Updated 12:15 IST, 11th April 2003

The Bangalore Helix, the proposed biotech park in Bangalore will be set up in three phases in about 75 acres of land, announced the Hon'ble Chief Minister of Karnataka S M Krishna after laying the foundation stone for the much awaited biotech park to come up near the industrial hub Electronics City.

Earlier the chief minister flagged off the three day Asia's premiere biotech event Bangalore Bio 2003 being held at the Palace Grounds. The theme of the event is Indian biotechnology - Building a global business.

The biotech park will house biotech start-ups and provide world-class, state-of-the-art biotech infrastructure facility, incubation facility and common effluent treatment plant. The second phase is also planned on another 75 acres of land. In the first phase the park will attract an investment of more than Rs 100 crores and is expected to be complete by early next year. The Centre for Human Genetics and the Institute of Bioinformatics and Applied Biotechnology have already taken space in the park.

``The event is an attempt to build brand equity for biotech in the country as well,'' said Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, chairperson, Vision Group on Biotechnology while addressing the gathering.

Releasing the bio survey report of Karnataka she said the total number of biotech companies in Karnataka has increased to 85 this year compared to 62 last year. Of this 22 new companies added in the last one year 20 are in Bangalore which is the highest in the country.

Karnataka, particularly Bangalore, aptly termed as the fastest growing bio cluster in the country, has also attracted Rs 30 crores VC funding from Rs 17 crores last year. The biotech sector in Karnataka has generated employment to about 8,000 and 5,000 scientific manpower. Speaking on the financials she said the total projected investment is Rs 750 crore this year which was Rs 500 crore last year and another Rs 1000 crore is expected to be added in the sector in the next three years.

The revenues from the sector has been to the tune of Rs 1400 crores in 2003. Exports has generated revenues to the tune of Rs 525 crores from the present Rs 250 crores. The sector in Karnataka has also provided an intellectual database in terms of patents filed by the biotech segment. Of the total patents filed by 45 companies 141 are Indian patents, 200 are PCT patents and 63 international patents.

A book entitled Bio Education of Karnataka -- An Analysis of Intellectual Capital was released on the occasion which has also proposed certain recommendations to upgrade the quality of education and create powerful intellectual capital in the state.

Guests of Honour present at the occasion were the Hon'ble Minister for IT and Tourism, Government of Karnataka D B Inamdar, Dr David Weild IV, vice-chairman of NASDAQ, Dominique Girard, Ambassador of France in India, B
S Patil, chief secretary, Government of Karnataka, Klaus Fink, CEO of Eppendorf, AG, Germany, Vivek Kulkarni, IT & BT Secretary, Government of Karnataka, Dr Alain Merieux, chairman of Bio-Merieux, France among others.

Updated 12:15 IST, 11th April 2003

Papua New Guinea Accedes to WIPO's Patent Cooperation Treaty
EPP News Bureau - Mumbai

Papua New Guinea became the 119th Contracting State of the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) when it deposited its instrument of accession at WIPO on March 14, 2003. The Treaty will enter into force for Papua New Guinea on June 14, 2003.

The accession by Papua New Guinea means that in any international application filed on or after June 14, 2003, applicants may designate Papua New Guinea (country code: PG) and also that nationals and residents of Papua New Guinea may themselves file PCT applications as of that date. As Papua New Guinea will be bound by Chapter II of the Treaty, it may also be elected for the purposes of international preliminary examination.

With the accession of Papua New Guinea, the 119 Contracting States of the
PCT are the following:

Advantages of the PCT System

The PCT system offers a number of advantages for patent applicants, national
patent offices and the general public.

a) Benefits for Patent Applicants

Some of the most important advantages offered by the PCT to patent applicants, include the following: The PCT offers applicants seeking patent protection in multiple countries a more user-friendly, cost-effective and efficient option. By filing one "international" patent application under the PCT with one patent office (the "receiving office") in one language, an applicant can seek patent protection for an invention simultaneously in each of a large number of countries. This is because the effect of such an international application in each "designated State" is the same as if a national patent application had been filed with the national patent office of that country.

Without the PCT, an applicant would generally be required to file separate national patent applications with the office of each country in which patent protection was sought. In using the PCT, applicants are allowed at least 18 months more time (in relation to most designated Offices) than if they filed directly with individual national patent offices, to decide whether and in which countries they wish to pursue patent protection. This effectively delays, by the same number of months, the costs associated with translating the application, paying national fees and appointing local patent agents. These advantages are not available if patent applications are filed directly with individual national offices. Under the PCT, applicants may obtain an international search report and an international preliminary examination report. The information contained in these reorts enables applicants to better evaluate whether it is worthwhile to continue with their patent application before they are required to pay
the full range of costs involved. Applicants also benefit from the uniform formality requirements and centralized international publication provided by the PCT system. In particular, applicants who are natural persons (as opposed to legal entities, such as, corporations, etc.) and who are nationals and residents of Papua New Guinea (and other countries which meet certain criteria) are entitled to a 75% reduction of certain PCT fees in respect of international applications filed under the PCT.

b) Benefits for National Patent Offices and the National Economy

PCT membership gives better access to the national patent systems in multiple countries. As the system offers a more user-friendly and cost-effective option for applicants seeking patent protection in multiple countries, PCT membership will normally result in an increase in the number of patent applications filed and a corresponding increase in revenues for the national patent office. PCT membership may also result in reduced publication costs for national offices that recognize the international publication of PCT applications for the purposes of national law. The PCT streamlines the administrative tasks required to process international patent applications and as such, simplifies the operations of national offices, improves efficiency and generates cost-savings. By the time a patent application filed under the PCT reaches the national patent office, it will have been examined as to form by the receiving office, searched by the International Searching Authority and in most cases, examined by an International Preliminary Examining Authority. As a result, the national search and/or examination procedures associated with the processing of
patent applications can be considerably reduced or eliminated, and the national office can deal with a larger number of patent applications with the available resources.

c) Benefits for the General Public

The main advantage of the PCT to the broader public lies in the fact that the system facilitates and accelerates access to up-to-date technological information on inventions. This results from the international publication of PCT applications (including the content of the international search reports) and the provision, free of charge, of copies of all published international applications to the national office of the Contracting State which may then publicly disseminate that information. These published materials constitute an invaluable source of information on the latest
technological developments. On the basis of this information, applicants are better placed to evaluate the patentability of their claimed invention. Access to this information can also serve to stimulate domestic inventive activity which, in turn, can result in increased investment and technology transfer. The public also benefits from increased levels of confidence since most PCT applications have been subjected to both an international search and an international preliminary examination, and thus any patents granted on the basis of such international applications will provide a solid basis for investment and transfer of technologies.

Industry unsure that VAT will happen in June too
EPP News Bureau - Mumbai

Though Value Added Tax Empowered Committee Chairman Asim Dasgupta announced on April 8, 2003 that as many as 15 major states and two Union territories will introduce VAT from June 1, industry sources say this is very unlikely.

Speaking to this correspondent, a former MNC chairman said that he thinks the implementation of VAT will go beyond June because of political reasons.

Another senior industry source said that confusion still prevailed over VAT
implementation. "

The opposition to VAT coming from the ruling party itself has queered the pitch. Says a chief financial officer, "Implementation looks a little difficult going by the BJP-Shiv Sena opposition, but the government is not in a position to reverse the decision to implement VAT. The June deadline will give some more time to people to understand the whole concept and prepare accordingly."

A trade honcho said that things were in a fluid state and it was difficult to say if the implementation would itself happen from the new date.

A majority of Indian states are likely to implement VAT from 1st June 2003.
Some of the states like Delhi, Rajasthan, and Jammu & Kashmir have deferred
the implementation due to the forthcoming elections.

The following states have agreed to implement VAT from 1st June 2003: Maharashtra, Gujarat, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala ,Haryana, Assam, Orissa, Bihar, Jharkhand, Tripura, Goa and Meghalaya. Of these Haryana has already implemented VAT from 1st April 2003. These 16 states account for 75 per cent of the country's total trade and industrial production.

The ruling party BJP and Shiv Sena, which have demanded the withdrawal of VAT in the interest of the small traders, feel that the small unorganised traders were not equipped to meet the requirements of VAT. They want the introduction of VAT be deferred by a year until the issue is examined by the parliamentary committee.
The Centre is likely to come with the guidelines for the compensation for the losses incurred by the states. The states which do not implement the VAT in the FY04 are likely to be compensated to the extent of 75% instead of 100% for the losses arising from the changeover.

According to an analyst, it is this announcement of concessions that will goad the reluctant states into action as they will be on the losing side once the neighbouring states implement the new tax regime.

The Centre has committed the states to compensate for the losses arising from the reduction of CST from 4 per cent to 2 per cent, amounting to around Rs. 60.0 billion after the implementation of VAT. The Centre has set aside Rs. 7.0 billion in the Budget for 2003-04 as compensation for the changeover to VAT. The Centre is unlikely to pressurise the states to implement the VAT but the lower compensation will put a pressure for implementing VAT in the current year.

The analyst says that VAT is likely to reduce the overall tax burden and bring down overall price index. Traders, manufacturers and consumers are likely to gain after the Act is implemented.

The various issues related to VAT need be addressed: transitional provisions, rate of tax on inputs, refund mechanism and treatment of existing incentives, absence of set-off mechanism for input relating to work in process (WIP), finished goods and goods in transit.

Unless VAT is implemented simultaneously throughout the country, it will lead to serious market distortions, says Ranjit Kapadia of Tower Capital and Securities Ltd. The majority of states have agreed to give set-off on the local sales tax paid on the opening stock held on the date of implementation of VAT. The state governments will honour all the commitments made to the existing units and those which are in the pipeline. All the exemption schemes are likely to be converted to deferral schemes with a 40 per cent enhancement in the period of incentives.

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