How big is small? Nano technologies are igniting innovations across the world. And tracing this “nanoscape” – the complex pathways from “nanoventing” to the commercialisation of “nanovations” – is the book “Nanotechnology Intellectual Property Rights: Research, Design, and Commercialization.”

The inclusive nature of nanotechnology gives it a very special status as it mothers innovations to deliver inventions in nanobiotechnology, nanostructures, nanocomposites, nanomedicine, nanotaggants for security systems, nanoelectronics, nanodevices etc, according to excerpts from the book written by intellectual property experts Dr Prabuddha Ganguli and Dr Siddharth Jabade. The book is slated for launch in Hyderabad this week.

Nanotechnology allows scientists to dabble at the small, building-block atomic or molecular level. And while the technology is not without its sceptics, a section of the scientific community believes that nanotechnology would help develop break-through newer applications in several fields.

Illustrating this nano-inclusiveness, the authors say, the protection of intellectual property is important to the nanotechnology industry because of its complex knowledge matrix.

Driving the ‘nano’ to success will require cross-disciplinary expertise to contemplate, foresee and address as many social, legal including intellectual property rights, cultural, ethical, religious, philosophical and political implications of the nanoworld, tomorrow and the days after, the book says.

The book caters to a diverse readership that may not have an insight into the legal nuances of IP rights, and it seeks to articulate techno-legal aspects of nano-related innovations, illustrated with case-studies, to aid integration into businesses, says Dr Ganguli.

The book is published by the CRC Press (Taylor and Francis Group), USA, and priced in India at Rs 2,943.

jyothi@thehindu.co.in

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