first day,
knowing well that this wasn’t going to be an easy dialogue. Even after
years of thinking about the Political as necessarily the Personal (and
vice versa), it still is sometimes difficult to actually articulate the
process or the imagination of the Political. It is no wonder that so
many people take the easy recourse of talking about governments,
judiciaries, democracies and the related paraphernalia to talk about
Politics.</p>
<p> I knew, even before I posed the question, that this was going to
lead to confusion, to conditions of being lost, to processes of
destabilising comfort zones. However, what I was not ready for was a
schizophrenic moment of epiphany where I tried to ask myself what I
understood as the Political. And as I tried to explain it to myself, to
explain it to others, to push my own knowledge of it, to understand
others’ ideas and imaginations, I came up with a formulation which goes
beyond my own earlier knowledges. There are five different articulations
of the legacies and processes of the Political that I take with me from
the discussions (some were suggested by other people, some are my
flights of fancy based on our conversations), and it is time to reflect
on them:</p>
<p> <em><strong>Political as dialogue</strong></em></p>
<p> This was perhaps, the easiest to digest because it sounds like a
familiar formulation. To be political is to be in a condition of
dialogue. Which means that Talking Back was suddenly not about Talking
Against or Being Talked To. It was about Talking With. It was a
conversation. Sometimes with strangers. Sometimes with people made
familiar with time. Sometimes with people who we know but have not
realised we know. Sometimes with the self. The power of names, the
strength of being in a conversation – to talk and also to listen is a
condition of the Political. In dialogue (as opposed to a babble) is the
genesis of being political. Because when we enter a dialogue, we are no
longer just us. We are able to detach ourselves from US and offer a
point of engagement to the person who was, till now, only outside of us.</p>
<p> <em><strong>Political as concern</strong></em></p>
<p> This particular idea of the political as being concerned was a
surprise to me. I have, through discourses and practice within gender
and sexuality fields, understood affective relationships as sustaining
political concerns and subjectivities. However, I had overlooked the
fact that the very act of being concerned, what a young digital native
called ‘being burned’ about something that we notice in our immediate
(or extended) environments is already a political subjectivity
formation. To be concerned, to develop an empathetic link to the
problems that we identify, is a political act. It doesn’t always have to
take on the mantle of public action or intervention. Sometimes, just to
care enough, is enough.</p>
<p> <em><strong>Political as change</strong></em></p>
<p> This is a debate that needs more conversations for me. Politics,
Knowledge, Change, Transformation – these are the four keywords (further
complicated by self-society binaries) that have strange permutations
and combination. To Know is to be political because it produces a
subjectivity that has now found a new way of thinking about itself and
how it relates to the external reality. This act of Knowing, thus
produces a change in our self. However, this change is not always a
change that leads to transformation. Knowledge for knowledge’s sake can
often be indulgent. Even when the knowledge produces a significant and
dramatic change, often this change is restricted to the self.</p>
<p> When does this knowing self, which is in a condition of change,
become a catalyst for transformation? When does this knowing-changing
translate into a transformation for the world outside of us? Just to be
in a condition of knowing does not grant the agency required for the
social transformation that we are trying to understand. Where does this
agency come from? How do we understand the genesis and dissemination of
this agency? And what are the processes of change that embody and foster
the Political?</p>
<p> <em><strong>Political as Freedom</strong></em></p>
<p> On the first thought, the imagination of Political as Freedom seemed
to obvious; commonsense and perhaps commonplace. However, I decided put
the two in an epistemological dialogue and realised that there are many
prismatic relationships I had not talked about before I was privy to
these conversations. Here is a non-exhaustive list: Political Freedom,
Politics of Freedom, Free to be Political, Political as Freedom, Freedom
as Political... is it possible to be political without the quest of
freedom? Is the freedom we achieve, at the expense of somebody else’s
Political stance? How does the business of being Political come to be?
Not Why? But How? If Digital Natives are changing the state of being
political what are they replacing? What are they inventing? Where, in
all these possibilities lies Freedom?</p>
<p> <a href="http://northeastwestsouth.net/brief-treatise-despair-meaning-or-pointlessness-everything#comment-2131"><em><strong>Political as Reticence</strong></em></a></p>
<p> We all talked about voice – whose, where, for whom, etc. It was a
given that to give voice, to have voice, to speak, to talk, to talk back
were conditions of political dialogue and subversion, of intervention
and exchange. So many of us – participants or facilitators – talked
about how to speak, what technologies of speech, how to build conditions
of interaction... and then, like the noise in an otherwise seamless
fabric of empowerment came the idea of reticence. Is it possible to be
silent and still be political? If I do not speak, is it always only
because I cannot? What about my agency to choose not to speak? As
technologies – of governance, of self, and of the social constantly
force us to produce data and information, through ledgers and censuses
and identification cards – make speech a normative way of engagement,
isn’t the right of Refusal to Speak, political?</p>
<p> Sometimes, it is necessary to exercise silence as a tool or a weapon
of political resistance. The non-speaking subject holds back and
refuses to succumb to pressures and expectations of a dominant
erstwhile, and in his/her silence, produces such a cacophony of meaning
that it asks questions that the loudest voices would not have managed to
ask.</p>
<p> <strong>The Beginning of a Start; Perhaps also the other way round</strong></p>
<p> These are my first reflections on the conversations we have had over
the two days. I feel excited, inspired, moved and exhilarated as I
carry myself on these flights of ideation, thought and
conceptualisation. It is important for me that these are questions that I
did not think of in a vacuum but in conversation and dialogue with this
varied pool of people who have spent so much of their time and effort
to not only make their work intelligible but also to reflect on the
processes by which we paint ourselves political. I have learned to
sharpen questions of the political that I came with and I have learned
to ask new questions of Digital Natives practice. I don’t have a
definition that explains the work that these Digital Natives do. But I
now have a framework of what is their understanding of the political and
what are the various points of engagement and investment.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/digital-natives/blog/political'>https://cis-india.org/digital-natives/blog/political</a>
</p>
No publishernishantDigital ActivismDigital NativesPoliticalYouthFeaturedCyberculturesDigital subjectivitiesWorkshop2011-08-04T10:30:51ZBlog EntryPlatforms, Power, and Politics: Perspectives from Domestic and Care Work in India
https://cis-india.org/raw/platforms-power-and-politics-perspectives-from-domestic-and-care-work-in-india
<b>CIS has been undertaking a two-year project studying the entry of digital platforms in the domestic and care work in India, supported by the Association for Progressive Communications as part of the Feminist Internet Research Network. Implemented through 2019-21, the objective of the project is to use a feminist lens to critique platform modalities and orient platformisation dynamics in radically different, worker-first ways. Ambika Tandon and Aayush Rathi led the research team at CIS. The Domestic Workers’ Rights Union is a partner in the implementation of the project, as co-researchers. Geeta Menon, head of DWRU, was an advisor on the project, and the research team consisted of Parijatha G.P., Radha Keerthana, Zeenathunnisa, and Sumathi, who are office holders in the union and are responsible for organising workers and addressing their concerns.
</b>
<p><span>The Executive Summary for the project report is below.</span></p>
<p>The full report, ‘Platforms, power, and politics: Perspectives from domestic and care work in India’, can be found <a href="https://cis-india.org/raw/platforms-power-and-politics-pdf" class="external-link">here</a>.</p>
<p>The press release can be found <a href="https://cis-india.org/raw/platforms-power-and-politics-press-release-pdf" class="external-link">here</a>.</p>
<hr />
<h3></h3>
<h3><span>Introduction</span></h3>
<div></div>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Paid domestic and care work is witnessing the entry of digital intermediaries over the past decade. More recently, there has been tremendous growth of digital platforms. This holds the potential to impact millions of workers in the sector, which is characterised by a long history of informality and exclusion from rights-according legal frameworks. Digital intermediation of domestic and care work has been a space of high-growth, but also high-attrition. In India, order books of digital platforms providing domestic and care work services were reported to have been growing by upto 60 percent month-on-month in 2016. This is expected to shift the organisation of workers and employment relations profoundly. <br /><br />Broadly, the discourse on digital platforms providing home-based services can be summarised as follows: proponents argue that digitisation will act as a step towards bringing formalisation to the sector, while critics argue that platforms could replicate the exploitation of workers by further disguising the employer-employee relationship. Similar debates around lack of protections and precarity have also taken place in other occupations in gig work such as transportation and food delivery. In fact, the similarity in precarity and the informal nature of this relationship across gig work and domestic work has led to domestic workers being labelled the original gig workers. Domestic work is a particularly vulnerable and unprotected sector, which makes work in the sector qualitatively different from most other sectors in the gig or sharing economy.<br /><br />Through a feminist approach to digital labour, our project aimed to examine the dynamics of platformisation in, and of domestic or reproductive care work. Our hypothesis was that platforms are reconfiguring labour conditions, which could empower and/or exploit workers in ways qualitatively different from non-standard work off the platform. In order to interrogate this further, we studied several aspects of the work relationship, including wages, conditions of work, social security, skill levels, and worker surveillance off platforms.</p>
<h3>Methodology</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">We borrowed from ethnographic methods and feminist principles to co-design and implement the research tools with grassroots workers and organisers. Between June to November 2019, we conducted 65 in-depth semi-structured interviews primarily in New Delhi and Bengaluru. A majority of these were with domestic workers who were seeking or had found work through platforms. We also did interviews with workers who had found work through traditional placement agencies to compare our findings, and with representatives from platforms, government labour departments, and workers collectives. Of the workers we interviewed, a majority were women, but men were included as well. Interviews in New Delhi were undertaken by CIS, while interviews with workers in Bengaluru were undertaken by grassroots activists in Bengaluru, affiliated with the Domestic Workers Rights Union (DWRU).</p>
<div></div>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">In implementing the data collection approach, we employed feminist methodological principles of intersectionality, self-reflexivity, and participation. The methodology draws on standpoint theory, which encourages knowledge production that centres the lived experiences of marginalised groups. We were acutely aware of our own positionality as high income, Savarna researchers studying a sector dominated by Dalit, Bahujan and Adivasi women from low income groups. This power differential was softened partially by involving DWRU through the course of the project. Workers across both field sites were also interviewed in spaces familiar to them, most often their homes, in languages that they were comfortable with including Hindi, Kannada, and Tamil.</p>
<div></div>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Feminist principles also instrumental during the data analysis, with focus on intersectionality and self-reflexivity. We highlighted the ways in which inequalities of gender, income, migration status, caste, and religion are replicated and amplified in the platform economy. In particular, we discussed the impact of the digital gender gap in access and skills on workers’ ability to find economic opportunities.</p>
<h3></h3>
<h3>Findings</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Our typology of platforms mediating domestic work finds three types of platforms – (i) marketplace, or platforms that list workers’ data on their profile, provide certain filters for automated selection of a pool of workers, and charge a fee from customers for access to workers’ contact details, (ii) digital placement agency, or platforms that provide an end-to-end placement service to customers, identify appropriate workers on the basis of selection criteria, and negotiate conditions of work on behalf of workers, and (iii) on-demand platforms, or companies that provide services or ‘gigs’ such as cleaning on an hourly basis, performed by a roster of workers who are characterised as ‘independent contractors’.</p>
<div></div>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">When it comes to the role played by platforms in determining employment relations, there is a wide variation within and across platform categories. There are both weak and strong models of intervention. On one end of the spectrum are marketplaces, with minimal intervention in the recruitment process, and on the other on-demand platforms, that exact control over each aspect of work. Digital platforms reconfigure the conception of intermediaries in the domestic work sector, functioning as next-generation placement agencies. All three platform types contain aspects that provide workers agency, as well as those that reinforce their positions of low-power. Platform design impacts the role platforms play in setting conditions of work, but does not determine it entirely.</p>
<div></div>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>(Re)shaping the terms of work</strong><br />Across the three types of platforms, wages are slightly higher than or matching those of workers off platforms. Some marketplace platforms have incorporated features to nudge customers towards setting higher wages, such as enforcing minimum wage standards, or informing customers of expected wages in their locality. Conversely, on-demand platforms charge a high rate of commission from workers, despite refusing to recognise them as employees. This indicates that this is a misclassification of an employment relationship, given that workers are unable to set their own conditions or wages for work. Despite the high rates of commission and appropriation of labour by platforms, on-demand workers earn higher wages than workers on other platforms. The relatively high wage is a result of marketing on-demand cleaning as professionalised and more skilled than day-to-day cleaning. Tasks in the sector continue to be distributed along the lines of gender and caste, as has historically been the case. Dalit, Bahujan and Adivasi women are more likely to take up work such as cleaning and washing dishes, while men and women across castes are equally distributed in cooking work. Women dominate tasks such as elderly and childcare, as in the traditional economy. Workers in professionalised tasks such as deep cleaning that requires technical equipment and chemicals are almost entirely men.</p>
<div></div>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>Digital divides and workers’ agency</strong><br />We find that workers are primarily onboarded onto platforms by learning about it from other workers, through onboarding camps held by platforms, or offline advertising by platforms. Such in-person onboarding techniques allows workers with no digital access or literacy to register themselves on marketplace platforms and digital placement agencies.</p>
<div></div>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">However, we find that low levels of education and digital literacy continue to impact platformed labour by creating a strong informational asymmetry between workers and platforms. For instance, we find that women workers from low income communities have very little information about how platforms work, causing deep distrust. Workers with digital devices and literacy (and therefore a relatively better understanding of the functionality of the platform), physical mobility and the resources to bear indirect costs that were outsourced to them were at a significant advantage in finding better-paying jobs. Workers who were seeking flexibility and were not necessarily dependent on the platform for their primary income were also better placed than those entirely dependent on platforms. Women workers tended to be disadvantaged on all these counts, limiting their agency and capacity to reap the benefits of the platform economy.</p>
<div></div>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Across the three types of platforms, systems of placement and ratings add to the information asymmetry, as workers are not aware of the impact of ratings on their ability to find work or charge better wages. Ratings and filtering systems also hard-code the impact of workers’ social characteristics on their work. Workers are unable to exercise control over their data, further undermining their agency vis-a-vis platforms and employers. We identify a clear need for collective bargaining structures to protect workers’ rights, although platformed domestic workers remained distant from both domestic work unions and emergent unions of platform workers in other sectors.</p>
<div></div>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>Intersectionalities of formalisation</strong><br />We find that inequalities of caste, class, and gender that have historically shaped the sector continue to be replicated or even amplified in the platform economy. What remains clear is that platforms in the domestic work sector adopt the logics of this sector, more than the converse. Platformisation is conflated with formalisation, and it is within this vector, from complete informality to piecemeal formalisation, that platforms operate. Labour benefits do not take the form of labour protections or welfare entitlements that are the central function of formalisation processes. Instead, the so-called benefits are intended to transform domestic workers to participate within the logics and vagaries of the market.</p>
<h3>Policy Recommendations</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>Recognise and implement labour protections for domestic workers </strong><br />Domestic workers have historically occupied the most vulnerable positions in the workforce, with limited legal protections. Exposed to the regulatory grey areas that platforms operate in, this doubly exposes domestic workers to precarious conditions of work. Despite an avowed move towards formalisation of domestic work, platform-mediated labour continues to retain characteristics of informal labour, even heightening some.</p>
<div></div>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">If pushed to do so, platform companies can be instrumental in resolving some of the implementation challenges that governments have faced in enforcing legislative protections sought to be made available to domestic workers. Platforms have databases of workers, which can be used to mandatorily register them for social security schemes offered by the government. This data can also be used for better policy making, in the absence of reliable statistics particularly on migrant workers in the informal economy.<em><strong><br /></strong></em></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>Reduce the protective gap between employment and self-employment </strong><br />The (mis)classification of “gig” work within labour law frameworks is still a matter that continues to be hotly debated within policy practitioners, legal scholarship, and civil society actors. Three positions, in particular, have been taken—treating gig workers as employees, independent contractors, or occupying a third intermediate category. More recently, there have been some legal victories guaranteeing employment protections and increasing platform companies’ accountability. However, these successes have been more visible in Global North jurisdictions.</p>
<div></div>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Regardless of the resolution of these ongoing debates over employment status, labour frameworks should provide some universal protections to all categories of labour. Such protections must include universal coverage of social security, in addition to rights such as freedom of association, collective bargaining, equal remuneration and anti-discrimination. Policies geared towards achieving this objective would be significant in reducing the protective gaps between different categories of labour, and would particularly help historical and emerging occupational categories of workers such as “gig” workers and domestic workers.</p>
<div></div>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>Recognise the specific challenge(s) and potential of platformisation of domestic work </strong><br />Platforms hold the potential of acting as effective facilitators in informal labour markets. Even when they do not replace existing recruitment pathways, they provide alternate ones. Workers were more likely to register on a platform if they were entering the domestic work labour market recently (often distress and migration driven), or had not enjoyed success with informal, word-of-mouth networks. However, platforms also heighten labour market insecurities, and create new ones. These potential risks need to be specifically recognised through appropriate frameworks, such as social security, discrimination law and data protection.</p>
<div></div>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>Tailor policy-making to platform models </strong><br />We identify three types of platforms, each of which intervene to varying degrees in the work relationship. We recommend that digital placement agencies and marketplace platforms be registered with governments and enforce basic protections for workers such as provision of minimum wage, preventing abuse (including non-payment of wages) and trafficking. On-demand companies on the other hand, must be treated as employers, and workers be accorded employment protections including social security.</p>
<div></div>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">In addition to rights-based policy actions, legal-regulatory mechanisms geared towards mitigating the precariousness of platform-based work are required. This can take the shape of clarifying and expanding existing legal-regulatory formulations, or preparing new ones. Such policy making should factor in the power and information asymmetry between domestic workers (and gig workers, generally) and platforms.</p>
<div></div>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Further, in the absence of health or retirement benefits, risks and indirect costs of operations are shifted from employers to workers. For instance, workers provide capital in the form of tools or equipment, support the fluctuation of business and income, and can be ‘deactivated’ from an application as a result of poor ratings or periods of inactivity. Any regulation aiming to extend employee status should mandate platforms to support such indirect costs.</p>
<h3>Related Publications</h3>
<p>1. <a class="external-link" href="https://www.genderit.org/articles/digital-mediation-of-reproductive-and-care-work">Research notes</a> with reflections from union members. <br />2. The <a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/raw/platformisation-of-domestic-work-in-india-report-from-a-multistakeholder-consultation">event report</a> from a stakeholder consultation with workers, unions, companies and government representatives. <br />3. A <a class="external-link" href="https://www.genderit.org/articles/doing-standpoint-theory">reflection note</a> on the participatory approach taken by the project. <br />4. A <a class="external-link" href="https://library.fes.de/pdf-files/bueros/singapur/17840.pdf">paper</a> with a comparative analysis of the policy landscape on domestic work in the platform economy.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/raw/platforms-power-and-politics-perspectives-from-domestic-and-care-work-in-india'>https://cis-india.org/raw/platforms-power-and-politics-perspectives-from-domestic-and-care-work-in-india</a>
</p>
No publisherAayush Rathi, and Ambika TandonDigital EconomyResearchers at WorkPlatform-WorkFeaturedRAW ResearchHomepageDigital Domestic Work2021-07-07T15:19:37ZBlog EntryPervasive Technologies: Access to Knowledge in the Market Place — A Presentation by Sunil Abraham
https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/access-to-knowledge-in-market-place
<b>The 2012 Global Congress on Intellectual Property and the Public Interest was organized in Rio de Janeiro from December 15 to 17, 2012. The Centre for Internet & Society partnered FGV, Washington College of Law, the American Embassy, African Information Research and Training and International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development in this event. Sunil Abraham made a presentation on Pervasive Technologies on the opening day, December 15, 2012.</b>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Sunil Abraham presented on 13 different smartphones from the Indian market such as: The Classroom in a Box, The Supercharger, The Networker, The Linguist, TV on the Go, The Spy, The Semi-Smartphone, The Trendy, The Boombox, 3D, The Mighty Mini, The Pianist, and the Indian Experience.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Most of the above devices are manufactured in China and imported into India through local companies for domestic consumption and made available for its 900 million mobile subscribers.</p>
<hr />
<p style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/pervasive-technologies.pdf" class="internal-link">Download the presentation</a> [PDF, 4.61 Mb]</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/access-to-knowledge-in-market-place'>https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/access-to-knowledge-in-market-place</a>
</p>
No publishersunilFeaturedAccess to KnowledgePervasive Technologies2013-02-13T07:05:15ZBlog EntryPervasive Mobile Technologies: Meet Our Mobile Devices!
https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/pervasive-mobile-technologies-meet-our-grey-market-devices
<b>As a part of the Pervasive Technologies: Access to Knowledge in the Marketplace research project, the Centre for Internet & Society (CIS) is researching 12 mobile phone devices to generate a better understanding of the intellectual property (IP) implications of pervasive mobile technologies available in the Indian market. This post is an introduction to our 12 mobile phones.</b>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">As detailed in my introductory blog on <a href="https://cis-india.org/a2k/pervasive-technologies-access-to-knowledge-in-the-market-place">Pervasive Technologies: Access to Knowledge in the Marketplace Research Initiative</a>, CIS will be conducting research on mobile technologies as a small off-shoot of the overall project. Pervasive technologies that can be purchased for less than USD 100 play an integral role in bringing access to knowledge to those that routinely face barriers to the consumption of information. However, their legality, particularly in terms of their use of IP, is unclear. In order to better understand the legal environment in which these technologies exist, CIS purchased 12 mobile phones to study the patent implications of their hardware, software and content.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Through examination, research, interviews and consultancies, we hope to create an in-depth documentation of each device, an extensive database or account of the patents implicated, and a number of narrower research avenues on topics related to IP, patents, and mobile technologies.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">This blog post will serve as a brief introduction to our mobile devices. The information that I have compiled was discovered through shallow interaction with the phones — turning a device on and exploring the interface and content — which is why the documentation is not particularly extensive at this point. I have had difficulty identifying certain features of some of the phones, like which media formats they support or whether or not they are EDGE<a href="#fn2" name="fr2">[2]</a> — enable, but I am confident that I will be able to ascertain these specifications in the near future; however, certain features, like what OS (operating system) they run on and what chip set they are using, will require collaboration with experts to identify. The exploration is on-going, and more information will be posted as it is discovered.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Aside from all of the usual functions of a mobile phone (making calls, receiving calls, saving numbers, etc.), each of our mobiles devices possess what I have termed the "basics": dual GSM SIM capabilities with dual standby, the ability to connect to 2G networks, GPRS, a WAP browser (except device 011), bluetooth capabilities, a microSD slot, a dual camera (a camera that takes still photos and records video), an FM radio receiver and the ability to play .mp3 audio files and .mp4 video files, record audio and view .jpg images. Each phone also has a handful of various "utilities" and "extras" applications (such as an alarm, a calculator, a calendar, etc.) as well as at least one game. The full specifications of each phone will be provided in the near future, along with further pictures of each device.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">As much of the research in this project pertains to the IP implications of the devices, we have decided to withhold the make and model of each device to shield the producers from any negative repercussions that could be the result of our research inquiries. They have been assigned the numeric code names 001 to 012.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Without further ado, I'd like to introduce you to our mobile phones:</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">001 - The Classroom in a Box</h3>
<div>
<p class="p1">Price: Rs. 6,300.00 / $113.00</p>
</div>
<p><b>KEY FEATURES</b></p>
<ul>
<li>Pico-Projector</li>
<li>Analog TV Receiver</li>
<li>MS Office Document Viewer</li>
</ul>
<table class="listing">
<tbody>
<tr>
<th>
<p style="text-align: center; "><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/001Front.png" alt="null" class="image-inline" title="001Front" /></p>
</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">This bar-design feature phone has all of the basics with a few added bonuses: an analog TV receiver, viewer, and a built-in pico-projector that projects the mobile's screen onto any surface. Though this phone does not technically fall into our definition of pervasive technologies because of its price, it was the first mobile phone with a built-in pico-projector as well as an analog TV receiver available on the Indian market for less than Rs. 10,000 when it was purchased more than a year ago. Since then, other sub-USD100 pico-projector mobile devices have made an appearance on the Indian market, but each of those devices appear to have been discontinued and 001 continues to be the cheapest pico-projector mobile phone available for purchase.</p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">002 - The Supercharger</h3>
<div>
<p class="p1">Price: Rs. 2,499.00 / $45.00</p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>KEY FEATURES</b></span></p>
</div>
<ul>
<li>Solar Panel </li>
<li>Hindi Keyboard</li>
</ul>
<div></div>
<table class="listing">
<tbody>
<tr>
<th>
<p><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/002Front.jpg" alt="null" style="float: left; " class="image-inline" title="002Front" /></p>
</th>
<td style="text-align: justify; ">002 is a sleek candybar feature phone with a particularly interesting innovation. While it uses a standard lithium-ion battery that can be recharged via connection to a wall socket or electrical device (such as a laptop), it also has a built-in solar panel that can generate some charge as well. The solar panel technology is not yet very efficient—the panel would have to be placed in direct sunlight for multiple hours to fully charge the battery—but it represents an important step towards untethering mobile phones and mobile phone users from costly electricity infrastructure, a development that would have significant implications for rural populations who have unreliable access to electricity.</td>
<th>
<p><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/002Back.jpg" alt="null" style="float: right; " class="image-inline" title="002Back" /></p>
</th>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<h3></h3>
<h3>003 - The Networker</h3>
<div>
<p class="p1">Price: Rs. 1,250.00 / $22.00</p>
</div>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>KEY FEATURES</b></span></p>
<ul>
<li>Wi-Fi</li>
<li>Optical Trackpad</li>
<li>Secondary Forward-facing Camera</li>
<li>Support for 8 Languages</li>
</ul>
<table class="listing">
<tbody>
<tr>
<th>
<p style="text-align: center; "><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/003Front.jpg" alt="null" class="image-inline" title="003Front" /></p>
</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: justify; ">
<p>With a boxy, QWERTY-keyboard design and relatively small screen, 003 does not appear, at first glance, to be anymore than an average feature phone — but appearances can be deceiving. With a highly responsive optical trackpad, an analog TV receiver, BlackBerry-esque interface and WiFi capabilities, this mobile device packs some sophisticated technologies and features. Further, it is the only phone in our collection that can connect to the internet using WLAN networks.</p>
<p>Considering that some of the other devices are much more complex — and expensive — than 003, the wide-spread exclusion of WiFi capabilities in our collection is intriguing. Is the choice to include or exclude mobile technology a matter of economics? Are cellular WiFi components expensive, and producers are choosing to exclude WiFi as a method of cutting costs? Is it simply a response to patterns of consumer demand? The WiFi questions will be explored in more depth in up-coming blog posts.</p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<h3>004 - The Linguist</h3>
<div>
<p class="p1">Price: Rs. 2,250.00 / $40.00</p>
<p class="p2"><span class="s1"><b>KEY FEATURES</b></span></p>
<ul>
<li><span class="s1"> </span>Android-like OS</li>
<li>Support for 14 Languages</li>
<li>Secondary Forward-facing Camera</li>
<li>Large Number of Pre-loaded Apps</li>
</ul>
</div>
<table class="listing">
<tbody>
<tr>
<th>
<p style="text-align: center; "><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/004Front.jpg" alt="null" class="image-inline" title="004Front" /></p>
</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: justify; ">Though it may be hard to believe at first glance, this mobile device was purchased for less than Rs. 2500. With its large internal memory, support for 14 different languages (including Tamil, Bengali and Hindi), and its large array of pre-loaded games and social media applications already set it apart from the less sophisticated mobiles in our collection, 004 also runs on a mysterious Android-like operating system similar to the popular MIUI Android ROM developed by the Chinese-based company Xiaomi Tech. This give it a very sophisticated interface with the look and feel of a smartphone, though the device itself lacks many of the capabilities that are often considered as smartphone criteria (GPS, high-speed internet access, push/pull email, Wi-Fi, an app store, etc.). Because this device, and others like it in our collection, have more sophisticated hardware, software and content than a generic feature phone, but are not as capable as a smartphone, I have taken to calling these devices "semi-smart". <br /></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<h3>005 - TV on the Go</h3>
<div>
<p class="p1">Price: Rs. 1,450.00 / $26.00</p>
</div>
<p class="p2"><span class="s1"><b>KEY FEATURES</b></span></p>
<ul>
<li><span class="s1"> </span>Analog TV receiver</li>
<li>Arabic Keyboard</li>
<li>Secondary Forward-facing Camera</li>
</ul>
<table class="listing">
<tbody>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center; "><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/005Front.jpg" alt="null" class="image-inline" title="005Front" /></th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: justify; ">Though it doesn't have any particular innovation that sets it apart from the other devices, 005 is a hardy QWERTY-design feature phone with all of the basics as well as a good collection of social media applications and an analog TV receiver. Though its keyboard can be programmed to write in English, Tamil, Arabic and Hindi script, the buttons have the Arabic <i>abjad</i> on them, which brings up the question of which market this mobile was originally designed for. <br /></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<h3>006 - The Spy</h3>
<div>
<p class="p1">Price: Rs. 1,680.00 / $30.00</p>
</div>
<p><span class="s1"><b>KEY FEATURES:</b></span></p>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Secondary “Spy” Camera</li>
<li>Ability to behave as a modem via USB connection</li>
</ul>
</div>
<table class="listing">
<tbody>
<tr>
<th><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/006Camera.jpg" alt="null" class="image-inline" title="006Camera" /></th>
<td style="text-align: justify; ">006 is an interesting candy bar feature phone. On initial examination, this mobile appears to be a completely generic feature phones with all of the basics, but nothing auxiliary. However, a more careful inspection will reveal a secondary camera with an unusual placement — instead of being place at the top of the screen like all of the other secondary cameras found on our devices, this camera is situated on the right hand side of the phone. <br /></td>
<th><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/copy_of_006Front.jpg" alt="null" class="image-inline" title="006Front" /></th>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The manufacturer of this device actually refers to this secondary camera as a "spy" camera, and it is truly an appropriate name; from a distance, it looks more like a headphone jack than a camera, and its placement allows for photo and video to be taken without any suspicious movement or positioning by the user. The secondary camera has 1.3 megapixels and can take relatively high resolution photos and videos.</p>
<h3>007 - The Semi-Smartphone</h3>
<div>
<p class="p1">Price: Rs. 2,150.00 / $39.00</p>
</div>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>KEY FEATURES</b></span></p>
<ul>
<li>Android-like OS (maybe MIUI)</li>
<li>USB Tethering</li>
<li>Push Email</li>
</ul>
<table class="listing">
<tbody>
<tr>
<th>
<p style="text-align: center; "><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/007Front.jpg" alt="null" class="image-inline" title="007Front" /></p>
</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Device 007 is a semi-smart touchscreen phone, and by far the most sophisticated device in our collection. We believe that it uses MIUI OS, which gives it a very similar look to Android and a functionality that is reminiscent of iOSx. While it doesn't have an app store, 007 is jam-packed with pre-loaded applications and can support a wide variety of file formats. Further, while the phone cannot connect to WLAN networks on its own; it can connect to WiFi by tethering to a networked device via USB connection.</p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<h3>008 - The Trendy</h3>
<div>
<p class="p1">Price: Rs. 2,350.00 / $42.00</p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>KEY FEATURES</b></span></p>
<ul>
<li>Android-like OS</li>
<li>Support for 9 languages</li>
</ul>
</div>
<table class="listing">
<tbody>
<tr>
<th>
<p style="text-align: center; "><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/008Front.jpg" alt="null" class="image-inline" title="008Front" /></p>
</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: justify; ">Another mainstream look-alike, 008 runs the same unidentified OS as device 004 and has similar capabilities. Its plastic casing is a bit flimsy, but its "back", "home" and "list" buttons are touch sensitive. Its sophisticated OS and pre-loaded applications make it a semi-smart device.</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<h3>009 - The Boombox</h3>
<div>
<p class="p1">Price: Rs. 1,420.00 / $26.00</p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>KEY FEATURES</b></span></p>
<ul>
<li>Huge built-in speaker</li>
<li>Android-like OS</li>
</ul>
<table class="vertical listing">
<tbody>
<tr>
<th>
<p style="text-align: center; "><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/009.jpg" alt="null" class="image-inline" title="009Front" /></p>
</th>
<td style="text-align: justify; ">Though it is less recognizable than some of the other devices, this mobile may have one of the significant smartphone qualifiers that our other devices lack: an app store — or what appears to be an app store. The app store icon itself is actually the icon for the Android app store, but the interface is completely different, and the only thing available for download is a handful of games. Interestingly enough, many of these games also make appearances on some of the other mobile devices (like fishing joy and tear clothes). Further, I would not call this phone semi-smart, as its interface is not particularly any more sophisticated than some of the other feature phones in our collection.</td>
<th><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/009Back.png" alt="null" class="image-inline" title="009Back" /></th>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</div>
<table class="invisible">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>009 also features a large built-in speaker, the Opera Mini mobile browser and an Android-like OS, though this OS is less sophisticated than that of 004 and 008.</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<h3>010 - 3D</h3>
<div>
<p class="p1">Price: Rs. 1,440.00 / $26.00</p>
</div>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>KEY FEATURES</b></span></p>
<ul>
<li>Android-like OS</li>
<li>Pre-loaded Stereoscopic (3D) videos</li>
<li>Support for 13 languages</li>
</ul>
<table class="listing">
<tbody>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center; "><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/0010Front.jpg" alt="null" class="image-inline" title="0010Front" /></th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: justify; ">This semi-smart touchscreen phone also has an Android-like operating system. Though it lacks an app store and push-email, it comes pre-loaded with a veritable smorgasbord of games and social media applications and supports 13 different languages. It also comes with a pair of 3D glasses and two short, very basic pre-loaded stereoscopic videos.</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<h3>011 - The Mighty Mini</h3>
<div>
<p class="p1">Price: Rs. 750.00 / $14.00</p>
<p class="p1"><b>KEY FEATURES</b></p>
<ul>
<li>Dual GSM SIM support</li>
<li>Best bang-for-your-buck for a basic mobile phone</li>
</ul>
</div>
<table class="listing">
<tbody>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center; "><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/011.jpg" alt="null" class="image-inline" title="011" /></th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">At Rs. 750, this little feature phone was the least expensive phone we could find that still had almost all of the basics. Even without any extra features, it is still almost Rs. 200 cheaper than the majority of the most basic GSM dual SIM mobiles available on the formal Indian market<a href="#fn3" name="fr3">[3]</a>— and, in most cases, 011 has more capabilities than most of those devices. With .mp3 and .mp4 file playback, a dual camera, colour display, a WAP browser, MMS messaging support, two charging ports and Urdu and Hindi language support, this mobile phone personifies affordable accessibility to knowledge and media.</p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<h3>012 - The Pianist</h3>
<div>
<p class="p1">Price: Rs. 1,550.00 / $28.00</p>
<p class="p1"><b>KEY FEATURES</b></p>
<ul>
<li>Touch piano</li>
<li>Two charging ports</li>
<li>Support for a multitude of audio, video and image formats</li>
</ul>
</div>
<table class="listing">
<tbody>
<tr>
<th><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/012.jpg" alt="null" class="image-inline" title="012" /></th>
<td style="text-align: justify; ">
<p> </p>
<p>012 is a basic candy bar feature phone with a particularly novel innovation: a touch piano. It is quite sensitive to touch and has a one octave range.</p>
</td>
<th><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/012Back.jpg" alt="null" class="image-inline" title="012Back" /></th>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<hr />
<h3></h3>
<h3>013 - The Indian Experience</h3>
<div>
<p class="p1">Price: Rs. 2,100.00 / $38.00</p>
</div>
<p><b>KEY FEATURES</b></p>
<ul>
<li>India<b> </b>specific content</li>
<li>Proprietary App Store</li>
</ul>
<table class="vertical listing">
<tbody>
<tr>
<th><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/013Front.png" alt="null" class="image-inline" title="013Front" /></th>
<td style="text-align: justify; ">
<p>This little touchscreen mobile is chockfull of “Indian-specific” content, including an application that links directly to an online portal where consumers can download “Hungama” videos, music and movies onto the phone—for a price. Many of the games also charge a monthly user fee, though interestingly enough, Angry Birds and Talking Tom Cat are pre-loaded and free to play. This phone also has a proprietary app store with a limited amount of mBounce<a href="#fn4" name="fr4">4]</a> applications and games available for purchase. I am not yet sure if this app store can be remotely updated with new apps, but the device can receive data vis USB connection, so it is possible that new applications can be added through direct file transfer.</p>
<p>It also has keyboard support for English, Hindi and Tamil, but the interface cannot be set it appear in anything other than English.</p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">[<a href="#fr2" name="fn2">2</a>]. Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution, also known as Enchanced GPRS (EGPRS) is a mobile phone technology that also improved data transmission on GSM networks. It is considered a pre-3G radio technology. Read more about it here: <a class="external-link" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enhanced_Data_Rates_for_GSM_Evolution">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enhanced_Data_Rates_for_GSM_Evolution</a><br />[<a href="#fr3" name="fn3">3</a>]. Information retrieved from <a href="http://www.flipkart.com/">www.flipkart.com</a>. The prices shown here have been verified as being the same or very similar (though never more expensive) to the prices offered by each brand's official distributors. See Flipkart search links:</p>
<ul>
<li>Mircomax: <a class="external-link" href="http://bit.ly/UW3q0U">http://bit.ly/UW3q0U</a></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Spice Mobility: <a class="external-link" href="http://bit.ly/V0DK9i">http://bit.ly/V0DK9i</a></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Karbonn: <a class="external-link" href="http://bit.ly/10DKKbz">http://bit.ly/10DKKbz</a></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Lava: <a class="external-link" href="http://bit.ly/TSxUzQ">http://bit.ly/TSxUzQ</a></li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><a href="#fn4" name="fr4">[4]</a> mBounce Ltd is a Hong Kong-based company that performs a variety of mobile phone application support services like proprietary in-house billing infrastructure for app stores, the pre-loading of applications and app stores, and application creation. They are MediaTek-nominated key partner in providing MRE (Maui Runtime Environment) App Store Solutions, but mBounce applications and software can also be placed on other mobile operating systems. You can read more about mBounce here: <a href="http://www.mbounce.com/?lang=eng&module=ltrbox&menu=m1&content=home">http://www.mbounce.com/?lang=eng&module=ltrbox&menu=m1&content=home</a> and here: http://developer.mediatek.com/mre/en/partner/335</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/pervasive-mobile-technologies-meet-our-grey-market-devices'>https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/pervasive-mobile-technologies-meet-our-grey-market-devices</a>
</p>
No publisherjdineFeaturedAccess to KnowledgePervasive Technologies2012-12-21T07:48:40ZBlog EntryPatent Valuation and License Fee Determination in Context of Patent Pools
https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/patent-valuation-and-license-fee-determination-in-context-of-patent-pools
<b>The focus of this research paper is on an extremely limited though important aspect of patent pools — that of patent valuation and license fee determination. It is important to bear in mind that the concept of patent valuation and license fee determination as it exists independently is modified when it is applied in context of patent pools. </b>
<h2 class="WordSection1">I. Introduction</h2>
<p class="WordSection1" style="text-align: justify; ">A patent pool is essentially “An agreement between two or more patent owners to aggregate (pool) their patents and to license them to one another or third parties. Pools usually offer standard licensing terms to licensees and allocate a portion of the licensing fees (royalties) to patent owners according to a pre-set formula or procedure.<a href="#fn1" name="fr1">[1] </a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; ">A patent pool particularly faces intense scrutiny by way of competition/ antitrust law and each step of structuring of a patent pool has to be done keeping the prevalent norms of antitrust law in context. This article merely brushes with the antitrust aspect, as a discussion on that topic is beyond the scope of this particular article. However, suffice is to say that like other aspects of structuring of a patent pool, patent valuation and licensing fee determination is also subject to antitrust law concerns.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; ">Part II of this research paper is a discussion as regards factors which determine patent value in context of a patent pool. Similarly, Part III is a discussion as regards factors that determine license fee in context of a patent pool. Thereafter, Part IV discusses the methods which are applied for patent valuation and license fee determination. A number of these methods are independent evaluation methods and hence their dynamics when applied in context of patent pools may need to be altered in light of the discussion in Parts II and III. Part V discusses certain aspects of actual patent pools in the technological field to better understand the principles which have been discussed in Parts II-IV. Finally, Part VI concludes this research paper.</p>
<h2 class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; ">II. Determination of Patent Value in a Patent Pool</h2>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; ">One of the prominent pillars of a patent pool is an appropriate patent valuation process. Patent valuation is a difficult and subjective task.<a href="#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[2]</span></span></span></a> Moreover, the result of a patent valuation independently outside of a pool might be quite different from when it is part of a pool transaction. A “pool regularizes the valuation of individual patents - making, as the United States Supreme Court put it, ‘a division of royalties according to the value attributed by the parties to their respective patent claims’”.<a href="#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[3]</span></span></span></a> However, this value attribution process is not an arbitrary one but incredibly dynamic, and constantly evolving. This difficulty is furthered by the fact that the term “patent value” itself is subject to interpretation. Patent value essentially comprises of the economic benefit that the patent can bestow.<a href="#_ftn5" name="_ftnref5"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[4]</span></span></span></a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; ">A number of factors as discuss hereinafter determine the value of a patent. It is not necessary though that all the factors would come into play in context of every exercise of valuation of a patent in a pool. The factors determining patent value can be largely classified into a discussion as regards the types of patents in a patent pool in context of their relative importance and other complementary factors which further affect such importance.</p>
<h3 class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; ">A. Categories of Patents in a Patent Pool</h3>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; ">Patents in a pool can be classified based on their necessity and quality. Thus, arises the concept of essential and non-essential patents and strong and weak patents.<i><span> </span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><b><i><span><span> </span></span></i>Essential and Non-Essential Patents<br /></b>As the terms indicate, essential patents are those which are imperative for the success of pool creation and thus naturally have considerably more value. Non-essential patents on the other hand are patents which though not imperative may bring efficiency advantages to the pool. However, what exactly comprises an essential patent is a subjective and constantly evolving definition determined by each patent pool according to its commercial needs and capabilities. For example, the number of patents in the MPEG-2 pool, all of which are declared to be essential to the MPEG-2 standard, increased from 27 in 1997 to more than 900 in 2010.<a href="#_ftn6" name="_ftnref6"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[5]</span></span></span></a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; ">Essential patents naturally have more economic value than non-essential patents.<a href="#_ftn7" name="_ftnref7"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[6]</span></span></span></a> “A pool that includes non-essential patents can increase prices for some consumers, while decreasing prices for other consumers.”<a href="#_ftn8" name="_ftnref8"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[7]</span></span></span></a> Also, inclusion of inessential patents can raise potential concerns about foreclosure of alternative technologies and higher royalties for some licenses than would have occurred if these patents were excluded from the pool.<a href="#_ftn9" name="_ftnref9"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[8]</span></span></span></a> These concerns though should be balanced against the costs of excluding potentially essential patents from the pool.<a href="#_ftn10" name="_ftnref10"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[9]</span></span></span></a> Such concerns were raised in context of the DVD 3C patent pool.<a href="#_ftn11" name="_ftnref11"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[10]</span></span></span></a> Thus, it has to be decided on a case by case scenario as to whether the patent pool will include only essential patents or both essential as well as non-essential patents.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; ">“<span>Whether a patent pool improves a market’s transactional efficiency depends on the competitive characteristics of the patents included within the pool’s offering.”<a href="#_ftn12" name="_ftnref12"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[11]</span></span></span></a> Properly demarcating all required patents for a technology is important during patent pool formation. Otherwise it may create a “hold out” problem where a patent owner will “hold out” for higher royalties, “knowing that the manufacturer has individually negotiated for and already acquired the rest of the necessary … patent licenses, and that the value of all those licenses depends on obtaining a license to its own patent.”<a href="#_ftn13" name="_ftnref13"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[12]</span></span></span></a> </span>Essentiality of a patent can be determined based on certain characteristics of patents:</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">a. Blocking Patents<br />Blocking patents comprise of improvement patents on an existing technology. Thus, the improvement patent is deemed to be “subservient” to the earlier, “dominant’ patent”<a href="#_ftn14" name="_ftnref14"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[13]</span></span></span></a> and the subservient and dominant patents are said to block one another.<a href="#_ftn15" name="_ftnref15"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[14]</span></span></span></a> This is so because, the subservient patent cannot be exploited without infringing upon the dominant patent.<a href="#_ftn16" name="_ftnref16"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[15]</span></span></span></a> Likewise, the dominant patent cannot be developed in the improved embodiment without permission from the subservient patentee.<a href="#_ftn17" name="_ftnref17"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[16]</span></span></span></a> For example, the Wright brothers patents for aeroplane wings were improved upon by Glenn Curtiss and Alexander Graham Bell by using a set of wing flaps, or ailerons. The Curtiss patent, however, was found to infringe upon the Wright patent. As a result, Curtiss had no legal right to make, use, or sell his ailerons without a license from the Wright brothers, and the Wright brothers had no legal right to make, use, or sell Curtiss's commercially successful form of the stabilizing device. Their patents mutually infringed and blocked one another and they had to form a patent pool.<a href="#_ftn18" name="_ftnref18"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[17]</span></span></span></a> Similarly, public key encryption method was devised and patented at Stanford University, and licensed to Cylink. Soon thereafter, a team of scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology developed and patented an algorithm, and licensed its use to RSA. The RSA algorithm was successfully commercialized and became an industry standard. Cylink and RSA constituted blocking rival patents and the issue was resolved by formation of a patent pool.<a href="#_ftn19" name="_ftnref19"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[18]</span></span></span></a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; ">b. Complementary Patents<br />Complementary patents cover technologies that are largely lacking or inefficient absent a license to a separate patented product.<a href="#_ftn20" name="_ftnref20"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[19]</span></span></span></a> They occur as a consequence of independent invention. Thus, value of <span>complementary patents increases when combined with a separate patented invention;</span> they act synergistically, each increasing the value of the other.<a href="#_ftn21" name="_ftnref21"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[20]</span></span></span></a> “Two products or technologies are complements if an increase in the price of one of them reduces the demand for the other.”<a href="#_ftn22" name="_ftnref22"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[21]</span></span></span></a> For example, production of a light bulb requires patent rights to both the vacuum bulb as well as the filament.<a href="#_ftn23" name="_ftnref23"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[22]</span></span></span></a> A patent pool that only contains complementary patents may have substantial market power if the pool does not face competition from alternative or substitutable technology.<a href="#_ftn24" name="_ftnref24"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[23]</span></span></span></a> This though, could lead to the occurrence of royally stacking i.e. double-marginalization, which can occur when firms sell or license complementary products or technologies and demand is sensitive to price.<a href="#_ftn25" name="_ftnref25"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[24]</span></span></span></a> It refers to the addition of successive mark-ups by suppliers in a vertical relationship.<a href="#_ftn26" name="_ftnref26"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[25]</span></span></span></a></p>
<div class="WordSection1">c. Competing Patents</div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; ">Competing patents result when there exist totally novel products or processes that provide market substitutes for patented goods, or when inventors sufficiently modify existing patented goods so that the original patent is deemed “invented around” and not infringed.<a href="#_ftn27" name="_ftnref27"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[26]</span></span></span></a> “Two products or technologies are substitutes if an increase in the price of one of them increases the demand for the other.”<a href="#_ftn28" name="_ftnref28"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[27]</span></span></span></a> A patent pool may obtain market power by obtaining control over substitutable patents too.<a href="#_ftn29" name="_ftnref29"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[28]</span></span></span></a> An individual who acquires the rights to a competing patent eliminates or significantly lessens his need for competing patents within or outside of the pool.<a href="#_ftn30" name="_ftnref30"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[29]</span></span></span></a> Thus, the value of a pool consisting of competing patents increases with acquisition of substitute patents.<a href="#_ftn31" name="_ftnref31"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[30]</span></span></span></a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Strong and Weak Patents<br /></b>A patent pool can comprise of strong as well as weak patents. The value accorded to the patents would naturally be in accordance with its “strength.” “‘Low patent quality’ is shorthand for such problems as overlapping claims, inappropriately broad claims, slow patent prosecution, and patents on obvious inventions.”<a href="#_ftn32" name="_ftnref32"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[31]</span></span></span></a> Patents are “probabilistic rights”<a href="#_ftn33" name="_ftnref33"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[32]</span></span></span></a> Their scope and extent often remains probabilistic until their claim determination which may often be done only upon adjudication. Similarly in situations of a patent flood,<a href="#_ftn34" name="_ftnref34"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[33]</span></span></span></a> the overall quality of patents may become lower.<a href="#_ftn35" name="_ftnref35"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[34]</span></span></span></a> The additional protection of the pool affords a weak patent enforcement rights that it may not have secured standing alone.<a href="#_ftn36" name="_ftnref36"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[35]</span></span></span></a> Thus, even weak and invalid patents become important and can be used to exclude competitors, for example for litigation threats.<a href="#_ftn37" name="_ftnref37"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[36]</span></span></span></a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; ">Some patent pools contain explicit agreements to support weak patents, such as covenants not to challenge patents, joint defense agreements, and allocation of patent rights to parties who are best able to defend them.<a href="#_ftn38" name="_ftnref38"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[37]</span></span></span></a> Some patent pools achieve a similar effect not by explicit agreements, but by creating an institutional environment where patentees find that it is mutually advantageous to recognize each other’s patents.<a href="#_ftn39" name="_ftnref39"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[38]</span></span></span></a></p>
<h3>B. Other Factors Determining Patent Value in Context of Patent Pool</h3>
<p>Besides the patents themselves, other complementary criteria impact on patent value. These comprise of the holistic environment in which the patents subsist, as discussed hereinafter.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><b>Subject matter of Invention<br /></b>“Value is highly dependent upon the subject matter of the invention.”<a href="#_ftn40" name="_ftnref40"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[39]</span></span></span></a> Certain subject matter fields or innovations do not have sufficient commercial importance or market demand to warrant investments.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><b>Scope of Invention<br /></b>A particular subject where there is extensive minefield of patents already in existence is less likely to have considerable patent value due to the limited patent scope as opposed to a field where patents are relatively lacking and there is possibility of a broader patent scope.<b> </b>Analogously, “value of a patent is derived from an ability to preclude others from practicing the unique innovation described by the words of the patent’s claims.”<a href="#_ftn41" name="_ftnref41"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[40]</span></span></span></a> “Generalizing, a patent employing broad claim language is typically more valuable than a patent of narrowly written claims in the same technology arena.”<a href="#_ftn42" name="_ftnref42"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[41]</span></span></span></a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><b>Size of Patent Pool<br /></b>The size of a patent pool i.e. the number of its members and their patents is an important facet in determining the value of patents involved. Greater the number more are the governance issues as well as royalty determination issues, which in turn affect the valuation of the patents. This though does not imply that pools should be of a specific size, only that their size should meet efficiency demands.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><b>Value of Patent Pool<br /></b>The patents under the purview of a patent pool determine the pool’s value which in turn determines the value of the patents within as well as out of the pool. Value of a patent pool may be limited if certain holders of essential patents are not members.<a href="#_ftn43" name="_ftnref43"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[42]</span></span></span></a> This may occur due to various reasons such as if it was perceived that the patent may have more value as an independent entity, or due to strategic interests, or choice of joining different pools.<a href="#_ftn44" name="_ftnref44"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[43]</span></span></span></a> Correspondingly, if the patent pool does not contain all the patents it cannot curtail royalty stacking issues for the users. For example, Alcatel-Lucent pursued infringement claims for patents that it alleged covered the MPEG-2 standard and were not in the pool.<a href="#_ftn45" name="_ftnref45"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[44]</span></span></span></a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; ">While it is evident that collecting all necessary patents where the end product or standards is determined is extremely difficult, it becomes considerably more difficult where there is no predetermined or identifiable end-product.<a href="#_ftn46" name="_ftnref46"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[45]</span></span></span></a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><b><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>Patent Portfolio</span></span></span><br /></b>Certain academic studies are of the opinion that “the real value of patents lies not in their individual significance, but instead in their aggregation into a patent portfolio: a strategic collection of distinct-but-related individual patents that, when combined, confer an array of important advantages upon the portfolio holder.”<a href="#_ftn47" name="_ftnref47"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[46]</span></span></span></a> This theory has been applied to explain the patent paradox where the patent intensity, i.e. patents obtained per research and development dollar has risen dramatically even as the expected value of individual patents has diminished.<a href="#_ftn48" name="_ftnref48"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[47]</span></span></span></a> Thus, greater the control of an entity over a portfolio of patents, more would be its negotiation power in context of valuation.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><b>Signaling<br /></b>It has been opined that the value of patents inheres not so much in the exclusivity they confer upon inventors, but rather in their ability to serve as credible signals.<a href="#_ftn49" name="_ftnref49"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[48]</span></span></span></a> Firms use patents to credibly convey information about the invention to the market who otherwise might not be willing to expend the costs necessary to obtain the information.<a href="#_ftn50" name="_ftnref50"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[49]</span></span></span></a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><span> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><b><i> </i>Defensive Aspect<br /></b>Patent value is also ascertained based on its use to serve as an insurance, whereby competing firms use them as “bargaining chips” to negotiate and secure certain niches in the marketplace.<a href="#_ftn51" name="_ftnref51"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[50]</span></span></span></a> This is so especially from the negotiation as well as the litigation viewpoint.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><b>Valuation Dynamics<br /></b>In context of certain subject matters, inability of the patents to be valued or possibility of dynamic changes in value creates problems in structuring the patent pool, or it might lead to issues of according over-value or under-value. For example, in the process of biological research, where hypotheses are often adjusted and experimentation continually refined, it is impossible to anticipate the particular value of a given research tool for an investigative procedure.<a href="#_ftn52" name="_ftnref52"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[51]</span></span></span></a> Similarly, in context of the Human Genome Sciences, the patent for the gene that encodes CCR5 protein, was likely not valued very highly, because of unsurity of its utility, which changed when independent research established its importance in the fight against HIV.<a href="#_ftn53" name="_ftnref53"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[52]</span></span></span></a></p>
<h3 class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; ">C. Role of Independent Evaluator</h3>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; ">Often, independent experts in the relevant technology are employed for patent valuation purposes. Their role includes the responsibility of providing a mechanism for determining the market value of each participating patent for the purpose of setting appropriate royalty rates within the patent pool.<a href="#_ftn54" name="_ftnref54"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[53]</span></span></span></a> Also, they would evaluate the current state of the art and determine which patents are essential and which aren’t.<a href="#_ftn55" name="_ftnref55"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[54]</span></span></span></a> An evaluator’s is a continuing responsibility throughout the existence of the duration of the patent pool to monitor developments in the field so as to ensure each patent’s essentiality and incorporate additional patents if necessary.<a href="#_ftn56" name="_ftnref56"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[55]</span></span></span></a> Concerns though have been expressed as regards the expert’s ability and impartiality<span>.</span><a href="#_ftn57" name="_ftnref57"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[56]</span></span></span></a></p>
<h2><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>III. Determination of License Fee for a Patent Pool</span></span></span></h2>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><span>Theorists, have suggested criteria to gauge viability of patent pools.<a href="#_ftn58" name="_ftnref58"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[57]</span></span></span></a> The various elements involved in structuring of a patent pool do not function in a vacuum. Each has an impact on the other and ultimately they determine in totum, the licensing fees.</span></p>
<h3><span>A. Pool Dynamics</span></h3>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; ">The factors catalyzing pool creation impact on the licensing fee that is set. A patent pool may primarily be structured due to government influence,<a href="#_ftn59" name="_ftnref59"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[58]</span></span></span></a> court influence,<a href="#_ftn60" name="_ftnref60"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[59]</span></span></span></a> commercial and business perspective,<a href="#_ftn61" name="_ftnref61"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[60]</span></span></span></a> to achieve or pursuant to standard setting,<a href="#_ftn62" name="_ftnref62"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[61]</span></span></span></a> and social objectives.<a href="#_ftn63" name="_ftnref63"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[62]</span></span></span></a> Accordingly, riders may be placed on creation of the pool and setting of licensing fees.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; ">Analogously, members comprising the patent pool affect royalty determinations. Different perspectives can be observed in commercial entities as opposed to research entities or voluntary organizations. Similarly, the negotiation capabilities are different for established commercial conglomerates as opposed to entrepreneurs, or smaller entities.<a href="#_ftn64" name="_ftnref64"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[63]</span></span></span></a> Similarly, patent pools may distinguish between patent contributing licensees and mere licensees in fixing royalty rates.<a href="#_ftn65" name="_ftnref65"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[64]</span></span></span></a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; ">Furthermore, pool governance as well as nature of the pool would have an impact on royalty determination. Pools can essentially be of two types based on regulation of members or licensing- open and closed.<a href="#_ftn66" name="_ftnref66"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[65]</span></span></span></a> Correspondingly, the patent holders themselves may have different perspectives or expectations of their rights.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; ">The negotiating entity too has an impact on royalty determination. “Agreements between the members of the patent pool and third parties can be established directly through patentees and licensees or indirectly through an entity specifically created to administer the pool.”<a href="#_ftn67" name="_ftnref67"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[66]</span></span></span></a> There are a considerable number of business models involved in context of a patent pool that define the parameters of the relationship between what are primarily classified as IP creators and IP consumers.<a href="#_ftn68" name="_ftnref68"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[67]</span></span></span></a> These dynamics have considerably altered with the strong and prolific emergence of IP intermediaries; they in turn affect the royalty rate negotiations.<a href="#_ftn69" name="_ftnref69"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[68]</span></span></span></a></p>
<h3 class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; ">B. Negotiation Dynamics</h3>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; ">License negotiations involve complicated factors, such as uncertain outcomes, asymmetric information about the values of technologies and the contributions of licensees to a technology's value, the credibility of disagreements, differential bargaining power and skill, and the individual circumstances of licensors and licensees.<a href="#_ftn70" name="_ftnref70"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[69]</span></span></span></a> Royalty determination depends on “the bargaining skills of patentees, their licensing objectives, the qualities of their patents, opportunity costs that patentees may have if they choose not to license their patents, the likelihood of injunctions, and the methods that courts apply to calculate infringement damages.”<span class="MsoFootnoteReference"> <a href="#_ftn71" name="_ftnref71"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[70]</span></span></a></span> Pool members act strategically to maximize their share of the pool’s revenues.<a href="#_ftn72" name="_ftnref72"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[71]</span></span></span></a> “The defining characteristic of patent ownership has been described as the right to extract royalties ‘as high as [one] can negotiate with the leverage’ of exclusivity.”<a href="#_ftn73" name="_ftnref73"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[72]</span></span></span></a> <span>“The patent holder can ask for a high starting price; the potential infringer can counter by pointing to potential substitute technologies; and ultimately the process should yield a price that accurately reflects the marginal advantages of the patented technology.”<a href="#_ftn74" name="_ftnref74"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[73]</span></span></span></a> </span>Again, negotiation strategies include deploying a number of tactics by corporates to whittle down an independent inventor’s patience and his price, thus reducing the licensing fee from the desired amount.<a href="#_ftn75" name="_ftnref75"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[74]</span></span></span></a> <span>Correspondingly, there is no average length of time or amount of money needed for successfully creating a patent pool; it depends on the number of members involved in the negotiations and their commitment and willingness to negotiate an appropriate price.<a href="#_ftn76" name="_ftnref76"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[75]</span></span></span></a></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; ">Timing of the license negotiation too has an impact on determination of the royalty scheme. Licensing can occur in two primary settings: ex ante licensing, i.e. prior to pool formation; and ex post, i.e. post pool formation. In ex ante licensing, the manufacturer has a choice to alter existing products to incorporate the patented features, and can thus perform a rational cost-benefit analysis prior to making any product alterations.<a href="#_ftn77" name="_ftnref77"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[76]</span></span></span></a> Analogously, a holdout who demands royalties prior to the final organization of the pool can only demand a royalty that reflects the additional value that his new patent adds to the collection.<a href="#_ftn78" name="_ftnref78"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[77]</span></span></span></a> If he demands more than this value, the pool will work around the holdout’s patent by adopting a different standard, adjusting the patent pool to cover slightly different technology, or dissolving itself.<a href="#_ftn79" name="_ftnref79"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[78]</span></span></span></a> In ex post licensing, on the other hand, a holdout is in a stronger negotiating position, and can demand not only the marginal value of his patent, but also the switching costs that would be incurred if the established standard or licensing regime were limited by a court injunction.<a href="#_ftn80" name="_ftnref80"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[79]</span></span></span></a> Complicating this situation are <span>licenses that are granted ex ante but negotiated ex post.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; ">Furthermore, patent pools are generally voluntary collaborations; however, it is also possible to compel parties to join the pool or risk losing revenue from a large segment of the industry.<a href="#_ftn81" name="_ftnref81"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[80]</span></span></span></a> Depending on the situation, the negotiation dynamics and hence the royalty scheme would be affected.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; ">Rules governing damages for patent infringement also affect patentees’ decision to join a pool or to license independently, as the threat of injunctive relief can provide a patentee with bargaining power that can be disproportional to the number of patents he owns.<a href="#_ftn82" name="_ftnref82"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[81]</span></span></span></a></p>
<h3 class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; ">C. Terms of License</h3>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; ">The terms of the license considerably influence royalty determination. These include, nature of licensed products,<a href="#_ftn83" name="_ftnref83"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[82]</span></span></span></a> character of license- whether exclusive or non-exclusive,<a href="#_ftn84" name="_ftnref84"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[83]</span></span></span></a> granting clause, geographic scope of the license, field of use governed by the license, provision of sublicensing, grantback provisions, future usage governance, non-assertion clauses, reach-through provisions, termination clause, and licensee’s ability to challenge patents in the pool.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; ">Included herein too would be the treatment of after-acquired patents, which in turn can be classified into two types: (1) improvement patents based on a patented technology licensed by another member of the patent pool; and (2) patents unrelated to patented technologies licensed to the members of the patent pool.<a href="#_ftn85" name="_ftnref85"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[84]</span></span></span></a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; ">License governance in context of graduated and progressive licensing would also influence royalty determination. This would include “provisions for pool members to license their patents without licensing all the patents in a pool”<a href="#_ftn86" name="_ftnref86"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[85]</span></span></span></a> And the freedom “to license their patents bilaterally, i.e., outside of the pool structure.”<a href="#_ftn87" name="_ftnref87"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[86]</span></span></span></a></p>
<h2 class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; ">IV. Methods for Patent Valuation and License Fee Determination</h2>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; ">There are three basic methods of valuation: the cost method,<a href="#_ftn88" name="_ftnref88"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[87]</span></span></span></a> the market method,<a href="#_ftn89" name="_ftnref89"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[88]</span></span></span></a> and the income method.<a href="#_ftn90" name="_ftnref90"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[89]</span></span></span></a> In context of patent valuation, these methods find varied expressions. “A truly accurate assessment of patent value requires intensive legal and technical evaluation of individual patents.”<a href="#_ftn91" name="_ftnref91"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[90]</span></span></span></a> The economics literature, however, has also proposed several proxies for patent value based on objective and readily available information.<a href="#_ftn92" name="_ftnref92"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[91]</span></span></span></a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; ">In context of patent pools the dynamics of patent valuation methods is altered and they need to be viewed through the prism of factors discussed in Part II. This doesn’t imply that approaches to objective patent valuation are not relevant.<a href="#_ftn93" name="_ftnref93"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[92]</span></span></span></a> “However, such valuation approaches focus only on characteristics of patents at the time of issue and neglect to consider what happens afterwards.”<a href="#_ftn94" name="_ftnref94"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[93]</span></span></span></a> <span>“Technology developments or price fluctuations, among many factors, may alter the relationship between two patents … In turn, this may decrease the value of any static analysis conducted by experts.”</span><a href="#_ftn95" name="_ftnref95"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[94]</span></span></span></a><span> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; ">Determination of the licensing fee of a patent pool is based on the joint affect of certain transactions. Again, as with patent valuation, so also with licensing fee determination, in context of patent pools, the factors discussed in Part III need to be given heed. The transactions influencing licensing fee determination essentially comprise of valuation of the patent, which in turn is used to set a royalty rate pertaining to allocation of various fees received by licensing of the pool patents. Thus, royalty payment is comprised of two components: a royalty rate and a royalty base, upon which the rate is applied.<a href="#_ftn96" name="_ftnref96"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[95]</span></span></span></span></a></p>
<h3 class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; ">A. Determining an Appropriate Royalty Base</h3>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; ">The scope of the royalty base can be determined in two principal ways- apportionment and entire market value rule.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; ">The apportionment principle implies that when a patent reads on the entirety of an infringing product, the royalty base should be the total value of the sales (or use) of that product.<a href="#_ftn97" name="_ftnref97"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[96]</span></span></span></a> When the patent at issue covers only a component of the infringing product, the value of the sales or uses of that item must be apportioned between the patented invention and the remaining unpatented components.<a href="#_ftn98" name="_ftnref98"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[97]</span></span></span></a> Thus, the principle aims at allocating awards in proportion to contribution, and is not based on any value attributable to the infringer’s or third parties’ inventions.<a href="#_ftn99" name="_ftnref99"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[98]</span></span></span></a> Thus, essentially, a licensor garners a royalty fee in proportion to the number of infringed patents owned by him.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; ">The entire market value rule, recognizes that the economic value added to a product by a patented component may be greater than the value of the component alone.<a href="#_ftn100" name="_ftnref100"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[99]</span></span></span></a> Thus, this rule focuses on whether the patented component drives demand for the entire product, and if it is so, then the patentee may treat all revenue from the infringing product as an appropriate royalty base.<a href="#_ftn101" name="_ftnref101"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[100]</span></span></span></a></p>
<h3 class="WordSection1">B. Setting Royalty Rates</h3>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; ">Royalty rates are typically a percentage rate and thus reflects the proportion of the base value that the patented technology contributes.<a href="#_ftn102" name="_ftnref102"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[101]</span></span></span></a> Various approaches have emerged in determining royalty rates; these could be adapted in context of patent pools.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><b>Rule of Thumb<br /></b>This approach suggests that the licensor should receive 25 percent of the licensee’s gross profit from the licensed technology.<a href="#_ftn103" name="_ftnref103"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[102]</span></span></span></a><sup> </sup>Thus, this rule’s purpose is not the valuation of a technology per se, but rather the apportionment of a technology’s value between the licensor and licensee.<a href="#_ftn104" name="_ftnref104"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[103]</span></span></span></a> The percentage split between the licensor and licensee should be adjusted upwards or downwards to take into account the parties’ respective investment and risk in the licensed technology.<a href="#_ftn105" name="_ftnref105"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[104]</span></span></span></a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><b>Numerical Proportionality<br /></b>According to this approach, royalty entitlement of the holder of patents essential to a standard should be calculated in light of the proportional contribution of that patent owner’s essential patents compared to the total contribution of all other essential patents reading on the standard.<a href="#_ftn106" name="_ftnref106"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[105]</span></span></span></span></a> This method rests on the proposition that every patent is of equal value.<a href="#_ftn107" name="_ftnref107"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[106]</span></span></span></a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><b>Industry Standards / Market or Comparable Technology Method<br /></b>Under this approach, the worth of a patent is determined by examining the royalty rates garnered in similar past transactions.<a href="#_ftn108" name="_ftnref108"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[107]</span></span></span></a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Discounted Cash Flow<br /></b>This approach proposes that patent price can be expressed as the present value of the future stream of economic benefits derived from ownership, which includes projected sales of products (or components) based on the patent over its expected life or any increased share of sales as compared to competitors, net of any capital requirements of production.<a href="#_ftn109" name="_ftnref109"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[108]</span></span></span></span></a> To implement it, one must determine (1) the future cash flows generated by the patent in question and (2) an appropriate discount rate.<a href="#_ftn110" name="_ftnref110"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[109]</span></span></span></a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><b>Ranking<br /></b>This approach compares the intellectual property asset to be valued to comparable intellectual property assets on a subjective or objective scale.<a href="#_ftn111" name="_ftnref111"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[110]</span></span></span></a> There are five components to a ranking method: (i) scoring criteria; (ii) scoring system; (iii) scoring scale; (iv) weighting factors; and (v) decision table; these components are used to calculate a composite score for an asset, which is then compared to the average score for a comparable intellectual property asset to determine the relative value.<a href="#_ftn112" name="_ftnref112"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[111]</span></span></span></a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><b>Cost-based Rate Setting<br /></b>This approach proposes that the patent holder’s cost of obtaining the invention and its patent forms the basis of the royalty rate; a profit margin is simply tacked onto the innovation cost.<a href="#_ftn113" name="_ftnref113"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[112]</span></span></span></span></a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><b>Surrogate Measures<br /></b>Surrogate measures value patents by reference to the patents themselves.<a href="#_ftn114" name="_ftnref114"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[113]</span></span></span></a> They can be largely categorized into: (1) the number of patents issued to a company; (2) payment of patent maintenance fees i.e. patents which are regularly renewed are more valuable; (3) prior art citations i.e. more a patent is cited, more is its value; (4) characteristics of litigated patents i.e. patents which are the subject matter of litigation are more valuable.<a href="#_ftn115" name="_ftnref115"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[114]</span></span></span></a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><b>Disaggregation Methods<br /></b>There are two basic types of disaggregation methods - value disaggregation and income disaggregation.<a href="#_ftn116" name="_ftnref116"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[115]</span></span></span></a> The former apportions some fraction of total value to intellectual property assets by setting the value of intangible assets equal to the value of a firm minus the firm’s monetary and tangible assets from to determine the value of the intangible assets.<a href="#_ftn117" name="_ftnref117"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[116]</span></span></span></a> The latter apportions some fraction of total earnings of a firm, based upon various factors, to intellectual property assets.<a href="#_ftn118" name="_ftnref118"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[117]</span></span></span></a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><b>Option Methods<br /></b>This approach views an investment in intellectual property as an option to develop the intellectual property further, or to abandon the intellectual property, depending upon future technical and market information.<a href="#_ftn119" name="_ftnref119"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[118]</span></span></span></a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><b>Competitive Advantage Valuation (R)<br /></b>The major premise of the CAV method is that intellectual property assets have no inherent value; the value of intellectual property assets resides entirely in the value of the tangible assets which incorporate them.<a href="#_ftn120" name="_ftnref120"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[119]</span></span></span></a> The minor premise of the CAV method is that the value of a given intellectual property asset can best be measured by the competitive advantage which that asset contributes to a product, process, or service.<a href="#_ftn121" name="_ftnref121"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[120]</span></span></span></a> In its most general form, CAV method consists of following six basic steps<a href="#_ftn122" name="_ftnref122"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[121]</span></span></span></a>:</p>
<ol>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">The intellectual property asset to be valued (IPA) is associated with a product and the product’s net present value is calculated.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">The product's net present value is apportioned among tangible assets, intangible advantages and intellectual property assets. (There are three groups of intellectual property assets: technical [utility patents, functional software copyrights and technical trade secrets]; reputational [trademarks, service marks and brand names]; and operational [business method patents and proprietary business processes].</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">The product is associated with competition parameters which can be used to compare the product to substitute products and competition parameter weights are calculated. (There are three groups of competition parameters: technical [price and performance], reputational [recognition and impression], and operational [cost and efficiency]. Weights are calculated for each parameter group and for individual parameters within each group).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">The IPA is associated with an individual competition parameter and the IPA's competitive advantage relative to substitute intellectual property assets is calculated. (Substitute intellectual property assets are assets which are incorporated in substitute products and associated with the same competition parameter as the IPA).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><span> </span>The IPA is associated with complementary intellectual property assets and the IPA's competitive advantage relative to complementary intellectual property assets is calculated. (Complementary intellectual property assets are assets which are incorporated in the same product and associated with the same parameter group as the IPA).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><span> </span>The value of the IPA is calculated by apportioning a share of the product's intellectual property asset value to the IPA based upon the IPA's competitive advantage contribution relative to substitute and complementary intellectual property assets. If the IPA is associated with multiple products, the IPA's relative competitive advantage contribution to each product is calculated and these contributions are summed to calculate the total value of the IPA. If the IPA is associated with multiple parameters, the IPA's relative competitive advantage contribution for each parameter is calculated and these contributions are summed to calculate the total value of the IPA.</li>
</ol>
<p><b>Georgia Pacific<br /></b>The fifteen factors enumerated in the Georgia Pacific case, several of which repeat approaches discussed above, are used in royalty rate determination:<a href="#_ftn123" name="_ftnref123"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[122]</span></span></span></a></p>
<ul>
</ul>
<ol>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><span> </span>The royalties received by the patentee for the licensing of the patent in suit, proving or tending to prove an established royalty.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><span> </span>The rates paid by the licensee for the use of other patents comparable to the patent in suit.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><span> </span>The nature and scope of the license, as exclusive or non-exclusive; or as restricted or non-restricted in terms of territory or with respect to whom the manufactured product may be sold.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><span> </span>The licensor’s established policy and marketing program to maintain its patent monopoly by not licensing others to use the invention or by granting licenses under special conditions designed to preserve that monopoly.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><span> </span>The commercial relationship between the licensor and licensee, such as, whether they are competitors in the same territory in the same line of business; or whether they are inventor and promoter.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><span> </span>The effect of selling the patented specialty in promoting sales of other products of the licensee; the existing value of the invention to the licensor as a generator of sales of its non-patented items; and the extent of such derivative or convoyed sales.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><span> </span>The duration of the patent and the term of the license.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><span> </span>The established profitability of the product made under the patent; its commercial success; and its current popularity.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><span> </span> The utility and advantages of the patent property over the old modes or devices, if any, that had been used for working out similar results.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><span> </span>The nature of the patented invention; the character of the commercial embodiment of it as owned and produced by the licensor; and the benefits to those who have used the invention.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><span> </span>The extent to which the infringer has made use of the invention; and any evidence probative of the value of that use.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><span> </span>The portion of the profit or of the selling price that may be customary in the particular business or in comparable businesses to allow for the use of the invention or analogous inventions.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><span> </span>The portion of the realizable profit that should be credited to the invention as distinguished from non-patented elements, the manufacturing process, business risks, or significant features or improvements added by the infringer.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><span> </span>The opinion testimony of qualified experts.</li>
</ol>
<ul>
</ul>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><span> </span>The amount that a licensor (such as the patentee) and a licensee (such as the infringer) would have agreed upon (at the time the infringement began) if both had been reasonably and voluntarily trying to reach an agreement; that is, the amount which a prudent licensee-which desired, as a business proposition, to obtain a license to manufacture and sell a particular article embodying the patented invention-would have been willing to pay as a royalty and yet be able to make a reasonable profit and which amount would have been acceptable by a prudent patentee who was willing to grant a license.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; ">Academics have prescribed modification to the approach towards these factors analyzing that the relevant questions in calculating a reasonable royalty fall into four basic categories: (1) whether the patentee in fact produces a product in the market; (2) the contribution made by the patented technology compared to the next best alternative; (3) the number and importance of other inputs necessary to make that technology work; and (4) evidence of how the market has actually valued the patent, to the extent it differs from the outcome of (1), (2), and (3).<a href="#_ftn124" name="_ftnref124"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[123]</span></span></span></a></p>
<h2><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>V. Patent Pool Examples<br /></span></span></span></h2>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; ">The following discussion highlights certain aspects of patent pools from real world examples. These examples are restricted to the technological field. Study of these aspects is of value in understanding the concepts discussed hereinbefore.</p>
<h3 class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; ">A. Manufacturers Aircraft Association (MAA)</h3>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; ">The MAA was formed in 1917 in U.S.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; ">Apart from the “foundational” patents of Glenn Curtiss and the Wright Brothers, which had substantial royalty rates, most licensing was conducted on a royalty-free basis, with mutual forbearance from infringement suits as the real payment for the exchange.<a href="#_ftn125" name="_ftnref125"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[124]</span></span></span></a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><span>The MAA was open to anyone who wished to use the Wright-Curtiss designs for a $1000 initiation fee and a licensing fee of $200 per aircraft built; these funds were to be distributed primarily between the Wright and Curtiss interests until each received a sum of $2,000,000 or their key patents expired.<a href="#_ftn126" name="_ftnref126"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[125]</span></span></span></a> </span>MAA retained $ 25 (12.5%) to cover its administrative expenses, $ 135 (67.5%) was paid to the Wright-Martin Aircraft Corporation and $ 40 (20%) was paid to the Curtiss-Burgess Airplane & Motor Corporation.<a href="#_ftn127" name="_ftnref127"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[126]</span></span></span></a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; ">Patents added to the pool after its formation were divided into two classes- normal patents were licensed into the pool for all to use, with no special royalty payout going to the inventor or firm; exceptional patents earned ongoing royalties, in an amount determined by a formal arbitration procedure.<a href="#_ftn128" name="_ftnref128"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[127]</span></span></span></a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><span>The MAA also included a grant-back provision that applied to after-acquired patents.<a href="#_ftn129" name="_ftnref129"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[128]</span></span></span></a></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; ">MAA’s members could license their patents to non-members if the terms were no more favorable than to members and any MAA member could withdraw at any time, but its patents in the pool at the time of withdrawal would remain.<a href="#_ftn130" name="_ftnref130"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[129]</span></span></span></a></p>
<h3><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>B. Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG)</span></span></span></h3>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; ">MPEG technology allows for transmission and storage of digital video and audio signals.<span> It was formed by the Trustees of Columbia University, Fujitsu Limited, General Instrument Corp., Lucent Technologies Inc., Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd., Mitsubishi Electric Corp., Philips Electronics N.C., Scientific Atlanta, Inc., and Sony Corp. in 1997. The patent pool for the MPEG-2 standard is administered by a common license administrator- MPEG-LA</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><span>MPEG-LA is required to grant licenses to any potential licensees, without discrimination and at a reasonable royalty rate.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; ">MPEG LA offers a portfolio of MPEG-2 systems licenses with a fixed royalty for each licensed mobile MPEG-2 systems signal receiver and a different fixed royalty for all other MPEG-2 systems devices.<a href="#_ftn131" name="_ftnref131"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[130]</span></span></span></a> Additional patents, not included in the portfolio, are available for specific implementations.<a href="#_ftn132" name="_ftnref132"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[131]</span></span></span></a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; ">The pool offers a standardized five-year license to all prospective licensees.<a href="#_ftn133" name="_ftnref133"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[132]</span></span></span></a> The licensing royalties do not change if patents are added to the portfolio during the five-year licensing period, although the royalty rate may increase by up to 25% in a license renewal.<a href="#_ftn134" name="_ftnref134"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[133]</span></span></span></a> Each patent in the pool is valued equally.<a href="#_ftn135" name="_ftnref135"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[134]</span></span></span></a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><span>The license has a grant-back provision that requires the licensee to grant to the licensor and other portfolio licensees a nonexclusive license, under fair and reasonable terms and conditions, on any essential patent that the licensee has a right to license.<a href="#_ftn136" name="_ftnref136"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[135]</span></span></span></a> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; ">There exists a partial termination right given to licensors, who may request that MPEG-LA terminate the license of that licensor’s IPR to a particular licensee, if that licensee has sued the licensor for infringement of an MPEG-2 essential or “related” patent or refused to license a related patent on fair and reasonable terms.<a href="#_ftn137" name="_ftnref137"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[136]</span></span></span></a></p>
<h3 class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; ">C. DVD</h3>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; ">Sony, Philips and Pioneer organized the DVD3C patent pool in 1998 <span>for the licensing of patents that are “essential” to comply with the DVD-Video or DVD-ROM standard specifications.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; ">Royalty payments are allocated under guidelines set by the Ground Rules for Royalty</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; ">Allocation rather than on subjective analysis by an expert.<a href="#_ftn138" name="_ftnref138"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[137]</span></span></span></a> The royalty rate in standard licenses is not related to fluctuations in the market price of a licensed product; also, the royalty rate is not computed on a per-patent basis and does not fluctuate as patents are added or removed, therefore, the same royalty rate is payable when using one essential patent as when using several.<a href="#_ftn139" name="_ftnref139"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[138]</span></span></span></a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><span>Hitachi</span><span>, Matsushita, Mitsubishi, Time Warner, Toshiba, and Victor organized the DVD6C patent pool in 1999 again for the licensing of patents that are “essential” to comply with the DVD-Video or DVD-ROM standard specifications.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; ">The DVD6C pool is also governed by the “Ground Rules for Royalty Allocation” guidelines.<a href="#_ftn140" name="_ftnref140"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[139]</span></span></span></a> The royalties are 4% of the net selling price of the product or U.S. $4.00 per product, whichever is higher. Royalties for DVD decoders are 4% of the net selling price of the product or U.S. $1.00 per product, whichever is higher.<a href="#_ftn141" name="_ftnref141"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[140]</span></span></span></a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; ">The DVD6C agreement contains a grant-back clause, which, requires licensees to grant each of the licensing companies of DVD6C (and their licensees) a non-exclusive license on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms to use any of their patents that are deemed essential for the manufacture, use or sale of DVD Products; this grantback is restricted only to those DVD products actually licensed to the licensee.<a href="#_ftn142" name="_ftnref142"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[141]</span></span></span></a></p>
<h3 class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; ">D. 3G Mobile Telephony</h3>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; ">The 3G Patent Platform Partnership was formed in 1999. The purpose of the 3G Patent Platform Partnership is to allow for “fair, reasonable, and nondiscriminatory” access to rights essential for implementing the W-CDMA 3GPP standard.<a href="#_ftn143" name="_ftnref143"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[142]</span></span></span></a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; ">There are three form contracts associated with the Platform: the Framework Agreement, the Standard License, and the Interim License.<a href="#_ftn144" name="_ftnref144"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[143]</span></span></span></a> The Framework Agreement gives each member the choice either to license its essential patents according to the Standard License or to negotiate terms directly with a licensee.<a href="#_ftn145" name="_ftnref145"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[144]</span></span></span></a> The Standard License prescribes standardized royalties for licenses, to be determined by an independent commission.<a href="#_ftn146" name="_ftnref146"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[145]</span></span></span></a> If the patent owner foregoes the Standard License and fails to come to terms in bilateral negotiations, the Interim License comes into effect which has the same royalty terms as the Standard License.<a href="#_ftn147" name="_ftnref147"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[146]</span></span></span></a></p>
<h3 class="WordSection1">E. Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG)</h3>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; ">The Bluetooth SIG was formed in 1997 to provide a technology for interconnection of mobile phones, computers, laptops, printers, PDAs, and other devices via a short-range radio frequency band; SIG oversees the development of Bluetooth standards and its licensing.<a href="#_ftn148" name="_ftnref148"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[147]</span></span></span></a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; ">SIG’s member companies are divided into three different classes- (1) promoter company, which are intensely engaged in the strategic and technical development of Bluetooth wireless technology; they include Agere, Ericsson, Intel, Lenovo, Microsoft, Motorola, Nokia, and</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; ">Toshiba; (2) associate members, who are licensed to use Bluetooth specifications and trademarks; (3) adopted members, which use published specifications and trademarks, but do not influence the specification process, nor do they have early access to unpublished specifications.<a href="#_ftn149" name="_ftnref149"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[148]</span></span></span></a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; ">SIG licenses to member companies on a royalty-free basis, but, associate members pay an annual fee based on their company’s annual revenue, with “small” associates (less than $100 million USD/year) paying $7,500 USD/year and “large” associates (more than $100 million USD/year) paying $35,000 USD/year; adopted members are not required to pay an annual fee.<a href="#_ftn150" name="_ftnref150"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[149]</span></span></span></a></p>
<h2><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>VI. Conclusion<br /></span></span></span></h2>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; ">As is evident, patent valuation and license fee determination are extremely subjective and case based. Moreover, their dynamics alter according to the situation, as in the context of patent pools. This dynamism is furthered by the fact that there are no strict or universal formulas or procedures which can be applied in such determinations. Furthermore, such determinations cannot be made in a vacuum but are subject to the cascading effect of a multitude of factors comprised of the holistic technological environment that may not be just restricted to the innovation in question.</p>
<div>
<hr align="left" size="1" width="100%" />
<div id="ftn2">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[1]</span></span></span></span></a><span> Krista L. Cox, The Medicines Patent Pool: Promoting Access and Innovation for Life-Saving Medicines Through Voluntary Licenses 4 Hastings Sci. & Tech. L.J. 293 (Summer, 2012) citing <i>IGWG Briefing Paper on Patent Pools: Collective Management of Intellectual Property--The Use of Patent Pools to Expand Access to Essential Medical Technologies</i>, Knowledge Ecology International, (June 3, 2007) quoting Robert P. Merges, Institutions for Intellectual Property Transactions: The Case of Patent Pools, in Expanding the Boundaries of Intellectual Property, Innovation Policy for the Knowledge Society 123 (Rochelle Cooper Dreyfuss et al. eds., 2001).</span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn3">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[2]</span></span></span></span></a><span> Jer Rutton Kavasmaneck v Gharda Chemicals Ltd. and Ors. (Suit No.2932 of 2011; Decided On: 20.03.2012) Bombay H.C. (Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) including the patent right is valuable right for all the commercial purposes. These intangible assets play important role in any financial assessment of the trade/commercial or the market. It changes from time to time, market to market, person to person based upon the situations. If valuation is always a complex and flexible issue and a matter of discussion and debate in business strategies. The patent valuation involves many described and undescribed elements).</span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn4">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref4" name="_ftn4"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[3]</span></span></span></span></a><span>Robert P. Merges, Contracting into Liability Rules: Intellectual Property Rights and Collective Rights Organizations 84 Calif. L. Rev. 1293 (October 1996) citing Standard Oil Co. v. United States, 283 U.S. 163, 171 (1931). </span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn5">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref5" name="_ftn5"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[4]</span></span></span></span></a><span> Michael S. Kramer, Valuation and Assessment of Patents and Patent Portfolios Through Analytical Techniques 6 J. Marshall Rev. Intell. Prop. L. 463 (Spring, 2007). </span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn6">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref6" name="_ftn6"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[5]</span></span></span></span></a><span> Richard J. Gilbert, Ties That Bind: Policies to Promote (Good) Patent Pools 77 Antitrust L.J. 1 (2010) MPEG LA Business Review Letter from Joel I. Klein, Ass’t Att’y Gen., U.S. Dep’t of Justice, to Garrard R. Beeney, Esq., Sullivan & Cromwell LLP (June 26, 1997), available at http://www.usdoj.gov/atr/public/busreview/215742.pdf; MPEG LA, MPEG-2 Patent Portfolio License Briefing (Aug. 4, 2010).</span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn7">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref7" name="_ftn7"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[6]</span></span></span></span></a><span> See Kramer, <i>supra</i> n.4 at 463 (essential patents of technical standards are more valuable, on average, than the general population of patents).</span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn8">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref8" name="_ftn8"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[7]</span></span></span></span></a><span> Gilbert, <i>supra</i> n.5.</span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn9">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref9" name="_ftn9"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[8]</span></span></span></span></a><span> <i>Id.</i></span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn10">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref10" name="_ftn10"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[9]</span></span></span></span></a><span> <i>Id.</i> </span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn11">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref11" name="_ftn11"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[10]</span></span></span></span></a><span> <i>Id.</i>citing DVD 3C Business Review Letter from Joel I. Klein, Ass't Att'y Gen., U.S. Dep't of Justice, to Garrard R. Beeney, Esq., Sullivan & Cromwell LLP (Dec. 16, 1998), available at http://www.usdoj.gov/atr/public/busreview/2121.pdf.</span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn12">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref12" name="_ftn12"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[11]</span></span></span></span></a><span>R. Justin Koscher, A Patent Pool's White Knight: Individual Licensing Agreements And The Procompetitive Presumption 20 DePaul J. Art Tech. & Intell. Prop. L. 53 (Fall, 2009). </span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn13">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref13" name="_ftn13"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[12]</span></span></span></span></a><span> Daniel Lin, Research versus Development: Patent Pooling, Innovation And Standardization In The Software Industry 1 J. Marshall Rev. Intell. Prop. L. 274 (2002).</span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn14">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref14" name="_ftn14"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[13]</span></span></span></span></a><span> Steven C. Carlson, Patent Pools and the Antitrust Dilemma 16 Yale J. on Reg. 359 (Summer, 1999).</span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn15">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref15" name="_ftn15"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[14]</span></span></span></span></a><span> <i>Id.</i> </span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn16">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref16" name="_ftn16"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[15]</span></span></span></span></a><span> <i>Id.</i></span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn17">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref17" name="_ftn17"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[16]</span></span></span></span></a><span> <i>Id.</i></span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn18">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref18" name="_ftn18"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[17]</span></span></span></span></a><span> <i>Id.</i></span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn19">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref19" name="_ftn19"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[18]</span></span></span></span></a><span> <i>Id.</i></span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn20">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref20" name="_ftn20"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[19]</span></span></span></span></a><span> <i>Id.</i> </span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn21">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref21" name="_ftn21"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[20]</span></span></span></span></a><span> Michael A. Sanzo, Antitrust Law And Patent Misconduct In The Proprietary Drug Industry 39 Vill. L. Rev. 1209 (1994). </span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn22">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref22" name="_ftn22"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[21]</span></span></span></span></a><span> Gilbert, <i>supra</i> n.5. </span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn23">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref23" name="_ftn23"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[22]</span></span></span></span></a><span> Carlson, <i>supra</i> n.13. </span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn24">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref24" name="_ftn24"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[23]</span></span></span></span></a><span> Philip B. Nelson, Patent Pools: An Economic Assessment Of Current Law And Policy 38 Rutgers L. J. 539 (Winter, 2007). </span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn25">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref25" name="_ftn25"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[24]</span></span></span></span></a><span> Gilbert, <i>supra</i> n.5.</span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn26">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref26" name="_ftn26"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[25]</span></span></span></span></a><span> <i>Id.</i> </span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn27">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref27" name="_ftn27"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[26]</span></span></span></span></a><span> Carlson, <i>supra</i> n.13.</span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn28">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref28" name="_ftn28"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[27]</span></span></span></span></a><span> Gilbert, <i>supra</i> n.5.</span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn29">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref29" name="_ftn29"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[28]</span></span></span></span></a><span> Nelson, <i>supra</i> n.23.</span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn30">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref30" name="_ftn30"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[29]</span></span></span></span></a><span> David S. Taylor, The Sinking Of The United States Electronics Industry Within Japanese Patent Pools 26 GW J. Int'l L. & Econ. 181 (1992). </span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn31">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref31" name="_ftn31"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[30]</span></span></span></span></a><span> <i>Id.</i></span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn32">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref32" name="_ftn32"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[31]</span></span></span></span></a><span> Michael J. Meurer, Business Method Patents and Patent Floods 8 Wash. U. J.L. & Pol'y 309 (2002).</span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn33">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref33" name="_ftn33"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[32]</span></span></span></span></a><span> Mark A. Lemley & Carl Shapiro, Frontiers of Intellectual Property: Patent Holdup and Royalty Stacking 85 Tex. L. Rev. 1991 (June, 2007). </span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn34">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref34" name="_ftn34"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[33]</span></span></span></span></a><span> Meurer, <i>supra</i> n.31 (A patent flood occurs when many inventors apply for patents on similar inventions during an interval of a few years).</span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn35">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref35" name="_ftn35"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[34]</span></span></span></span></a><span> <i>Id.</i></span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn36">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref36" name="_ftn36"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[35]</span></span></span></span></a><span> Robert P. Greenspoon and Catherine M. Cottle, Don't Assume A Can Opener: Confronting Patent Economic Theories With Licensing And Enforcement Reality 12 Colum. Sci. & Tech. L. Rev. 194 (2011). </span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn37">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref37" name="_ftn37"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[36]</span></span></span></span></a><span> Meurer, <i>supra</i> n.31. </span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn38">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref38" name="_ftn38"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[37]</span></span></span></span></a><span> Gilbert <i>supra</i> n.5 citing the cross-licensing arrangement between the Singer Manufacturing Company and Gegauf, contained provisions by which each of the parties agreed not to bring any infringement action against the other. United States v. Singer Mfg. Co., 374 U.S. 174, 178 (1963).</span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn39">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref39" name="_ftn39"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[38]</span></span></span></span></a><span> Gilbert <i>supra</i> n.5.</span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn40">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref40" name="_ftn40"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[39]</span></span></span></span></a><span> Kramer, <i>supra</i> n.4. </span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn41">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref41" name="_ftn41"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[40]</span></span></span></span></a><span> <i>Id.</i></span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn42">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref42" name="_ftn42"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[41]</span></span></span></span></a><span> <i>Id.</i></span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn43">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref43" name="_ftn43"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[42]</span></span></span></span></a><span> Jorge L. Contreras, Standards, Patents, and the National Smart Grid 32 Pace L. Rev. 641 (Summer Issue, 2012). </span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn44">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref44" name="_ftn44"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[43]</span></span></span></span></a><span> Gilbert, <i>supra</i> n.5 (To the extent that a patent pool successfully lowers total royalties relative to independent licensing, this leaves ‘headroom’ available for an independent licensor outside the pool to charge a high royalty for its patent).</span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn45">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref45" name="_ftn45"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[44]</span></span></span></span></a><span> <i>Id.</i><i> </i>citing Multimedia Patent Trust v. Microsoft Corp., et al., 525 F. Supp. 2d 1200 (S.D. Cal. 2007). </span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn46">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref46" name="_ftn46"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[45]</span></span></span></span></a><span> Chase A. Marshall, A Comparative Analysis: Current Solutions To The Anticommons Threat 12 J. High Tech. L. 487 (2012); Damien Geradin and Anne Layne-Farrar, Patent Value Apportionment Rules for Complex, Multi-Patent Products 27 Santa Clara Computer & High Tech. L.J. 763 (2010 / 2011) (the typical semiconductor chip likely involves hundreds, perhaps more, patents. In turn, that chip may be intended for use in a laptop computer, the other components of which involve hundreds, or more, patents. Without knowing how many patents actually read on a product, and how many have holders who will actively seek licensing fees, it can be exceedingly difficult to assign the contributed value to those that are known). </span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn47">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref47" name="_ftn47"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[46]</span></span></span></span></a><span> Gideon Parchomovsky and R. Polk Wagner, Patent Portfolios 154 U. Pa. L. Rev. 1 (November, 2005); Elizabeth M. Bailey, Gregory K. Leonard and Mario A. Lopez, Making Sense Of “Apportionment” In Patent Damages 12 Colum. Sci. & Tech. L. Rev. 255 (2011) (combining patented technologies typically creates value that is greater than the sum of the parts. For example, patent pools often bring together various technologies that are necessary to create the product in question. The stand-alone value of any one patent in the pool may be low or close to zero unless combined with the other patents in the pool). </span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn48">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref48" name="_ftn48"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[47]</span></span></span></span></a><span> Parchomovsky and Wagner, <i>supra</i> n.46.</span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn49">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref49" name="_ftn49"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[48]</span></span></span></span></a><span> <i>Id.</i> </span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn50">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref50" name="_ftn50"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[49]</span></span></span></span></a><span> <i>Id.</i> </span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn51">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref51" name="_ftn51"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[50]</span></span></span></span></a><span> <i>Id.</i></span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn52">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref52" name="_ftn52"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[51]</span></span></span></span></a><span> Scott Iyama, The USPTO's Proposal of a Biological Research Tool Patent Pool Doesn't Hold Water 57 Stan. L. Rev. 1223 (March, 2005). </span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn53">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref53" name="_ftn53"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[52]</span></span></span></span></a><span> Bradley J. Levang, Evaluating the Use of Patent Pools For Biotechnology: A Refutation to the USPTO White Paper Concerning Biotechnology Patent Pools 19 Santa Clara Computer & High Tech. L.J. 229 (December, 2002). </span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn54">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref54" name="_ftn54"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[53]</span></span></span></span></a><span> Courtney C. Scala, Making the Jump From Gene Pools to Patent Pools: How Patent Pools Can Facilitate the Development of Pharmacogenomics 41 Conn. L. Rev. 1631 (July, 2009). </span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn55">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref55" name="_ftn55"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[54]</span></span></span></span></a><span> <i>Id.</i></span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn56">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref56" name="_ftn56"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[55]</span></span></span></span></a><span> <i>Id.</i></span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn57">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref57" name="_ftn57"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[56]</span></span></span></span></a><span> R. Justin Koscher, A Patent Pool's White Knight: Individual Licensing Agreements And The Procompetitive Presumption 20 DePaul J. Art Tech. & Intell. Prop. L. 53 (Fall, 2009) citing DVD-6 Business Review Letter from Joel I. Klein, Assistant Attorney General, to Carey R. Ramos, Esq., of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison (June 10, 1999), available at http://www.usdoj.gov/atr/public/busreview/2485.htm.</span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn58">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref58" name="_ftn58"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[57]</span></span></span></span></a><span> Alexander Lee, Examining the Viability of Patent Pools for the Growing Nanotechnology Patent Thicket, 3 Nanotechnology L. & Bus. 317 (2006) suggests that to determine the viability of using a patent pool in a market, companies should ponder the following list of nine criteria: (1) product development driven by standards; (2) moderate fragmentation of patent landscape; (3) at least five pool members; (4) each member working on specific subcomponent of a product; (5) willingness of patent holders to negotiate; (6) commitment by members to create the pool; (7) an industry that is in the later stages of product development; (8) certainty of patent ownership; and (9) a patent pool clear of potential antitrust violations.</span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn59">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref59" name="_ftn59"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[58]</span></span></span></span></a><span> See Gilbert, <i>supra</i> n.5 discussing the Manufacturers Aircraft Association, where the U.S. government used the threat of compulsory licensing to compel the pioneers of the aircraft industry to form a patent pool in 1917. The industry was enmeshed in litigation over the scope and validity of patents, and some patentees, particularly the Wright-Martin Company, were demanding royalties that the government and other aircraft manufacturers deemed excessive. Creation of the Manufacturers Aircraft Association patent pool resolved the litigation chaos. The government negotiated a portfolio license from the pool with a royalty of $ 200 per aircraft, which was a fraction of the royalty that Wright-Martin was demanding for a single patent ($ 1,000 per aircraft). </span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn60">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref60" name="_ftn60"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[59]</span></span></span></span></a><span> See Carlson, <i>supra</i> n.13 discussing that pool agreements are frequently employed as a means of settling existing litigation, and citing examples including patent pools in the laser eye surgery, and the public key encryption industries;</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><span>also see Lemley & Shapiro, Frontiers of Intellectual Property, <i>supra</i> n.32 discussing that the average royalty rate granted in all reasonable-royalty cases is 13.13% of the price of the infringing product, which is much higher than that of patent licenses negotiated without litigation.</span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn61">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref61" name="_ftn61"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[60]</span></span></span></span></a><span> See Greenspoon and Cottle, <i>supra</i> n.35 discussing the value of patents as a form of currency that can be used to further goals unrelated to market creation or entry. Such goals can be to improve a firm's competitive position when trying to acquire start-up funds, to improve negotiating terms when licensing other patents, and to reduce the chance of paying excessive royalties to external patent owners;</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><span>also see, Gilbert, <i>supra</i> n.5 discussing how different business strategies can cause firms to pool their patents with some firms, but not with others, citing the example of emergence of two pools to license DVD patents as a consequence of differing approaches to industry standards. One explanation offered for the existence of two separate pools is that the two groups could not reach an accord about their respective shares of joint royalty payments. </span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn62">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref62" name="_ftn62"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[61]</span></span></span></span></a><span> See Gilbert, <i>supra</i> n.5 discussing how some pools license their patents royalty-free or at royalties that are deliberately held below profit-maximizing levels in an effort to promote adoption of new technologies covered by their patents, citing the example of the Bluetooth Special Interest Group and the Multimedia Home Platform. The article also discusses patent pools formed to license patents that are necessary to implement a defined standard, such as MPEG encoding, DVDs, or mobile telephony. </span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn63">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref63" name="_ftn63"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[62]</span></span></span></span></a><span> See Gilbert, <i>supra</i> n.5 discussing pools that limit royalties to promote social objectives rather than to profit from new products citing examples of companies, universities, and research organizations such as Syngenta- an agricultural technology company, the Public Intellectual Property Resource for Agriculture, the SARS IP Working Group, and the UNITAID pool for AIDS medications.</span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn64">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref64" name="_ftn64"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[63]</span></span></span></span></a><span> Yuichi Watanabe, Patent Licensing And The Emergence Of A New Patent Market 9 Hous. Bus. & Tax L.J. 445 (2009) (The current state of affairs shows that the patent licensing market strongly favors larger corporations over smaller ones, enabling the larger corporations to reap much of the market opportunities and benefits while limiting them to smaller patentees).</span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn65">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref65" name="_ftn65"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[64]</span></span></span></span></a><span> Roger B. Andewelt, Practical Problems In Counseling And Litigating: Analysis Of Patent Pools Under The Antitrust Laws 53 Antitrust L.J. 611 (October 11, 1984/October 12, 1984) (Pools typically contain restrictions on those who join the pool by contributing patents and/or those who take licenses under the pooled patents).</span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn66">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref66" name="_ftn66"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[65]</span></span></span></span></a><span>Chase A. Marshall, A Comparative Analysis: Current Solutions To The Anticommons Threat 12 J. High Tech. L. 487 (2012).</span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn67">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref67" name="_ftn67"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[66]</span></span></span></span></a><span> Ann Weilbaecher, PSY.D., Diseases Endemic in Developing Countries: How to Incentivize Innovation 18 Ann. Health L. 281 (Summer, 2009).</span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn68">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref68" name="_ftn68"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[67]</span></span></span></span></a><span> Greenspoon and Cottle, <i>supra</i> n.35 identify five general types of entities that license and enforce patents: (1) Individual inventors with a single patent; (2) Individual serial inventors; (3) Non-Practicing Entities; (4) Operating companies who practice inventions acquired from others; and (5) Operating companies who practice inventions developed in-house.</span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn69">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref69" name="_ftn69"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[68]</span></span></span></span></a><span> See, Raymond Millien and Ron Laurie, A Survey Of Established & Emerging IP Business Models 9 Sedona Conf. J. 77 (2008) discussing various models, viz. Patent Licensing and Enforcement Companies, Institutional IP Aggregators/Acquisition Funds, IP/Technology Development Companies, Licensing Agents, Litigation Finance/Investment Firms, IP Brokers, IP-Based M&A Advisory Firms, IP Auction Houses, On-Line IP/Technology Exchanges, Clearinghouses, Bulletin Boards, and Innovation Portals, IP-Backed Lending, Royalty Stream Securitization Firms, Patent Rating Software and Valuation Services, University Technology Transfer Intermediaries, IP Transaction Exchanges & Trading Platforms/IP Transaction Best Practices Development Communities, Defensive Patent Pools, Funds and Alliances, Technology/IP Spinout Financing, and Patent-Based Public Stock Indexes.</span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn70">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref70" name="_ftn70"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[69]</span></span></span></span></a><span> Richard J. Gilbert, Deal or No Deal? Licensing Negotiations In Standard-Setting Organizations 77 Antitrust L.J. 855 (2011).</span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn71">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref71" name="_ftn71"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[70]</span></span></span></span></a><span> Gilbert, <i>supra</i> n.5 </span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn72">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref72" name="_ftn72"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[71]</span></span></span></span></a><span> Merges, Contracting into Liability Rules, <i>supra</i> n.3. </span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn73">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref73" name="_ftn73"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[72]</span></span></span></span></a><span> Alan Devlin, Standard-Setting And The Failure Of Price Competition 65 N.Y.U. Ann. Surv. Am. L. 217 (2009) citing Brulotte v. Thys Co., 379 U.S. 29, 33 (1964). </span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn74">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref74" name="_ftn74"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[73]</span></span></span></span></a><span>Doug Lichtman, Understanding The Rand Commitment 47 Hous. L. Rev. 1023 (2010). </span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn75">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref75" name="_ftn75"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[74]</span></span></span></span></a><span> Peter N. Detkin, Leveling The Patent Playing Field 6 J. Marshall Rev. Intell. Prop. L. 636 (Summer, 2007). </span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn76">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref76" name="_ftn76"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[75]</span></span></span></span></a><span> Lee, <i>infra</i> n.57. </span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn77">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref77" name="_ftn77"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[76]</span></span></span></span></a><span> Kelce Wilson, The Four Phases of Patent Usage 40 Cap. U.L. Rev. 679 (Summer, 2012). </span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn78">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref78" name="_ftn78"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[77]</span></span></span></span></a><span>Gavin D. George, What is Hiding in the Bushes? eBay's Effect on Holdout Behavior in Patent Thickets, 13 Mich. Telecomm. Tech. L. Rev. 557 (2007). </span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn79">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref79" name="_ftn79"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[78]</span></span></span></span></a><span> <i>Id.</i></span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn80">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref80" name="_ftn80"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[79]</span></span></span></span></a><span> <i>Id</i></span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn81">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref81" name="_ftn81"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[80]</span></span></span></span></a><span>Daniel R. Cahoy and Leland Glenna, Private Ordering and Public Energy Innovation Policy 36 Fla. St. U.L. Rev. 415 (Spring, 2009). </span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn82">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref82" name="_ftn82"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[81]</span></span></span></span></a><span> Gilbert, <i>supra</i> n.5; See for example, Merges, Contracting into Liability Rules, <i>supra</i> n.3 describing how in the airplane cross-licensing agreement, it provides that a board of arbitrators may decide in any case what reward should be paid to individual patent owners and this is based not upon the official determination of patentability by the Patent Office, but upon the unofficial determination of the importance of the invention by a board of arbitrators.</span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn83">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref83" name="_ftn83"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[82]</span></span></span></span></a><span> See Andewelt, <i>supra</i> n.64 (The scope and variety of patents included vary considerably from pool to pool. Some pools are limited to patents covering a single commercial device. Others contain numerous and diverse patents relating to different devices in different markets).</span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn84">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref84" name="_ftn84"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[83]</span></span></span></span></a><span> See, Scala, <i>supra</i> n.53 discussing how the non-exclusive character of a license is particularly important for those firms holding patents whose full utility is unascertainable at the time of the formation of the pool.</span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn85">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref85" name="_ftn85"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[84]</span></span></span></span></a><span> Dustin R. Szakalski, Progress In The Aircraft Industry And The Role Of Patent Pools And Cross-Licensing Agreements 2011 UCLA J.L. & Tech. 1 (Spring 2011). </span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn86">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref86" name="_ftn86"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[85]</span></span></span></span></a><span> Ed Levy, et. al, Patent Pools And Genomics: Navigating A Course To Open Science? 16 B.U. J. SCI. & TECH. L. 75 (Winter, 2010). </span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn87">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref87" name="_ftn87"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[86]</span></span></span></span></a><span> <i>Id.</i></span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn88">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref88" name="_ftn88"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[87]</span></span></span></a> Ted Hagelin, Technology and Legal Practice Symposium Issue: Valuation of Intellectual Property Assets: An Overview 52 Syracuse L. Rev. 1133 (2002) (The cost method of valuation measures the value of an asset by the cost to replace the asset with an identical or equivalent asset. The assumption underlying the cost method of valuation is that the cost to purchase or develop a new asset is commensurate with the economic value that the asset can provide during its life).</p>
</div>
<div id="ftn89">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref89" name="_ftn89"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[88]</span></span></span></a> <i>Id.</i><i> </i>(The market method values an asset based upon comparable transactions between unrelated parties).</p>
</div>
<div id="ftn90">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref90" name="_ftn90"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[89]</span></span></span></span></a><span> <i>Id.</i> (The income method values an asset based upon the present value of the net economic benefit (net future income stream) expected to be received over the life of the asset).</span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn91">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref91" name="_ftn91"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[90]</span></span></span></span></a><span> Sannu K. Shrestha, Trolls Or Market-Makers? An Empirical Analysis Of Nonpracticing Entities 110 Colum. L. Rev. 114 (January, 2010). </span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn92">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref92" name="_ftn92"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[91]</span></span></span></span></a><i><span>Id.</span></i><span> </span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn93">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref93" name="_ftn93"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[92]</span></span></span></span></a><span>Colleen V. Chien, From Arms Race to Marketplace: The Complex Patent Ecosystem and Its Implications for the Patent System 62 Hastings L.J. 297 (December, 2010). </span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn94">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref94" name="_ftn94"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[93]</span></span></span></span></a><span> <i>Id.</i> </span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn95">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref95" name="_ftn95"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[94]</span></span></span></span></a><span>R. Justin Koscher, A Patent Pool's White Knight: Individual Licensing Agreements And The Procompetitive Presumption 20 DePaul J. Art Tech. & Intell. Prop. L. 53 (Fall, 2009). </span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn96">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref96" name="_ftn96"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[95]</span></span></span></span></a><span> Geradin and Layne-Farrar, <i>supra</i> n.45. </span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn97">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref97" name="_ftn97"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[96]</span></span></span></a> <i>Id.</i></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn98">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref98" name="_ftn98"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[97]</span></span></span></a> <i>Id.</i></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn99">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref99" name="_ftn99"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[98]</span></span></span></a> <i>Id.</i></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn100">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref100" name="_ftn100"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[99]</span></span></span></a> <i>Id.</i></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn101">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref101" name="_ftn101"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[100]</span></span></span></a> <i>Id.</i></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn102">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref102" name="_ftn102"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[101]</span></span></span></a> <i>Id.</i></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn103">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref103" name="_ftn103"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[102]</span></span></span></span></a><span> Hagelin, <i>supra</i> n.87; also see, Geradin and Layne-Farrar, <i>supra</i> n.45.</span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn104">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref104" name="_ftn104"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[103]</span></span></span></a> <i>Id.</i></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn105">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref105" name="_ftn105"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[104]</span></span></span></a> <i>Id.</i></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn106">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref106" name="_ftn106"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[105]</span></span></span></span></a><span> Geradin and Layne-Farrar, <i>supra</i> n.45. </span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn107">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref107" name="_ftn107"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[106]</span></span></span></a> <i>Id.</i></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn108">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref108" name="_ftn108"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[107]</span></span></span></span></a><span> Hagelin, <i>supra</i> n.87; also see, Geradin and Layne-Farrar, <i>supra</i> n.45.</span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn109">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref109" name="_ftn109"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[108]</span></span></span></span></a><span> Geradin and Layne-Farrar, <i>supra</i> n.45. </span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn110">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref110" name="_ftn110"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[109]</span></span></span></span></a><span> Malcolm T. "Ty" Meeks & Charles A. Eldering, PhD, Patent Valuation: Aren’t We Forgetting Something? Making the Case for Claims Analysis in Patent Valuation by Proposing a Patent Valuation Method and a Patent-Specific Discount Rate Using the CAPM 9 Nw. J. Tech. & Intell. Prop. 194 (Fall, 2010).</span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn111">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref111" name="_ftn111"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[110]</span></span></span></span></a><span> Hagelin, <i>supra</i> n.87.</span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn112">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref112" name="_ftn112"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[111]</span></span></span></span></a><span> <i>Id.</i></span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn113">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref113" name="_ftn113"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[112]</span></span></span></span></a><span> Geradin and Layne-Farrar, <i>supra</i> n.45. </span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn114">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref114" name="_ftn114"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[113]</span></span></span></span></a><span> Hagelin, <i>supra</i> n.87.</span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn115">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref115" name="_ftn115"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[114]</span></span></span></span></a><span> <i>Id.</i>; Meeks & Eldering, <i>supra</i> n.109.</span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn116">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref116" name="_ftn116"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[115]</span></span></span></span></a><span> Hagelin, <i>supra</i> n.87. </span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn117">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref117" name="_ftn117"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[116]</span></span></span></a> <i>Id.</i></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn118">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref118" name="_ftn118"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[117]</span></span></span></a> <i>Id.</i></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn119">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref119" name="_ftn119"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[118]</span></span></span></a> <i>Id.</i></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn120">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref120" name="_ftn120"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[119]</span></span></span></a> <i>Id.</i></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn121">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref121" name="_ftn121"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[120]</span></span></span></a> <i>Id.</i></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn122">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref122" name="_ftn122"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[121]</span></span></span></a> <i>Id.</i></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn123">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref123" name="_ftn123"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[122]</span></span></span></span></a><span> Georgia-Pacific Corp. v. U.S. Plywood Corp., 318 F. Supp. 1116 (S.D.N.Y. 1970). </span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn124">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref124" name="_ftn124"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[123]</span></span></span></span></a><span> Daralyn J. Durie and Mark A. Lemley, A Structured Approach To Calculating Reasonable Royalties 14 Lewis & Clark L. Rev. 627 (Summer, 2010). </span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn125">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref125" name="_ftn125"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[124]</span></span></span></a> Merges, Contracting into Liability Rules, <i>supra</i> n.3.</p>
</div>
<div id="ftn126">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref126" name="_ftn126"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[125]</span></span></span></a> Michael Mattioli, Communities Of Innovation 106 Nw. U.L. Rev. 103 (Winter, 2012).</p>
</div>
<div id="ftn127">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref127" name="_ftn127"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[126]</span></span></span></a> Szakalski, <i>supra</i> n.84.</p>
</div>
<div id="ftn128">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref128" name="_ftn128"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[127]</span></span></span></a> Merges, Contracting into Liability Rules, <i>supra</i> n.3.</p>
</div>
<div id="ftn129">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref129" name="_ftn129"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[128]</span></span></span></a> Mattioli, <i>supra</i> n.125.</p>
</div>
<div id="ftn130">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref130" name="_ftn130"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[129]</span></span></span></a> Szakalski, <i>supra</i> n.84.</p>
</div>
<div id="ftn131">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref131" name="_ftn131"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[130]</span></span></span></a> Gilbert, <i>supra</i> n.5.</p>
</div>
<div id="ftn132">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref132" name="_ftn132"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[131]</span></span></span></a> Carlson, <i>supra</i> n.13.</p>
</div>
<div id="ftn133">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref133" name="_ftn133"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[132]</span></span></span></a> <i>Id.</i></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn134">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref134" name="_ftn134"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[133]</span></span></span></a> <i>Id.</i></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn135">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref135" name="_ftn135"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[134]</span></span></span></a> <i>Id.</i></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn136">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="#_ftnref136" name="_ftn136"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[135]</span></span></span></a> Lin, <i>supra</i> n.12.</p>
</div>
<div id="ftn137">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref137" name="_ftn137"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[136]</span></span></span></a> Dorothy Gill Raymond, Benefits and Risks Of Patent Pooling For Standard-Setting Organizations 16 Antitrust ABA 41 (Summer, 2002).</p>
</div>
<div id="ftn138">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref138" name="_ftn138"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[137]</span></span></span></span></a><span> David Serafino, Survey of Patent Pools Demonstrates Variety of Purposes and Management Structures, KEI Research Note 2007:6, Knowledge Ecology International, 4 June 2007.</span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn139">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref139" name="_ftn139"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[138]</span></span></span></span></a><span> <i>Id.</i> </span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn140">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref140" name="_ftn140"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[139]</span></span></span></span></a><span> <i>Id.</i></span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn141">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref141" name="_ftn141"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[140]</span></span></span></span></a><span> <i>Id.</i></span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn142">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref142" name="_ftn142"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[141]</span></span></span></span></a><span> <i>Id.</i></span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn143">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref143" name="_ftn143"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[142]</span></span></span></span></a><span> <i>Id.</i></span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn144">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref144" name="_ftn144"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[143]</span></span></span></a> Michael R. Franzinger, Latent Dangers in a Patent Pool: The European Commission's Approval of the 3G Wireless Technology Licensing Agreements 91 Calif. L. Rev. 1693 (December, 2003).</p>
</div>
<div id="ftn145">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref145" name="_ftn145"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[144]</span></span></span></span></a><span> <i>Id.</i></span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn146">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref146" name="_ftn146"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[145]</span></span></span></span></a><span> <i>Id.</i></span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn147">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref147" name="_ftn147"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[146]</span></span></span></span></a><span> <i>Id.</i></span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn148">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref148" name="_ftn148"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[147]</span></span></span></span></a><span> David Serafino, Survey of Patent Pools Demonstrates Variety of Purposes and Management Structures, KEI Research Note 2007:6, Knowledge Ecology International, 4 June 2007.</span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn149">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref149" name="_ftn149"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[148]</span></span></span></a> <i>Id.</i></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn150">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="text-align:justify; "><a href="#_ftnref150" name="_ftn150"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[149]</span></span></span></a> <i>Id.</i></p>
</div>
</div>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/patent-valuation-and-license-fee-determination-in-context-of-patent-pools'>https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/patent-valuation-and-license-fee-determination-in-context-of-patent-pools</a>
</p>
No publishervikrantFeaturedPatentsAccess to KnowledgePervasive Technologies2014-07-09T09:46:16ZBlog EntryOverview and Concerns Regarding the Indian Draft DNA Profiling Act
https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/indian-draft-dna-profiling-act
<b>The Indian Code of Criminal Procedure was amended in 2005 to enable the collection of a host of medical details from accused persons upon their arrest. Section 53 of the Cr.PC provides that upon arrest, an accused person may be subjected to a medical examination if there are “reasonable grounds for believing” that such examination will afford evidence as to the crime.
</b>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The scope of this examination was expanded in 2005 to include “the examination of blood, blood-stains, semen, swabs in case of sexual offences, sputum and sweat, hair samples and finger nail clippings by the use of modern and scientific techniques including DNA profiling and such other tests which the registered medical practitioner thinks necessary in a particular case.”</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">In Thogorani Alias K. Damayanti v. State of Orissa and Ors, 2004 Cri. LJ 4003 (Ori), the Orissa High Court affirmed the legality of ordering a DNA test in criminal cases to ascertain the involvement of persons accused. Refusal to cooperate would result in an adverse inference drawn against the accused.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">After weighing the privacy concerns involved, the court laid down the following considerations as relevant before the DNA test could be ordered: “(i) the extent to which the accused may have participated in the commission of the crime; (ii) the gravity of the offence and the circumstances in which it is committed; (iii) age, physical and mental health of the accused to the extent they are known; (iv) whether there are less intrusive and practical ways of collecting evidence tending to confirm or disprove the involvement of the accused in the crime; (v) the reasons, if any, for the accused for refusing consent.” Id.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">In brief, the 2007 draft DNA Profiling Bill (hereinafter “Bill”) pending before parliament attempts to create an ambitious centralized DNA bank that would store DNA records of virtually anyone who comes within any proximity to the criminal justice system. Specifically, records are maintained of suspects, offenders, missing persons and “volunteers.” The schedule to the Bill contains an expansive list of both civil and criminal cases where DNA data can be collected including cases of abortion, paternity suits and organ transplant. In all fairness, the Bill contains provisions limiting access to and use of information contained in the database, and provides for the deletion of a person’s DNA profile upon their acquittal.</p>
<h2>2007 Draft DNA Profiling Bill</h2>
<h3>Preamble (§ 1)</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Section 1 of the Bill sets out the broad policy objectives of its drafters. The most telling portion of § 1 states: “[DNA analysis] makes it possible to determine whether the source of origin of one body substance is identical to that of another, and further to establish the biological relationship, if any, between two individuals, living or dead without any doubt.” Bill, § 1 (emphasis added). Although it later makes mention of potential harms resulting from governmental misuse of genetic information technology, it is evident that the policy animating the Bill presupposes the objective infallibility of genetic analysis. This patent mistruth underpins the policy rationale for the Bill, and as such casts a long shadow over its substantive provisions. At the very least, it tells the reader (and perhaps one day the court) to broadly interpret the Bill’s language to favor DNA analysis as the privileged solution to investigational and prosecutorial needs.</p>
<h3>Definitions (§ 2)</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">A number of the Bill’s definitions are overbroad, further expanding the scope of its later provisions. The “crime scene index” is defined to include “DNA profiles from forensic material found . . . on or within the body of any person, on anything, or at any place, associated with the commission of a specified offence.” Id., § 2(1)(vii) et seq. A “specified offence” is defined as any of a number of more serious crimes, “or any other offence specified in the Schedule [to the Bill].” The so-called “Schedule,” tucked neatly on page 34 of the Bill’s 35 pages, lists a hodgepodge of various crimes from rape, to “offences relating to dowry,” defamation, and “unnatural 3 offenses.”<a href="#fn1" name="fr1">[1]</a> Taken together, the government is empowered to conduct genetic testing on almost anyone in any way connected with even minor infractions of the criminal law.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Furthermore, the crucial term “suspect” is defined as anyone “suspected of having committed an offence.” Id., § 2(1)(xxxvi). By intentionally leaving out the qualifier “specified,” the drafters’ intent is plain: to sweep within the Bill’s breadth all persons suspected of any crime whatsoever. And, accordingly, the Bill defines the “suspects index” to include “DNA profiles derived from forensic material lawfully taken from suspects.” Id., § 2(1)(xxxvix). It is hard to imagine anybody of subsequent regulation that could adequately circumscribe this manifest affront to personal privacy and bodily integrity.</p>
<h3>DNA Profiling Board (§§3 to 13)</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The DNA Profiling Board (hereinafter “Board”) is responsible for administering and overseeing the Indian DNA database. §3 et seq. Among its several enumerated powers, the Board is charged with “recommend[ing] privacy protection statutes, regulations and practices relating to access to, or use of stored DNA samples or DNA analyses,” as well as “mak[ing] specific recommendations to . . . ensure the appropriate use and dissemination of DNA information [and] take any other necessary steps require to be taken to protect privacy.” §13(1)(xv) to (xvi). This provision is in lieu of any substantive principle limiting the scope of the legislation, which the bill otherwise lacks.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">This is a significant omission. As expressed in the preamble, the stated purpose of the Bill is “to enhance protection of people in the society and [the] administration of justice.” §1. Taken alone, this expresses only the government’s interest in the legislation, suggesting an ambiguously wide scope for its provisions. A substantive concept of individual privacy is required to counterbalance the interests of the government and provide protections for the equally vital privacy interests of the individual. As such, a limiting privacy principle should be included alongside the expressing in §1 of the government’s security interest. Without it, the Board will effectively have carte blanche with regard to what privacy protections are—or are not—adopted.</p>
<h3>Approval of Laboratories (§§14 to 18)</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Sections 14 to 18 provide for the approval by the DNA Profiling Board of DNA laboratories that will process and analyze genetic material for eventual inclusion on the DNA database. Under §14, all laboratories must be approved in writing prior to processing or analyzing any genetic material. However, a conflicting provision appears in the next section, §15(2), which permits DNA laboratories in existence at the time the legislation is enacted to process or analyze DNA samples immediately, without first obtaining approval.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Either an oversight on the part of the drafters, or the product of overly-vague language, the result is that established genetic laboratories—including whatever genetic material or profiles they may already have for whatever reason—are in effect “grandfathered” into the system. The only review of these laboratories is the post hoc approval of the laboratory by the DNA profiling board. The potential for abuse and error that this conflict of provisions would be best addressed in keeping with the rule articulated in §14, i.e. correcting the language of §15(2) that allows for laboratories to be “grandfathered” into the system.</p>
<h3>Standards, Obligations of DNA Laboratory (§§19 to 28)</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Chapter V, which concerns the obligations of and the standards to be observed by approved DNA laboratories, lacks adequate administrative provisions. For example, §22 requires that labs ensure “adequate security” to minimize contamination without providing for accountability in the event of contamination. Similarly, §28 provides for audits of DNA laboratories only, withholding from similar scrutiny of the DNA Profiling Board itself.</p>
<h3>National DNA Database (§§33 to 37)</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">In addition on one national DNA database, the Bill sanctions the several Indian states to maintain their own DNA databases, provided these state-level databases forward copies of their content to the national database. Id., § 33(3). The national database is envisioned to comprise several sub-databases, each to contain the genetic information of a subset of persons/samples, namely: (1) unidentified crime scene samples, (2) samples taken from suspects, (3) samples taken from persons convicted or currently subject to prosecution for “subject offences,” (4) samples associated with missing persons, (5) samples taken from unidentified bodies, (6) samples taken from “volunteers,”<a href="#fn3" name="fr3">[3]</a> and finally (7) samples taken for reasons “as may be specified by regulations. Id., § 33(4) et seq. Putting to one side the breadth of persons subject to inclusion under subcategories (1) through (6), subsection (7) appears on its face to be a “catch all” provision, leaving one only to guess at the circumstances under which its specificities may be promulgated. Id.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">A close reading of § 33(6) strongly suggests that the agency <a href="#fn4" name="fr4">[4]</a>conducting conducting the forensic analyses and populating the DNA database shall retain the DNA samples thereafter. This section reads in relevant part:</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The DNA Data Bank shall contain . . . the following information, namely: (i) in the case of a profile in the offenders index, the identity of the person from whose body substance or body substances the profile was derived, and (ii) in case of all other profiles, the case reference number of the investigation associated with the body substance or body substances from which the profile was derived. Id., § 33(6).</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Rather than choose to link the DNA profile data to a specific offender or case, the drafters of the Bill instead like the “body substance or body substances” with that specific offender or case. Whether sloppy drafting or clever nuance, this provision elides the DNA profile with the DNA sample, injecting unneeded—and potentially harmful—ambiguity into the proposed law.</p>
<h3>Confidentiality, Access to DNA Profiles, Samples, and Records (§§ 38-44)</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Further compounding this ambiguity, § 36 entitled “Access to Information” opens the door to much more than DNA profiles alone being kept on the government database. In all three of its subsections it purports to govern access to “the information” contained in the database, not “the DNA profiles” contained in the database. Id., § 36(1) et seq. Subsection 2 employs even broader language, covering “the information in the offenders’ index pertaining to a convict.” Id. Taken at face value, this provision of the Bill suggests that any and all sort of “information . . . pertaining to a convict” that might be derived from his or her DNA can be stored on the database. Even if prudential oversight provisions elsewhere in the Bill suggests a tightly-controlled techno-forensic apparatus, the overbroad construction of provisions such as §§ 33 and 36 raise significant questions about the wisdom of enacting the text in this form.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Two further provisions regarding access to the database warrant close scrutiny. First, §§ 39 and 40 purport to confer upon the police direct access to all of the information contained in the national DNA database. While administratively expedient, this arrangement opens up the possibility for misuse. A more prudent system would place the Board (or some administrative subordinate portion thereof) between the police and the content of the DNA database, with the latter having to make specific and particular requests to the former. This would minimize the risks inherent in the more expansive model of database access the bill currently envisions.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Second, and more concerning, § 41 permits the Data Bank Manager to grant access to the database to “any person or class of persons that the Data Bank Manager considers appropriate.” This is a sweeping provision. It vests in one individual the ability to permit almost anyone access to the DNA database—without administrative review or oversight of any kind. Taken together with the general lack of administrative safeguards in the bill, § 41 again places the government’s interest in investigating crime far above individual privacy rights.</p>
<h3>Omissions</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Most notably, the bill specifically excludes a private cause of action for the unlawful collection of DNA, or for the unlawful storage of private information on the national DNA database. Nor does the bill grant an individual right to review one’s personal data contained on the database. Without these two key features, there is effectively no check against the unlawful collection, analysis, and storage of private genetic information on the database.</p>
<h3>Best Practices Analysis</h3>
<p><b>Collection of DNA</b></p>
<table class="listing">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: justify; ">With consent: only for a specific investigation (e.g. from a victim or for elimination purposes). Volunteers should not have information entered on a database</td>
<td style="text-align: justify; ">No provision</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: justify; ">Without consent: only from persons suspected of a crime for which DNA evidence is directly relevant i.e. a crime scene sample exists or is likely to exist. Or, broader categories?</td>
<td>No provision</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Requirement for an order by a court? Or allowed in other circumstances?</td>
<td>No provision</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Samples collected by police officers, or only medical professionals? Must take place in a secure location i.e. not on the street etc.</td>
<td>No provision</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Provision of information for all persons from whom DNA is taken</td>
<td>No provision</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: justify; ">Crime scenes should be promptly examined if DNA evidence is likely to be relevant, and quality assurance procedures must protect against contamination of evidence</td>
<td style="text-align: justify; ">No provision; regulated at discretion of DNA Profiling Board</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p><b>Analysis of DNA</b></p>
<table class="listing">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: justify; ">Should take place only in laboratories with quality assurance</td>
<td style="text-align: justify; ">Regulated at discretion of DNA Profiling Board</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: justify; ">Laboratories should be independent of police</td>
<td style="text-align: justify; ">No provision; regulated at discretion of DNA Profiling Board</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: justify; ">Profiling standards must be sufficient to minimise false matches occurring by chance. This must take account of increased likelihood of false matches in transboundary searches, and with relatives.</td>
<td style="text-align: justify; ">No provision; regulated at discretion of DNA Profiling Board</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p><b>Storage of DNA</b></p>
<table class="listing">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: justify; ">Data from convicted persons should be separate from others e.g. missing persons’ databases</td>
<td>Unclear</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: justify; ">Access to databases and samples must be restricted and there must be an independent and transparent system of governance, with regular information published e.g. annual reports, minutes of oversight meetings</td>
<td style="text-align: justify; ">Access to database at discretion of DNA Data Bank Manager</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: justify; ">Personal identification information should not be sent with samples to laboratories</td>
<td style="text-align: justify; ">No provision; regulated at discretion of DNA Profiling Board</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Any transfer of data e.g. from police station to lab or database, must be secure</td>
<td style="text-align: justify; ">No provision; regulated at discretion of DNA Profiling Board</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p><b>User Samples and Data</b></p>
<table class="listing">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: justify; ">Research uses should be restricted to anonymised verification of database performance (e.g. checking false matches etc.). Third party access to data for such purposes should be allowed, provided public information on research projects is published. There should be an ethics board.</td>
<td style="text-align: justify; ">No provision</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: justify; ">Research uses for other purposes e.g. health research, behavioural research should not be allowed.</td>
<td>No provision</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: justify; ">Uses should be restricted by law to solving crimes or identifying dead bodies/body parts. Identification of a person is not an acceptable use. Missing persons databases (if they exist) should be separate from police databases.</td>
<td style="text-align: left; ">Ambiguous provisions suggest much wider scope</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: justify; ">Familial searching should be restricted e.g. ordered by a court? Or not used? Or regulated for use in special cases?</td>
<td>No provision</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p><b>Destruction of DNA and Linked Datas</b></p>
<table class="listing">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: justify; ">DNA samples should be destroyed once the DNA profiles needed for identification purposes have been obtained from them, allowing for sufficient time for quality assurance, e.g. six months</td>
<td>DNA samples are retained</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>An automatic removals process is required for deletion of data from innocent persons. This must take place within a reasonable time of acquittal etc.</td>
<td>No provision</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: justify; ">There should be limits on retention of DNA profiles from persons convicted of minor crimes</td>
<td>No provision</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>There should be an appeals process against retention of data</td>
<td>No provision</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: justify; ">Linked data on other databases (e.g. police record of arrest, fingerprints) should be deleted at the same time as DNA database records</td>
<td>No provision</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: justify; ">Crime scene DNA evidence should be retained for as long as a reinvestigation might be needed (including to address miscarriages of justice)</td>
<td>DNA evidence permitted to be retained indefinitely</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p><b>Use in Court</b></p>
<table class="listing">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: justify; ">Individuals must have a right to have a second sample taken from them and reanalysed as a check</td>
<td>No provision</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: justify; ">Individuals must have a right to obtain re-analysis of crime scene forensic evidence in the event of appeal</td>
<td>No provision</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: justify; ">Expert evidence and statistics must not misrepresent the role and value of the DNA evidence in relation to the crime</td>
<td>No provision</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p><b>Other<br /></b></p>
<table class="listing">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: justify; ">Relevant safeguards must be proscribed by law and there should be appropriate penalties for abuse</td>
<td>No provision</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: justify; ">Impacts on children and other vulnerable persons (e.g. mentally ill) must be considered</td>
<td>No provision</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Potential for racial bias must be minimised</td>
<td>No provision</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<hr />
<p style="text-align: justify; ">[<a href="#fr1" name="fn1">1</a>]. No examples are given as to which unnatural offences are intended, leaving the reader wondering. Perhaps a DNA test of witchcraft?<br />[<a href="#fr2" name="fn2">2</a>]. Section 15(2) does mandate that such laboratories petition the DNA Profiling Board for approval within six months after the legislation is enacted.<br />[<a href="#fr3" name="fn3">3</a>].Per § (2)(1)(xxxxiii) of the Definitions, a “volunteer” is “a person who volunteers to undergo a DNA procedure.” The definition does not require that the “volunteer” be informed of the nature, purpose, or possible consequences of his generosity; nor is any such requirement specified elsewhere in the Bill.<br />[<a href="#fr4" name="fn4">4</a>].Or, as is laid out in great detail in §§ 14-32, at the privately-contracted forensics laboratory.</p>
<hr />
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Note: § is a symbol for 'section'.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/indian-draft-dna-profiling-act'>https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/indian-draft-dna-profiling-act</a>
</p>
No publisherGeneWatch UK & the Council for Responsible Genetics, USFeaturedInternet Governance2012-07-11T11:30:38ZBlog EntryOpen Letter to Prime Minister Modi
https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/open-letter-to-prime-minister-modi
<b>After the government introduced the "Make in India" and "Digital India" programmes, the air is thick with the promise of reduced imports, new jobs, and goods for the domestic market. In light of the patent wars in India, the government can ill-afford to overlook the patent implications in indigenously manufactured mobile phones. CIS proposes that the Government of India initiate the formation of a patent pool of critical mobile technologies and a five percent compulsory license. </b>
<p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-741ac7e2-c01d-c02c-db3c-4cf2f2fdf6fc" style="text-align: justify; ">The blog post was <a class="external-link" href="http://www.medianama.com/2015/03/223-digital-india-make-in-india-form-a-patent-pool-of-critical-mobile-technologies-cis-india/">re-published by Medianama</a> on March 24, 2015.</p>
<hr />
<p dir="ltr" style="text-align: justify; ">Honourable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi,</p>
<p dir="ltr" style="text-align: justify; ">We at the Centre for Internet and Society support the "<a class="external-link" href="http://www.makeinindia.com/">Make in India</a>" and "<a class="external-link" href="http://deity.gov.in/sites/upload_files/dit/files/Digital%20India.pdf">Digital India</a>" initiatives of the Indian government and share your <a class="external-link" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8QLIuABSYk/">vision of a digitally empowered India</a> where “1.2 billion connected Indians drive innovation”, where “access to information knows no barriers”, and where knowledge is the citizens’ power. The government’s plan of incentivising the manufacturing of electronics hardware, including that of mobile phones in the 2015 Union Budget is equally encouraging. Towards this important goal of nation building, the Centre for Internet and Society is researching the patent and copyright implications of Internet-enabled mobile devices that are sold in the Indian market for Rs 6,000 or less.</p>
<p dir="ltr" style="text-align: justify; ">Bolstered by Make in India, several mobile phone manufacturers have started or ramped up their manufacturing facilities in India. Homegrown brands — such as <a href="http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-01-28/news/58546839_1_digital-india-spice-group-indian-cellular-association">Spice</a>, <a href="http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-02-04/news/58795672_1_devices-haridwar-april-2015">Maxx Mobile and Lava</a> — and foreign manufacturers alike are making humongous investments in mobile phone plants. Chip manufacturer <a href="http://www.mediatek.com/en/news-events/mediatek-news/mediatek-launches-rd-center-in-bengaluru/">Mediatek</a>; one of the newest entrants in the Indian smartphone market, <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/tech-news/Xiaomi-to-set-up-research-development-centre-in-India/articleshow/46043461.cms">Xiaomi</a>; and telecom company Huawei, all different links in the mobile phone manufacturing chain, are setting up research and development units in India having recognised its potential as a significant market. These developments promise to cut or substitute imports, cater to the domestic market, create millions of jobs, and stem the outflow of money from India.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">However, mobile phone manufacturers, big and small, have also been embroiled in litigation in India for the past few years over patents pertaining to crucial technologies. Micromax, one of the several Indian mobile phone manufacturers with original equipment manufacturers in China <a class="external-link" href="http://delhihighcourt.nic.in/dhcqrydisp_o.asp?pn=57850&yr=2013">was ordered by the Delhi High Court late last year to pay a substantial 1.25 to 2 per cent of the selling price of its devices to Ericsson</a>, which has claimed infringement of eight of its standard essential patents. <a class="external-link" href="http://www.medianama.com/2014/04/223-ericsson-sues-intex-patents/">Intex </a>and Lava, two members of Micromax’s ilk, have been similarly sued and claim to have received the short end of the stick in the form of unreasonable and exorbitant compensations and royalty rates. Chinese budget phone manufacturers operating in India — Xiaomi, OnePlus, and Gionee — also have come under the sledgehammer of sudden suspension of the sale of their devices. The bigger companies such as Asus, Samsung and ZTE have faced the heat of patent litigation as well.</p>
<p dir="ltr" style="text-align: justify; ">The fear of litigation over patent infringement could thwart local innovation. Additionally, the expenses incurred due to litigation and compensation could lead to the smaller manufacturers shutting shop or passing on their losses to their consumers, and in turn, driving the price points of Internet-enabled mobile devices out of the reach of many. It could also become a stumbling block to the success of ambitious plans of the government, such as the one to provide free <a href="http://www.firstpost.com/business/modis-big-bang-digital-india-plan-2500-cities-to-get-free-4g-level-wifi-2060449.html">WiFi in 2,500 cities and towns</a> across India.</p>
<p dir="ltr" style="text-align: justify; "><b>We propose that the Government of India initiate the formation of a patent pool of critical mobile technologies and mandate a five percent compulsory license. </b>Such a pool would possibly avert patent disputes by ensuring that the owners' rights are not infringed on, that budget manufacturers are not put out of business owing to patent feuds, and that consumers continue to get access to inexpensive mobile devices. Several countries including the United States regularly issue compulsory licenses on patents in the pharmaceutical, medical, defence, software, and engineering domains for reasons of public policy, or to thwart or correct anti-competitive practices.<a href="#fn1" name="fr1">[1] </a> <a href="#fn2" name="fr2">[2] </a> Unfortunately, we did not receive a response <a href="https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/letter-for-establishment-of-patent-pool-for-low-cost-access-devices" class="internal-link" title="Letter for Establishment of Patent Pool for Low-cost Access Devices through Compulsory Licenses">from the previous government to our suggestion</a> of establishing such a patent pool. We believe that our proposal falls in line with your ambitious programmes designed to work towards your vision of India, and we hope that you would consider it.</p>
<p dir="ltr" style="text-align: justify; ">Yours truly,<br />Rohini Lakshané,<br />Programme Officer,<br />The Centre for Internet and Society</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Copies to:</p>
<ol>
<li>Shri Arun Jaitley, Minister for Finance</li>
<li>Shri Rajiv Mehrishi, Secretary to Ministry of Finance</li>
<li>Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani, Minister for Human Resource Development</li>
<li>Shri Satyanarayan Mohanty, Secretary to Ministry of Human Resources Development</li>
<li>Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister for Commerce and Industry</li>
<li>Shri Amitabh Kant, Secretary to Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion</li>
<li>Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, Minister for Communication and Information Technology</li>
<li>Shri Rakesh Garg, Secretary to Department of Telecommunications</li>
<li>Shri R. S. Sharma, Secretary for Department of Electronics and Information Technology</li>
</ol>
<p> </p>
<p>Also read: <a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/faq-cis-proposal-for-compulsory-licensing-of-critical-mobile-technologies">FAQ: CIS' Proposal for Compulsory Licensing of Critical Mobile Technologies </a></p>
<hr />
<p style="text-align: justify; ">[<a href="#fr1" name="fn1">1</a>]. <span id="docs-internal-guid-58b7fb82-db2b-7be3-83cf-b5045255b88c">James Love, Knowledge Ecology International (KEI) written comments and notice of intent to testify at the Special 301 Public Hearing, Page 6, "US use of compulsory licensing",<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://keionline.org/sites/default/files/KEI_2014_Special301_7Feb20014_FRComments.pdf">http://keionline.org/sites/default/files/KEI_2014_Special301_7Feb20014_FRComments.pdf</a>, February 7, 2014, Last accessed February 10, 2015.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">[<a href="#fr2" name="fn2">2</a>]. <span id="docs-internal-guid-58b7fb82-db2b-7be3-83cf-b5045255b88c">Colleen Chien, Cheap Drugs at What Price to Innovation, Does the Compulsory Licensing of Pharmaceuticals Hurt Innovation, Berkeley Technology Law Journal, Volume 18, Issue 3, Article 3, Page 862, "Compulsory licensing in the United States", <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://scholarship.law.berkeley.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1429&context=btlj">http://scholarship.law.berkeley.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1429&context=btlj</a>, June 2003, Last accessed February 10, 2015.</span></p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/open-letter-to-prime-minister-modi'>https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/open-letter-to-prime-minister-modi</a>
</p>
No publisherrohiniFeaturedHomepageAccess to KnowledgePervasive Technologies2016-02-14T04:39:01ZBlog EntryOpen Letter to PM Modi on Intellectual Property Rights issues on His Visit to the United States of America in September, 2015
https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/open-letter-on-intellectual-property-rights-issues-during-your-visit-to-the-united-states-of-america-in-september-2015
<b>This is an open letter by CIS to the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi in light of his impending visit to the USA. This letter asks the Prime Minister to urge the USA to ratify the Marrakesh Treaty; and asks that India not be a party to TPP negotiations, in light of recent reports on a study encouraging India to join the TPP.
</b>
<p> </p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Shri Narendra Damodardas Modi<br />Hon’ble Prime Minister of India<br />152, South Block, Raisina Hill<br />New Delhi-110011</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">22 September, 2015</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Dear Sir,</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">We write on behalf of the Centre for Internet and Society, India <a name="_ftnref1" href="#_ftn1">[1]</a>, a Bangalore and New Delhi based not-for-profit organization engaging in research on among others, accessibility for persons with disabilities, intellectual property rights, openness and access to knowledge. Over the past fifteen months, we have welcomed and support certain initiatives of our government as being in line with some of our research interests, specifically, the "Make in India" and "Digital India" initiatives, and your vision of a digitally empowered India, as we have noted in an earlier open letter to you. <a name="_ftnref2" href="#_ftn2">[2]</a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">This letter is in light of your visit to the United States of America (“USA”) this month, to articulate a two-fold request:<em> first, </em>that during the course of your visit you request the government of the USA to ratify the Marrakesh Treaty for visually impaired persons (“Marrakesh Treaty”); <a name="_ftnref3" href="#_ftn3">[3]</a> and <em>second, </em>that the Indian government not enter into any negotiations around the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement (“the TPP”).</p>
<h3>On the Marrakesh Treaty</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify;">According to figures by the World Blind Union, approximately 90% of all published material is not accessible to blind or print disabled people. <a name="_ftnref4" href="#_ftn4">[4]</a> The severity of the ‘book famine’ experienced by the world’s estimated 300 million blind or otherwise print or visually disabled people (of which an estimated 63 million are in India) was highlighted by India in its Closing Statement at the Diplomatic Conference convened to conclude the Marrakesh Treaty. <a name="_ftnref5" href="#_ftn5">[5]</a> India has historically been a strong advocate of the spirit of the Marrakesh Treaty, becoming the first country to ratify it in June, 2014. <a name="_ftnref6" href="#_ftn6">[6]</a> Amendments in 2012 to India’s copyright law predated the signature to the Marrakesh Treaty. These amendments created disability and works neutral exceptions to our copyright law, well beyond the mandate of the Marrakesh Treaty.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The true realization of the promise of the Marrakesh Treaty however will remain a distant dream until the treaty comes into effect (three months) after 20 Member States have ratified it or acceded to it. <a name="_ftnref7" href="#_ftn7">[7]</a> According to information available from the World Intellectual Property Organization <a name="_ftnref8" href="#_ftn8">[8]</a>, this number is currently only 9, and the USA is not one of the countries to have done so. The USA is home <a name="_ftnref9" href="#_ftn9">[9]</a> to some of the largest publishers of both academic and other/leisure material including Penguin Random House, Harper Collins, John Wiley & Sons, the RELX Group, McGraw-Hill Education, Scholastic and Cengage Learning to name a few. It accounts for a large volume of the world’s book and other print material export. The active participation of the USA through the ratification of the Marrakesh treaty is critical if the treaty is to be truly effective.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">During your visit, we urge you request the government of the United States of America to ratify the Marrakesh Treaty at the earliest. This will bring us one important step closer to eradicating the book famine.</p>
<h3>On the TPP</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify;">We are concerned after reports <a name="_ftnref10" href="#_ftn10">[10]</a> of a recent study authored by C Fred Bergsten that encourages India to join the TPP. On this front, we are in complete agreement with the reported statement of the Hon’ble Ambassador Shri Arun K. Singh, where he disagrees with some of the findings and analysis of this recent report. <a name="_ftnref11" href="#_ftn11">[11]</a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The TPP has come into severe criticism <a name="_ftnref12" href="#_ftn12">[12]</a> over the years <a name="_ftnref13" href="#_ftn13">[13]</a> from a vast multitude <a name="_ftnref14" href="#_ftn14">[14]</a> of sources <a name="_ftnref15" href="#_ftn15">[15]</a> (including a group of 30 law professors in 2012) <a name="_ftnref16" href="#_ftn16">[16]</a> across the various countries that are a party to the negotiations. Among others and most relevant to us as an organization is the criticism around the secrecy of negotiations <a name="_ftnref17" href="#_ftn17">[17]</a> as well as the content of the chapter on intellectual property in the TPP. It is our belief that eventually, India stands to lose as a result of the TPP <a name="_ftnref18" href="#_ftn18">[18]</a> with its possible adverse impact on our economy. <a name="_ftnref19" href="#_ftn19">[19]</a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The rigid intellectual property protections (including criminal penalties for unintentional copying) <a name="_ftnref20" href="#_ftn20">[20]</a> sought to be enforced through the TPP would benefit only US pharmaceutical and entertainment industries. <a name="_ftnref21" href="#_ftn21">[21]</a> These provisions (among others) mandate the inclusion of TRIPS plus provisions in national laws, envisage possible extensions in term of protection on patents, restrict copyright exceptions and limitations, extend copyright protection terms and impose a higher liability on intermediaries; <a name="_ftnref22" href="#_ftn22">[22]</a>all of which would be disastrous for an emerging economy such as India’s, which is a heavy user of intellectual property and not a heavy producer of the same.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Historically, India has been a supporter of a transparent, multilateral decision making process, a commitment to which was also reiterated recently by the Hon’ble Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman. <a name="_ftnref23" href="#_ftn23">[23]</a>India has also raised many of its concerns (on the secrecy of the negotiations as well as substantive provisions themselves) around the TPP and its close cousin, the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (“ACTA”) in 2011 <a name="_ftnref24" href="#_ftn24">[24]</a> and 2012 <a name="_ftnref25" href="#_ftn25">[25]</a> at the World Trade Organization (“WTO”) TRIPS Council and on the ACTA in 2010, also at the WTO Trips Council. <a name="_ftnref26" href="#_ftn26">[26]</a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">In light of the above, we strongly urge the Indian government to not engage in negotiations on the TPP. At a minimum, we would request that any engagement in TPP negotiations be preceded by national consultations on the same, soliciting input from various stakeholders with diverging interests, including academia, civil society, industry associations, large Indian corporations, small and medium enterprises and multi- national corporations, rights holders associations and other interest groups.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">We thank you for the opportunity to present these views to you. We do hope that you will consider these suggestions favourably, in the interests of India’s economic and social development. We welcome any opportunity to assist you with any queries you may have with regard to these submissions.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Thank you.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Yours truly</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">(For the Centre for Internet and Society, India)</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Pranesh Prakash, Policy Director<br />Nehaa Chaudhari, Programme Officer</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Copies to:</p>
<ol style="text-align: justify;" type="1">
<li>Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani, Minister for Human Resource Development, Government of India.</li>
<li>Prof. (Dr.) Ram Shankar Katheria, Minister of State for Human Resource Development (Higher Education), Government of India.</li>
<li>Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, Government of India.</li>
<li>Shri Vinay Sheel Oberoi, Secretary (Department of Higher Education), Ministry of Human Resources Development, Government of India, Government of India.</li>
<li>Shri Amitabh Kant, Secretary (Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion), Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India.</li></ol>
<p> <br /><br />(Edit - 25 September, 2015) - The following people have reached out to us in support of this letter and have expressed a desire to have their signatures placed on record as support. We wish to acknowledge the same. </p>
<ol><li>Prof. Dinesh Abrol - Convenor, National Working Group on Patent Laws and WTO<br /></li><li>Dr. B. Ekbal - President, Democratic Alliance for Knowledge Freedom, Kerala</li><li>T.C. James - President, NIPO</li><li>Dr. Suman Sahai - Chairperson, Gene Campaign</li><li>Dr. Biswajit Dhar - Professor, Centre for Economic Studies and Planning, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University</li></ol>
<div> </div>
<p> </p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><a name="_ftn1" href="#_ftnref1">[1]</a>See generally <a href="http://cis-india.org/">http://cis-india.org/</a> (last accessed 22 September, 2015).</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><a name="_ftn2" href="#_ftnref2">[2]</a>Rohini Lakshane, Open Letter to Prime Minister Modi, available at <a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/open-letter-to-prime-minister-modi">http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/open-letter-to-prime-minister-modi</a> (last accessed 22 September, 2015); Centre for Internet and Society/Rohini Lakshane, Digital India & Make in India : Form a patent pool of critical mobile technologies – CIS India, available at <a href="http://www.medianama.com/2015/03/223-digital-india-make-in-india-form-a-patent-pool-of-critical-mobile-technologies-cis-india/" rel="noreferrer">http://www.medianama.com/2015/03/223-digital-india-make-in-india-form-a-patent-pool-of-critical-mobile-technologies-cis-india/</a> (last accessed 22 September, 2015).</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><a name="_ftn3" href="#_ftnref3">[3]</a>The Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works by Visually Impaired Persons and Persons with Print Disabilities adopted on June 27, 2013. Treaty text and other official documentation available at <a href="http://www.wipo.int/treaties/en/ip/marrakesh/" rel="noreferrer">http://www.wipo.int/treaties/en/ip/marrakesh/</a> (last accessed 22 September, 2015).</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><a name="_ftn4" href="#_ftnref4">[4]</a>World Blind Union, Marrakesh Treaty – Right to Read Campaign, available at <a href="http://www.worldblindunion.org/English/our-work/our-priorities/Pages/right-2-read-campaign.aspx" rel="noreferrer">http://www.worldblindunion.org/English/our-work/our-priorities/Pages/right-2-read-campaign.aspx</a> (last accessed 22 September, 2015).</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><a name="_ftn5" href="#_ftnref5">[5]</a>Pranesh Prakash, India’s Closing Statement at Marrakesh on the Treaty for the Blind, available at <a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/india-closing-statement-marrakesh-treaty-for-the-blind">http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/india-closing-statement-marrakesh-treaty-for-the-blind</a> (last accessed 22 September, 2015).</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><a name="_ftn6" href="#_ftnref6">[6]</a>Nehaa Chaudhari, India’s Ratification of the Marrakesh Treaty Celebrated; Accessible Books Consortium Launched, available at <a href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/indias-ratification-of-marrakesh-treaty-celebrated">http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/indias-ratification-of-marrakesh-treaty-celebrated</a> (last accessed 22 September, 2015).</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><a name="_ftn7" href="#_ftnref7">[7]</a>Article 18 of the Marrakesh Treaty.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><a name="_ftn8" href="#_ftnref8">[8]</a>World Intellectual Property Organization, WIPO Administered Treaties: Contracting Parties > Marrakesh VIP Treaty (Treaty not yet in force), available at <a href="http://www.wipo.int/treaties/en/ShowResults.jsp?lang=en&treaty_id=843" rel="noreferrer">http://www.wipo.int/treaties/en/ShowResults.jsp?lang=en&treaty_id=843</a> (last accessed 22 September, 2015).</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><a name="_ftn9" href="#_ftnref9">[9]</a>Publishers Weekly, The World’s 57 Largest Book Publishers, 2015, available at <a href="http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/international/international-book-news/article/67224-the-world-s-57-largest-book-publishers-2015.html" rel="noreferrer">http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/international/international-book-news/article/67224-the-world-s-57-largest-book-publishers-2015.html</a> (last accessed 22 September, 2015).</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><a name="_ftn10" href="#_ftnref10">[10]</a>S Rajagopalan, US Report Pushes India to Join the Trans-Pacific Partnership, available at <a href="http://www.dailypioneer.com/world/us-report-pushes-india-to-join-trans-pacific-partnership.html" rel="noreferrer">http://www.dailypioneer.com/world/us-report-pushes-india-to-join-trans-pacific-partnership.html</a> (last accessed 22 September, 2015); Indo-Asian News Service on NDTV, India Can Boost Exports by $500 Billion with Trade Liberalization: Study, available at <a href="http://www.ndtv.com/india-news/india-can-boost-exports-by-500-billion-with-trade-liberalization-study-1218887" rel="noreferrer">http://www.ndtv.com/india-news/india-can-boost-exports-by-500-billion-with-trade-liberalization-study-1218887</a> (last accessed 22 September, 2015); Raghavendra M., India can boost exports by $500 billion with trade liberalization: study, available at <a href="http://www.americanbazaaronline.com/2015/09/18/india-can-boost-exports-by-500-billion-with-trade-liberalization-study/" rel="noreferrer">http://www.americanbazaaronline.com/2015/09/18/india-can-boost-exports-by-500-billion-with-trade-liberalization-study/</a> (last accessed 22 September, 2015); Press Trust of India in the Business Standard, India can boost exports by USD 500 bn by joining the TPP: report, available at <a href="http://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/india-can-boost-exports-by-usd-500-bn-by-joining-tpp-report-115091701149_1.html" rel="noreferrer">http://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/india-can-boost-exports-by-usd-500-bn-by-joining-tpp-report-115091701149_1.html</a> (last accessed 22 September, 2015); Seema Sirohi, India must expand its trade before it gets left behind in the race, available at <a href="http://blogs.economictimes.indiatimes.com/letterfromwashington/india-must-expand-its-trade-before-it-gets-left-behind-in-the-race/" rel="noreferrer">http://blogs.economictimes.indiatimes.com/letterfromwashington/india-must-expand-its-trade-before-it-gets-left-behind-in-the-race/</a> (last accessed 22 September, 2015).</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><a name="_ftn11" href="#_ftnref11">[11]</a>S Rajagopalan, US Report Pushes India to Join the Trans-Pacific Partnership, available at <a href="http://www.dailypioneer.com/world/us-report-pushes-india-to-join-trans-pacific-partnership.html" rel="noreferrer">http://www.dailypioneer.com/world/us-report-pushes-india-to-join-trans-pacific-partnership.html</a> (last accessed 22 September, 2015)</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><a name="_ftn12" href="#_ftnref12">[12]</a>Natasha Lennard, Noam Chomsky: Trans-Pacific Partnership is a “neoliberal assault”, available at <a href="http://www.salon.com/2014/01/13/chomsky_tpp_is_a_neoliberal_assault/" rel="noreferrer">http://www.salon.com/2014/01/13/chomsky_tpp_is_a_neoliberal_assault/</a> (last accessed 22 September, 2015); Zach Carter and Ryan Grim, Noam Chomsky: Obama Trade Deal a ‘Neoliberal Assault’ to ‘Further Corporate Domination’, available at <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/13/noam-chomsky-obama-trans-pacific-partnership_n_4577495.html?ir=India&adsSiteOverride=in" rel="noreferrer">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/13/noam-chomsky-obama-trans-pacific-partnership_n_4577495.html?ir=India&adsSiteOverride=in</a> (last accessed 22 September, 2015); Sean Flynn;, Margot E Kaminski, Brook K Baker and Jimmy H Koo., "Public Interest Analysis of the US TPP Proposal for an IP Chapter" (2011). PIJIP Research Paper Series. Paper 21. <a href="http://digitalcommons.wcl.american.edu/research/21" rel="noreferrer">http://digitalcommons.wcl.american.edu/research/21</a> (last accessed 22 September, 2015).</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><a name="_ftn13" href="#_ftnref13">[13]</a>BBC News, TPP: What is it and why does it matter?, available at <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/business-21782080" rel="noreferrer">http://www.bbc.com/news/business-21782080</a> (last accessed 22 September, 2015);</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><a name="_ftn14" href="#_ftnref14">[14]</a>For a compilation on writing on the TPP <em>see</em> James Love, Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP also known as the TPPA), available at <a href="http://keionline.org/tpp" rel="noreferrer">http://keionline.org/tpp</a> (last accessed 22 September, 2015); <em>see also </em>American University Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property, Trans-Pacific Partnership, available at <a href="http://infojustice.org/tpp" rel="noreferrer">http://infojustice.org/tpp</a> (last accessed 22 September, 2015).</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><a name="_ftn15" href="#_ftnref15">[15]</a>Zach Carter, Alan Grayson on Trans-Pacific Partnership: Obama Secrecy Hides ‘Assault on Democratic Government’, available at <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/18/alan-grayson-trans-pacific-partnership_n_3456167.html?ir=India&adsSiteOverride=in" rel="noreferrer">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/18/alan-grayson-trans-pacific-partnership_n_3456167.html?ir=India&adsSiteOverride=in</a> (last accessed 22 September, 2015); James Love, KEI analysis of Wikileaks leak of TPP IPR text, from August 30, 2013, available at <a href="http://keionline.org/node/1825" rel="noreferrer">http://keionline.org/node/1825</a> (last accessed 22 September, 2015); Ian Verrender, The TPP has the potential for real harm, available at <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-03-16/verrender-the-tpp-has-the-potential-for-real-harm/6321538" rel="noreferrer">http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-03-16/verrender-the-tpp-has-the-potential-for-real-harm/6321538</a> (last accessed 22 September, 2015).</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><a name="_ftn16" href="#_ftnref16">[16]</a>Sean Flynn, Law Professors Call for Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Transparency, available at <a href="http://infojustice.org/archives/21137" rel="noreferrer">http://infojustice.org/archives/21137</a> (last accessed 22 September, 2015).</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><a name="_ftn17" href="#_ftnref17">[17]</a>Sachie Mizohata, "The Trans-Pacific Partnership and Its Critics: An introduction and a petition," The Asia-Pacific Journal, Vol. 11, Issue 36, No. 3, available at <a href="http://japanfocus.org/-Sachie-MIZOHATA/3996/article.html" rel="noreferrer">http://japanfocus.org/-Sachie-MIZOHATA/3996/article.html</a> (last accessed 22 September, 2015).</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><a name="_ftn18" href="#_ftnref18">[18]</a>Vijay Rajamohan, Trans-Pacific Partnership – Should India Join this Mega Trade Deal?, available at <a href="http://swarajyamag.com/world/trans-pacific-partnership-should-india-join-this-mega-trade-deal/" rel="noreferrer">http://swarajyamag.com/world/trans-pacific-partnership-should-india-join-this-mega-trade-deal/</a> (last accessed 22 September, 2015).</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><a name="_ftn19" href="#_ftnref19">[19]</a>Sylvia Mishra, How will the Trans-Pacific Partnership affect India?, available at <a href="http://www.observerindia.com/cms/sites/orfonline/modules/analysis/AnalysisDetail.html?cmaid=85684&mmacmaid=85685" rel="noreferrer">http://www.observerindia.com/cms/sites/orfonline/modules/analysis/AnalysisDetail.html?cmaid=85684&mmacmaid=85685</a> (last accessed 22 September, 2015).</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><a name="_ftn20" href="#_ftnref20">[20]</a>Gabrielle Chan, Trans-Pacific Partnership: a guide to the most contentious issues, available at <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/10/trans-pacific-partnership-a-guide-to-the-most-contentious-issues" rel="noreferrer">http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/10/trans-pacific-partnership-a-guide-to-the-most-contentious-issues</a> (last accessed 22 September, 2015).</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><a name="_ftn21" href="#_ftnref21">[21]</a>James Love, New leak of TPP consolidated text on intellectual property provides details of pandering to drug companies and publishers, available at <a href="http://www.keionline.org/node/2108" rel="noreferrer">http://www.keionline.org/node/2108</a> (last accessed 22 September, 2015); Vijay Rajamohan, Trans-Pacific Partnership – Should India Join this Mega Trade Deal?, available at <a href="http://swarajyamag.com/world/trans-pacific-partnership-should-india-join-this-mega-trade-deal/" rel="noreferrer">http://swarajyamag.com/world/trans-pacific-partnership-should-india-join-this-mega-trade-deal/</a> (last accessed 22 September, 2015) referencing Paul Krugman.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><a name="_ftn22" href="#_ftnref22">[22]</a>William New, Leaked TPP Draft Reveals Extreme Rights Holder Position Of US, Japan, Outraged Observers Say, available at <a href="http://www.ip-watch.org/2014/10/17/leaked-tpp-draft-reveals-extreme-rights-holder-position-of-us-japan-outraged-observers-say/" rel="noreferrer">http://www.ip-watch.org/2014/10/17/leaked-tpp-draft-reveals-extreme-rights-holder-position-of-us-japan-outraged-observers-say/</a> (last accessed 22 September, 2015).</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><a name="_ftn23" href="#_ftnref23">[23]</a>Lalit K Jha, India not being left out of global trade pacts: Minister, available at <a href="http://www.thestatesman.com/news/business/india-not-being-left-out-of-global-trade-pacts-minister/91679.html" rel="noreferrer">http://www.thestatesman.com/news/business/india-not-being-left-out-of-global-trade-pacts-minister/91679.html</a> (last accessed 22 September, 2015).</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><a name="_ftn24" href="#_ftnref24">[24]</a>Thirukumaran Balasubramaniam, WTO TRIPS Council: India raises concerns on ACTA and TPPA on discussion of “Trends in the Enforcement of IPRs”, available at <a href="https://donttradeourlivesaway.wordpress.com/2011/10/29/wto-trips-council-india-raises-concerns-on-acta-and-tppa-on-discussion-of-trends-in-the-enforcement-of-iprs/" rel="noreferrer">https://donttradeourlivesaway.wordpress.com/2011/10/29/wto-trips-council-india-raises-concerns-on-acta-and-tppa-on-discussion-of-trends-in-the-enforcement-of-iprs/</a> (last accessed 22 September, 2015).</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><a name="_ftn25" href="#_ftnref25">[25]</a>Thirukumaran Balasubramaniam, 28 Feb 2012: Intervention delivered by India at WTO TRIPS Council on IP Enforcement Trends noting concerns with ACTA and TPPA, available at <a href="http://keionline.org/node/1376" rel="noreferrer">http://keionline.org/node/1376</a> (last accessed 22 September, 2015).</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><a name="_ftn26" href="#_ftnref26">[26]</a>Kanaga Raja, ACTA comes in for criticism at the TRIPS council, available at <a href="http://www.twn.my/title2/wto.info/2010/twninfo100606.htm" rel="noreferrer">http://www.twn.my/title2/wto.info/2010/twninfo100606.htm</a> (last accessed 22 September, 2015).</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/open-letter-on-intellectual-property-rights-issues-during-your-visit-to-the-united-states-of-america-in-september-2015'>https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/open-letter-on-intellectual-property-rights-issues-during-your-visit-to-the-united-states-of-america-in-september-2015</a>
</p>
No publisherPranesh Prakash and Nehaa ChaudhariAccess to KnowledgeIntellectual Property RightsAccessibilityFeaturedHomepage2015-09-25T06:43:12ZBlog EntryOpen Government Data Study
https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/open-government-data-study
<b>CIS produced a report on the state of open government data in India, looking at policy, infrastructure, and particular case studies, as well as emerging concerns, future strategies and recommendations. The report is authored by Glover Wright, Pranesh Prakash, Sunil Abraham, and Nishant Shah. We are grateful to the Transparency and Accountability Initiative for providing generous funding for this report.</b>
<p> </p>
<p>Cross-posted from the <a class="external-link" href="http://www.transparency-initiative.org/reports/open-government-data-study-india">Transparency and Accountability Initiative website</a>.</p>
<h2>Open Government Data Study: India</h2>
<p>India provides one of the most fascinating examples of the use of open government data in a developing country context. It has one of the best right to information laws in the world and the government’s approach to open data builds on this legacy of making open data relevant to Indian citizens. An estimated 456 million Indians live on less than $1.25 a day and a key issue for India, and other developing countries, is how open data can be accessible to them.</p>
<p>This paper reviews the progress being made towards open government data in India. Using case studies, it examines some of the pressing challenges facing the adoption of OGD in India. These include infrastructural problems, privacy concerns and the power imbalances that improved transparency can unwittingly create. It also examines government attitudes towards open data and related policies and reviews the relationships between open government data, the media and civil society.</p>
<p>The authors argue that the Indian Government’s responsibility should not stop short at just providing information, but also extend to making it available and accessible in a way that facilitates analysis and enhances offline usability – and ultimately makes it accessible to the poorest.</p>
<p>The paper concludes by suggesting technical and policy strategies to develop, promote, implement and maintain a robust open government data policy in India.</p>
<p>Download the <a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/publications/open-government.pdf" class="internal-link" title="Open Government Data">report</a> [PDF, 1.03 MB]</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/open-government-data-study'>https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/open-government-data-study</a>
</p>
No publisherpraneshOpen DataFeaturedPublicationsOpenness2015-09-03T08:08:22ZBlog EntryOpen Government Data in India (v2)
https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/ogd-draft-v2-call-for-comments
<b>The first draft of the second version of the Open Government Data Report is now online. Nisha Thompson worked on updating the first version of the report. This updated version of the report on open government data in India includes additional case studies as well as a potential policy (National Data Sharing and Accessibility Policy) that would create a central government data portal. The report was distributed for peer review and public feedback.</b>
<p>There are additional government case studies regarding e-governance and how they are changing the way data is collected and distributed. The report also looks at the issues around open data at the city and panchayat level and profiles new projects that are working to fill that void. It also includes a deeper account account of the global perspective on open government data and how India's experience with open data will be different from what the west is doing. Please do let us know what you think are deficiencies in the report, corrections that should be made, or even just general comments. Drop in a word even if you just find it useful. Please do write in to pranesh[at]cis-india.org by Friday, September 2, 2011. <a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/publications/ogd-draft-v2/" class="external-link">Download the [draft report]</a>.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/ogd-draft-v2-call-for-comments'>https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/ogd-draft-v2-call-for-comments</a>
</p>
No publisherpraneshCall for CommentsOpen DataFeaturedOpennesse-governance2012-12-14T10:25:25ZBlog EntryOpen Data Intermediaries in Developing Countries - A Synthesis Report
https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/open-data-intermediaries-in-developing-countries
<b>The roles of intermediaries in open data is insufficiently explored; open data intermediaries are often presented as
single and simple linkages between open data supply and use. This synthesis research paper offers a more
socially nuanced approach to open data intermediaries using the theoretical framework of Bourdieu’s social model, in particular, his concept of species of capital as informing social interaction... Because no single
intermediary necessarily has all the capital available to link effectively to all sources of power in a field, multiple
intermediaries with complementary configurations of capital are more likely to connect between power
nexuses. This study concludes that consideration needs to be given to the presence of multiple intermediaries in an open data ecosystem, each of whom may possess different forms of capital to enable the use and unlock the
potential impact of open data.</b>
<p> </p>
<p>This synthesis report is prepared by François van Schalkwyk, Michael Caňares, Sumandro Chattapadhyay, and Alexander Andrason, based on the analysis of a sample of cases from the <a href="http://opendataresearch.org/" target="_blank">Exploring the Emerging Impacts of Open Data in Developing Countries</a> (ODDC) research network managed by the World Wide Web Foundation and supported by the International Development Research Centre, Canada. Data on intermediaries were extracted from the ODDC reports according to a working definition of an open data intermediary presented in this paper, and with a focus on how intermediaries link actors in an open data supply chain.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Below is an excerpt from the report. The full report can be accessed from <a href="http://figshare.com/articles/Open_Data_Intermediaries_in_Developing_Countries/1449222" target="_blank">Figshare</a> or from <a href="https://github.com/ajantriks/docs/raw/master/ODDC_2_Open_Data_Intermediaries_15_June_2015_FINAL.pdf" target="_blank">Github</a>.</p>
<p> </p>
<h2>Implications for Policy</h2>
<p> </p>
<p>The practical implications of the findings presented here are not insignificant. Given that most of the open data intermediaries in this study were found to rely on donor in order to execute their open data-related social benefit activities, it is perhaps funders who should take heed of the findings presented here when making grants. For example, where a single agency is awarded a funding grant to improve the lives of citizens using open data, questions need to be asked whether the grantee possesses all the types of capital required not only to re-use open data but to connect open data to specific user groups in order to
ensure the use and impact of open data. Questions to be asked of grantees could include: “Who are the specific user groups or communities that you expect to use the data, information or product you are making available?”; “Does your organisation have existing links to these user groups or communities?”; and “What types of channels are in place for you to communicate with these user groups or communities?”. Alternatively donor funders may rethink awarding funding to single agencies in favour of funding partnerships or collaborations in which there is a greater spread of types of capital across multiple actors thereby
increasing the likelihood of effectively linking the supply and use of open data. Such an approach would be more in line with an ecosystems approach to multiple actors being participants in the data supply and (re)use of open data, and the importance of keystone species and positive feedback loops to ensure a healthy system.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>In addition to highlighting the importance of social capital in developing-country innovations systems, Intarakummerd and Chaoroenporn (2013) point to the importance of government initiating and coordinating the activities of both public and private intermediaries. Our findings indicate that should governments adopt such a co-ordinating role in the case of open data intermediaries, they would do well to engage with a broad spectrum of intermediaries, and not simply focus on intermediaries who possess only the technical capital required to interpret and repackage open government data. To be sure, this will be a challenging role for government to assume as conflicting vested interests are likely to surface. Although speculative, it is possible that such a coordinating role is likely to work best when there is a strong pact between all actors involved. And this, in turn, will require a common vision of the value and benefits of open data – something that cannot be taken for granted.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Should there be agreement on the value and benefits of open data, our findings show that most of the
intermediaries in our study are NGOs that rely on donor funding. This should raise serious questions about the sustainability of open data initiatives that are civic-minded in conjunction with questions about what incentives other than that of donor funding could ensure the supply and use of open data beyond project funding. Funders and supporters of open data initiatives may have to think not only about the value and benefits or funding projects, but of the sustainability and the impacts of the products produced by the projects they fund.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/open-data-intermediaries-in-developing-countries'>https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/open-data-intermediaries-in-developing-countries</a>
</p>
No publishersumandroData SystemsOpen DataFeaturedOpen Data CommunityOpenness2015-06-16T09:40:58ZBlog EntryOpen Data Hackathons are Great, but Address Privacy and License Concerns
https://cis-india.org/openness/open-data-hackathons-are-great-but-address-privacy-and-license-concerns
<b>This is to cross-publish a blog post from DataMeet website regarding a letter shared with the organisers of Urban Hack 2015, Bangalore, in response to a set of privacy and license concerns identified and voiced during the hackathon by DataMeet members. Sumandro Chattapadhyay co-authored and co-signed the letter. The blog post is written by Nisha Thompson.</b>
<p> </p>
<p>Hackathons are a source of confusion and frustration for us. DataMeet actively does not do them unless there is a very specific outcome the community wants like<a href="https://github.com/datameet/maps/tree/master/parliamentary-constituencies"> freeing a whole dataset </a>or introducing <a href="http://datameet.org/2015/05/13/mumbai-meet-6-data-science-hackathon/">open data to a new audience</a>. We feel that they cause burn out, are not productive, and in general don't help create a healthy community of civic tech and open data enthusiasts.</p>
<p>That is not to say we feel others shouldn't do them, they are very good opportunities to spark discussion and introduce new audiences to problems in the social sector. <a href="http://www.datakind.org/chapters/datakind-blr">DataKind</a> and <a href="https://rhokbangalore.wordpress.com/">RHOK</a> and numerous others host hackathons or variations of them regularly to stir the pot, bring new people into civic tech and they can be successful starts to long term connections and experiments. A lot of people in the DataMeet community participate and enjoy hackathons.</p>
<p>However, with great data access comes great responsibility. We always want to make sure that even if no output is achieved when a dataset is opened at least no harm should be done.</p>
<p>Last October an open data hackathon,<a href="https://www.hackerearth.com/sprints/urban-hack/"> Urban Hack</a>, run by Hacker Earth, <a href="http://www.nasscom.in/">NASSCOM</a>, <a href="http://www.xrci.xerox.com/">XEROX</a>, <a href="https://console.ng.bluemix.net/?cm_mmc=EcoDISA-_-Bluemix_day-_-11-15-14::12-31-15-_-UrbanHack">IBM </a>and <a href="http://wri-india.org/">World Resource Institute India</a> wanted to bring out open data and spark innovation in the transport and crime space by making datasets from <a href="http://mybmtc.com/">Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC)</a> and the Bangalore City Police available to work with. A DataMeet member (<a href="http://www.lostprogrammer.com/">Srinivas Kodali</a>) was participating, he is a huge transport data enthusiast and wanted to take a look at what is being made available.</p>
<p>In the morning shortly after it started I received a call from him that there is a dataset that was made available that seems to be violating privacy and data security. We contacted the organizers and they took it down, later we realized it was quite a sensitive dataset and a few hundred people had already downloaded it. We were also distressed that they had not clarified ownership of data, license of data, and had linked to sources like <a href="http://openbangalore.org/">Open Bangalore</a> without specifying licensing, which violated the license.</p>
<p>The organizers were quite noted and had been involved with hackathons before so it was a little distressing to see these mistakes being made. We were concerned that the government partners (who had not participated in these types of events before) were also being exposed to poor practices. As smart cities initiatives take over the Indian urban space, we began to realize that this is a mistake that shouldn't happen again.</p>
<p>Along with <a href="http://cis-india.org/">Centre for Internet and Society</a> and Random Hacks of Kindness we sent the organizers, Bangalore City Police and BMTC a letter about the breach in protocol. We wanted to make sure everyone was aware of the issues and that measures were taken to not repeat these mistakes.</p>
<p>You can see the letter here:</p>
<p><iframe src="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/2702333-Appropriate-and-Responsible-Practices-for.html" height="500" width="600"></iframe></p>
<p>We are very proud of the DataMeet community and Srinivas for bringing this violation to the attention of the organizers. As people who participate in hackathons and other data events it is imperative that privacy and security are kept in mind at all times. In a space like India where a lot of these concepts are new to institutions, like the Government, it is essential that we are always using opportunities not only to showcase the power of open data but also good practices for protecting privacy and ensuring security.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><em>Originally posted on DataMeet website: <a href="http://datameet.org/2016/02/02/to-hack-or-not-to-hack/">http://datameet.org/2016/02/02/to-hack-or-not-to-hack/</a>.</em></p>
<p> </p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/openness/open-data-hackathons-are-great-but-address-privacy-and-license-concerns'>https://cis-india.org/openness/open-data-hackathons-are-great-but-address-privacy-and-license-concerns</a>
</p>
No publishersumandroPrivacyOpen DataOpen Government DataFeaturedHackathonOpenness2016-02-05T20:37:18ZBlog EntryOpen Data and Land Ownership
https://cis-india.org/openness/open-data-and-land-ownership
<b>In this chapter of the recently published volume on State of Open Data, Tim Davies and Sumandro Chattapadhyay discuss how the lessons from the land ownership field highlight the political nature of data, and illustrate the importance of politically aware interventions when creating open data standards, infrastructure, and ecosystems. State of Open Data, edited by Tim Davies, Stephen B. Walker, Mor Rubinstein, and Fernando Perini, is published by African Minds and International Development Research Centre, Canada.</b>
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<h4>State of Open Data: <a href="https://www.stateofopendata.od4d.net/" target="_blank">Website</a> and <a href="http://www.africanminds.co.za/dd-product/state-of-open-data/" target="_blank">Book</a> (Open Access)</h4>
<h4>Chapter on Open Data and Land Ownership: <a href="https://zenodo.org/record/2677839" target="_blank">Zenodo</a> (PDF)</h4>
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<h2>Key Points</h2>
<h4>- Global availability of land ownership and land deals data is patchy, but, when available, it has been used by individual citizens, entrepreneurs, civil society, and journalists.</h4>
<h4>- Over the last decade, a number of responsible data lessons have been learned. These lessons can provide guidance on how to balance transparency and privacy and on how to draw research conclusions from partial data.</h4>
<h4>- In spite of large donor investments in land registration systems, few resources are currently made available to enable open data related to these projects. There are untapped opportunities as a result.</h4>
<h4>- Lessons from the land ownership field highlight the political nature of data, and illustrate the importance of politically aware interventions when creating open data standards, infrastructure, and ecosystems.</h4>
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For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/openness/open-data-and-land-ownership'>https://cis-india.org/openness/open-data-and-land-ownership</a>
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No publishersumandroOpen DataFeaturedOpenness2019-05-22T11:32:18ZBlog EntryOpen Call for Comments: The Privacy Protection Bill 2013 drafted by the Centre for Internet and Society
https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/privacy-protection-bill-2013-open-call-for-comments
<b>The Centre for Internet and Society is announcing an Open Call for Comments to the CIS Privacy Protection Bill 2013. </b>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">In early 2013 the Centre for Internet and Society drafted the Privacy (Protection) Bill 2013 as a citizen’s version of privacy legislation for India. The Privacy (Protection) Bill, 2013 seeks to protect privacy by regulating (i) the manner in which personal data is collected, processed, stored, transferred and destroyed — both by private persons for commercial gain and by the state for the purpose of governance; (ii) the conditions upon which, and procedure for, interceptions of communications — both voice and data communications, including both data-in-motion and data-at-rest — may be conducted and the authorities permitted to exercise those powers; and, (iii) the manner in which forms of surveillance not amounting to interceptions of communications — including the collection of intelligence from humans, signals, geospatial sources, measurements and signatures, and financial sources — may be conducted.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The Centre for Internet and Society has been collecting comments to the Privacy Protection Bill since April 2013 with the intention of submitting the Bill to the Department of Personnel and Training as a citizen’s version of a privacy legislation for India. If you would like to submit comments on the Privacy Protection Bill to be included as part of the Centre for Internet and Society’s submission to the Department of Personnel and Training, please email comments to <a href="mailto:bhairav@cis-india.org">bhairav@cis-india.org</a>.</p>
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<p style="text-align: justify; "><b><a href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/privacy-protection-bill-february-2014.pdf" class="internal-link">Download the latest version of the Privacy Protection Bill</a></b> (February 2014)</p>
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For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/privacy-protection-bill-2013-open-call-for-comments'>https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/privacy-protection-bill-2013-open-call-for-comments</a>
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No publisherbhairavFeaturedInternet GovernancePrivacy2014-02-25T05:38:27ZBlog EntryOnline Pre-Censorship is Harmful and Impractical
https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/online-pre-censorship-harmful-impractical
<b>The Union Minister for Communications and Information Technology, Mr. Kapil Sibal wants Internet intermediaries to pre-censor content uploaded by their users. Pranesh Prakash takes issue with this and explains why this is a problem, even if the government's heart is in the right place. Further, he points out that now is the time to take action on the draconian IT Rules which are before the Parliament.</b>
<p>Mr. Sibal is a knowledgeable lawyer, and according to a senior lawyer friend of his with whom I spoke yesterday, greatly committed to ideals of freedom of speech. He would not lightly propose regulations that contravene Article 19(1)(a) [freedom of speech and expression] of our Constitution. Yet his recent proposals regarding controlling online speech seem unreasonable. My conclusion is that the minister has not properly grasped the way the Web works, is frustrated because of the arrogance of companies like Facebook, Google, Yahoo and Microsoft. And while he has his heart in the right place, his lack of knowledge of the Internet is leading him astray. The more important concern is the<a class="external-link" href="http://www.mit.gov.in/sites/upload_files/dit/files/RNUS_CyberLaw_15411.pdf"> IT Rules</a> that have been in force since April 2011.</p>
<h3>Background <br /></h3>
<p>The New York Times scooped a story on Monday revealing that Mr. Sibal and the <a class="external-link" href="http://www.mit.gov.in/">MCIT</a> had been <a class="external-link" href="http://india.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/05/india-asks-google-facebook-others-to-screen-user-content/?scp=2&sq=kapil%20sibal&st=cse">in touch with Facebook, Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft</a>, asking them to set up a system whereby they would manually filter user-generated content before it is published, to ensure that objectionable speech does not get published. Specifically, he mentioned content that hurt people's religious sentiments and content that Member of Parliament Shashi Tharoor described as <a class="external-link" href="http://zeenews.india.com/news/nation/i-am-against-web-censorship-shashi-tharoor_745587.html">'vile' and capable of inciting riots as being problems</a>. Lastly, Mr. Sibal defended this as not being "censorship" by the government, but "supervision" of user-generated content by the companies themselves.</p>
<h3>Concerns <br /></h3>
<p>One need not give lectures on the benefits of free speech, and Mr. Sibal is clear that he does not wish to impinge upon it. So one need not point out that freedom of speech means nothing if not the freedom to offend (as long as no harm is caused). There can, of course, be reasonable limitations on freedom of speech as provided in Article 19 of the <a class="external-link" href="http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/ccpr.htm">ICCPR</a> and in Article 19(2) of our Constitution. My problem lies elsewhere.</p>
<h3>Secrecy <br /></h3>
<p>It is unfortunate that the New York Times has to be given credit for Mr. Sibal addressing a press conference on this issue (and he admitted as much). What he is proposing is not enforcement of existing rules and regulations, but of a new restriction on online speech. This should have, in a democracy, been put out for wide-ranging public consultations first.</p>
<h3>Making intermediaries responsible <br /></h3>
<p>The more fundamental disagreement is that over how the question of what should not be published should be decided, and how that decision should be and how that should be carried out, and who can be held liable for unlawful speech. I believe that "to make the intermediary liable for the user violating that code would, I think, not serve the larger interests of the market." Mr. Sibal said that in May this year <a class="external-link" href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304563104576355223687825048.html">in an interview with the Wall Street Journal</a>. The intermediaries (that is, all persons and companies who transmit or host content on behalf of a third party), are but messengers just like a post office and do not exercise editorial control, unlike a newspaper. (By all means prosecute Facebook, Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft whenever they have created unlawful content, have exercised editorial control over unlawful content, have incited and encouraged unlawful activities, or know after a court order or the like that they are hosting illegal content and still do not remove it.)
Newspapers have editors who can take responsibility for content published in the newspaper. They can afford to, because the number of articles in a newspaper is limited. YouTube, which has 48 hours of videos uploaded every minutes, cannot. One wag suggested that Mr. Sibal was not suggesting a means of censorship, but of employment generation and social welfare for censors and editors. To try and extend editorial duties to these 'intermediaries' by executive order or through 'forceful suggestions' to these companies cannot happen without amending s.79 of the Information Technology Act which ensures they are not to be held liable for their user's content: the users are.
Internet speech has, to my knowledge, and to date, has never caused a riot in India. It is when it is translated into inflammatory speeches on the ground with megaphones that offensive speech, whether in books or on the Internet, actually become harmful, and those should be targeted instead. And the same laws that apply to offline speech already apply online. If such speech is inciting violence then the police can be contacted and a magistrate can take action. Indeed, Internet companies like Facebook, Google, etc., exercise self-regulation already (excessively and wrongly, I feel sometimes). Any person can flag any content on YouTube or Facebook as violating the site's terms of use. Indeed, even images of breast-feeding mothers have been removed from Facebook on the basis of such complaints. So it is mistaken to think that there is no self-regulation. In two recent cases, the High Courts of Bombay (<a href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/janhit-manch-v-union-of-india" class="internal-link" title="Janhit Manch & Ors. v. The Union of India"><em>Janhit Manch v. Union of India</em></a>) and Madras (<em>R. Karthikeyan v. Union of India</em>) refused to direct the government and intermediaries to police online content, saying that places an excessive burden on freedom of speech.</p>
<h3>IT Rules, 2011 <br /></h3>
<p>In this regard, the IT Rules published in April 2011 are great offenders. While speech that is 'disparaging' (while not being defamatory) is not prohibited by any statute, yet intermediaries are required not to carry 'disparaging' speech, or speech to which the user has no right (how is this to be judged? do you have rights to the last joke that you forwarded?), or speech that promotes gambling (as the government of Sikkim does through the PlayWin lottery), and a myriad other kinds of speech that are not prohibited in print or on TV. Who is to judge whether something is 'disparaging'? The intermediary itself, on pain of being liable for prosecution if it is found have made the wrong decision. And any person may send a notice to an intermediary to 'disable' content, which has to be done within 36 hours if the intermediary doesn't want to be held liable. Worst of all, there is no requirement to inform the user whose content it is, nor to inform the public that the content is being removed. It just disappears, into a memory hole. It does not require a paranoid conspiracy theorist to see this as a grave threat to freedom of speech.
Many human rights activists and lawyers have made a very strong case that the IT Rules on Intermediary Due Diligence are unconstitutional. Parliament still has an opportunity to reject these rules until the end of the 2012 budget session. Parliamentarians must act now to uphold their oaths to the Constitution.</p>
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For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/online-pre-censorship-harmful-impractical'>https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/online-pre-censorship-harmful-impractical</a>
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No publisherpraneshIT ActObscenityFreedom of Speech and ExpressionPublic AccountabilityYouTubeSocial mediaInternet GovernanceFeaturedIntermediary LiabilityCensorshipSocial Networking2011-12-12T17:00:50ZBlog Entry