An Interview with Professor Unnat P Pandit - Indian Controller General of Patents, Designs & Trade Marks

October 2022

By Catherine Saez, WIPO

Professor Unnat P Pandit has recently been appointed as Indian Controller General of Patents, Designs & Trade Marks. He talks about his function and the IP application review process in India. Yoga and ayurvedic medicine advocate, Prof. Pandit explains how the Covid-19 crisis has pushed the emergence of new business models in the wellness sector and fostered entrepreneurship. The wellness sector cuts across many others, such as tourism, apparel, and Ayurvedic knowledge and plants are a golden opportunity for research and innovation, he said. The sector is expected to grow in the years to come and be supported by IP. Prof. Pandit also gives a glimpse of potential change trends in the Indian IP system.

Can you introduce yourself, and describe your professional path?

I am Prof Unnat P Pandit. I am acting as Controller General of Patents, Designs & Trade Marks, beside this I also look after the copyright, geographical indications, and integrated circuit rights, which are granted as per the Indian Act. I am an academician, and I teach IP and innovation at Jawaharlal Nehru University. Before those positions, I worked for the government of India, as the Program Director of the Atal Innovation Mission for four years. Before that, I served in another government department. I also worked for the private sector before entering the government. I sat on all the chairs that influence the IP ecosystem.

I own patents in India, a couple of which went through PCT and foreign filings. My patents are mainly in the field of medicinal chemistry. By heart, I am a medicinal chemist, but I have been in the IP and innovation business for over 20 years. I have synthesized 154 novel infective compounds protected by patents. They were also screened for anti-microbial potency. Now I am into IP, innovation, startups, and incubation support systems.

As the Controller General, what are your functions?

As Controller General, I have to oversee patents, trademarks, designs, copyright, geographical indications, and integrated circuits’ administration in India. We have four patent offices in India: Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, and Calcutta. Any application that is filed in India goes into one of four groups in these offices, further segregated into 15 different subjects for their substantive examination. The applications are managed by respective group leaders who deal with three to four subjects' specialties. The applications are initially evaluated by examiners, who issue an examination report. A controller further examines them. If those patents are deserving merit according to the Indian Act, they will be granted, if not they may have rejection. The same goes for copyright and trademarks. This is an organization regrouping over 13,000 people. Some 66,000 patents and 450,000 trademark applications were filed in India. During the post-covid period, we even experienced an 80% hike in design filings. The entire IP ecosystem is growing and we are supporting inventors and creators to get their IP rights protected in India. The Office of the Controller General also deals with remedial actions and queries from applicants.

What would you say is the largest area of the wellness industry in India?

Covid-19 has taught all of us to remain healthy and people are more conscious of preventive care. This is well accepted in India and all across the world, and as a consequence, the wellness segment has been growing. This is an emergence of a surprisingly new segment in the post-covid era. There are so many opportunities for youth. In India, we also have seen rising numbers of startups in this sector, getting impressive funding. One of them has recently raised 0.2 billion USD at early-stage funding. This is a surprise, as well as the number of individuals launching into business, like yoga gurus on social media channels, Facebook, YouTube, or Zoom. Sitting in their home, they perform yoga, give free lessons or have a subscription-based option. This is a unique business model. Wellness apps have also gained wide acceptance, for example allowing the user to analyze their meals from a picture taken with their mobile phone.

In my opinion, yoga is social innovation. I am proudly saying that it is India's most famous ancestral gift to the world. I also practiced Yoga during the pandemic to keep myself healthy. The pranayama, for example, is a breathing exercise practice by many, to clean the nasal and breathing tracks.

Would you say that the wellness industry is a regular user of IP protection?

The wellness industry is routinely using trademark and copyright protection, and sometimes design protection. It is important to understand that the yoga and wellness industry cut across many sectors, like the apparel segment with yoga attire. It has also influenced the preventive care and equipment industry, as well as tourism. People are offering wellness as a complementary service and tourists are planning their trips with wellness services considerations. Corporations are also starting to include wellness elements in their meetings, such as relaxation. Wellness sits at the intersection of many different sectors. It has been extensively utilized as a traveler’s delight.

The government of India has also run a campaign encouraging people to use yoga and Ayurveda-based products. The increasing taste for wellness products has also prompted a lot of research projects. One innovator designed an AI-powered device based on an ancient pulse diagnosis: Nadi Pariksha, which is a method of precision diagnosis measuring physical, mental, and emotional imbalances. Nadi Pariksha tells the root cause of health issues and does not only address the symptoms. Ayurveda Disease Diagnosis has a unique combination of a secured AI-enabled centralized server, an app with a diet-lifestyle corrective plan, and access to a holistic practitioner. The device projects three doshas of ayurvedic medicine: Vata (consists of air & space elements), Pitta (consists of fire & water elements), and Kapha (consists of earth & water element) through which Ayurveda doctors diagnose imbalances by feeling the pulse of patients, prescribing curative or preventive treatments to balance the inner health.  The report provided by the device does not just help practitioners but is also useful for wellness coaches in providing diet, yoga, and lifestyle correction plans, especially on weight, immunity, stamina, acidity, stress, sleep, indigestion, etc. The device is additionally helpful for Spas, wellness centers, gym trainers & yoga trainers to understand their users completely and design a personalized wellness plan.

India has set up a Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL) to enable the use of ancestral knowledge for development; can you explain what is in it?

The TKDL has the potential to act as an important source of ancestral traditional information to advance knowledge and technology frontiers.  The current contents of TKDL shall facilitate wider adoption of Indian traditional medicines, while also propelling new manufacturers and innovators to gainfully build enterprises based on our valuable knowledge heritage. The TKDL contains over 8,000 medicinal plants wherein about 1,100 of them have codified information about their appropriate use in Ayurvedic medicine as documented in the literature. The remaining are non-codified and have the potential for commercial use. There is a huge scope for research to combine the use of medicinal extracts and allopathic therapy. We believe that such research should be used for society. India has always been advocating for positions utilizing traditional knowledge for societal purposes, and yoga is the best example.

Can people using medicinal plants which are in the digital library, still patent their advanced research?

The TKDL can’t be used directly for patenting per se. However, if people are using Ayurvedic medicinal plants outside of their reported use, that becomes a new application of a known substance and possibly becomes a patentable subject matter. The novel process of extraction of an active ingredient, and its delivery system are patentable subject matters. Discoveries such as a nanogel using herbal extracts to reduce arthritic pain or the use of some herbs reducing the side effects of cancer treatments have been patentable. For example, piperine has been found to reduce the amount of WHO-recommended treatment for tuberculosis (Rifampicin and Isoniazid). The use of piperine can reduce the amount required for Rifampicin by 35 to 38%, thus reducing costs. That is the future of Medicament using TKDL.

I believe that there is a need for catalyzing hybrid research utilizing traditional knowledge and cutting-edge pharmaceutical knowledge to deliver better healthcare solutions to society.

Would you say that the use and awareness of IP in India have changed over the last decade?

IP is now part of every business. The use of IP to bring university research to commercialization gradually increased over the years, allowing more products on the market. In the wellness sector, for example, curcumin oil (a yellow pigment found primarily in turmeric) has gained popularity for its health effect, and a Turmeric latte is now sold in cafes like Starbucks. Such products cannot be patented, but cafes can get IP protection through trademarks and designs. A brand name or a tagline is also an IP. Booklets that companies use to promote their business is an IP. In the wellness industry, some companies launched wellness applications, personal training coaching, and herbal Ayurveda spa. This is a new business element that has been added to the entire wellness sector. IP surrounds any business and now people are much more aware of their IP and are protecting it.

How do you see the future of the wellness industry in India?

The wellness industry is going to grow, and represents a huge opportunity. According to one report, the sector is going to grow at an 18% Compound annual growth rate per year. This industry will further serve the tourism sector. It looks promising, and individual entrepreneurship will certainly have a cutting-edge advantage. There is such a demand for yoga gurus from India in the Western world. It is a promising future for all those practitioners. Supplements and Ayurveda products are also exported, and reach well beyond the Indian community, after satisfying the essential local regulatory pathway.

Do you see any changes coming in the Indian IP system in years to come?

I firmly believe that a bare minimum requirement is that all examiners and controllers be equipped with future trends. Whatever the futuristic technological advancements are, they should acquire knowledge of those technologies. Technology trends are rapidly changing. The life cycle of any technology that is developed or offered into the market is less than five years. We are trying to work on these questions and find out how to expedite the grant of such patents so that their commercialization can start generating revenue for the inventors. Section 2(1)(Ja) of the Indian patent act states that “’inventive step’ means a feature of an invention that involves technical advance as compared to the existing knowledge or having economic significance or both and that makes the invention not obvious to a person skilled in the art”. The economic significance is also an essential element for judging any invention. An invention that improves to reduce the cost of production is a valuable asset. However, creators most likely ignore that fact as they find any such incremental changes obvious. Adequate IP awareness is required for any such minimal change that would significantly influence the economic value and is of high interest to IP Creation. The rise in this awareness can be offered through the IP offices.

India plans to accelerate the use of technology in IP administration. The objective is to increase the technology use effectively, acting as a tool for expediting all those administrative matters, which is essential, and efficiently squeeze the timeline for the disposal of IP Applications. You will see those changes in the Indian IP ecosystem in the near future.