The Hindu Business Line : DuPont’s IP strategy

Hyderabad, April 1 With a bulging portfolio of patents, top corporates are faced with the task of devising their own strategy to derive the best out of them.

While IBM, for long a world leader in IP generation, has a successful model of IP licensing, which earns it millions of dollars annually, Dow Chemicals resorted to donating a few hundred patents to US universities for gratis.

DuPont, with a portfolio of 6,000 active US patents and another 4,000 in the pipeline, has built a division to out-license the Intellectual Property (IP), to corporates and start-ups to generate revenues.

The global science-based products and services company has emerged as the top IP company in the world in chemicals and biotechnology in 2007, according to a ranking published by the Patent Board and Nature Biotechnology.

The BASF Group and 3 M Co. were second and third.

Stating this, the Chief Innovation Officer (CIO) and Executive Vice-President of the Wilmington-based US giant, Dr Thomas M. Connelly, said: “We have started earning royalties by out-licensing the IP. Though, the revenues are not much, they are steadily growing”.

Also, “we have not yet made an analysis of the conversion factor of IP to commercial technology or product development.”

DuPont has been able to launch an average of over 1,000 new products annually in the past three years, based out of the IP created. Also, the turnover from the sales of new products was about 36 per cent of the overall in 2007, he told Business Line.

To strengthen its strategy on the optimum generation and utilisation of new IP, DuPont has created an exclusive IP Centre at the upcoming DuPont Knowledge Centre (DKC) here.

It would focus on biotechnology, nanoscience and agri-related areas, he added.

The revenues generated from out-licensing are not ploughed back into research and development (R&D), at present, Dr Homi C. Bhedwar, Director of DKC.

In 2007, DuPont obtained a total of 597 patents granted, the highest for it since 1992.

In biotechnology, it has obtained 161 US patents, Dr Connelly, who was on a visit to DKC, set to become fully operational in July, said.

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