India has several universities and engineering colleges that are hubs of cutting edge research and innovation. These institutions of higher learning are very active not just in publishing papers but also in filing patents. National Assessment and Accreditation Council or NAAC certification is a measure to evaluate and then guarantee a standard of education provided in higher institutions across the nation. One of the criteria is “Research, Innovations and Extension” within which a sub criterion is the number of patents published or awarded. In addition, conducting sessions that increase awareness on Intellectual Property Rights is also a key metric that is considered.

Technology transfer is a collaborative process that enables flow of scientific research and intellectual property from creators, such as universities and research institutions, to public and private users. Its goal is to transform inventions and scientific outcomes into new products and services that benefit society. Intellectual Property Rights are an important instrument to attract partners and potentially obtain return on research investment through development collaboration or licensing deals. This enables research institutions and their faculty and students to earn royalties from IP licensing and technology transfer that can be used to fund further research and incentivize R&D initiatives.

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Metayage and Research Institutions:

The mission of Metayage is to realize maximum value and impact from Intangible assets. After graduating from IIT Bombay, our founder Arjun Bala started his career at the Technology Transfer office and IP cell of IIT Bombay, where he deeply understood first hand the challenges that research institutions face with respect to protecting as well as commercializing their Intellectual Property. Since Metayage was founded in 2006, we have played the role of a strategic IP partner for leading research institutions such as Vellore Institute of Technology, PSG college of Technology, and IIIT-Hyderabad. The Metayage team has been instrumental in not just raising awareness on Intellectual Property but implementing strategic initiatives to scale up their patent portfolio not just in India, but also in the US and other major markets. One key differentiating factor is that Metayage has set up offices at the incubation centers inside these university campuses, thus enabling easy access to the technology transfer offices, IP cells, faculty members and students. Thus, we have acted as an extended IP department for these institutions of research and higher learning.