Interview with Mr Mallesh Tigali, Owner of Purna Organics Pvt. Ltd.

In this issue, we are extremely happy to publish interview of Mr Mallesh Tigali, Owner of Purna Organics Pvt. Ltd. located in Bangalore.

Mr. Tigali who has past experience of association with many renowned companies like Wipro Technologies, Accenture and Digital Equipment India Ltd; is presently heading one of the leading organic farm in the country. Purna Organic is an innovative organic farming dealing with many innovative products as well as online training of gardening for the Urban society for coping up with space and time problem. The farm offers solutions to them who have little time to devote and yet dreams to own a garden in their little available space. Mr Mallesh is an expert in incubating new businesses and practice areas, thereby contributing towards society by delivering healthy organic products and educating laymen how to carve a beautiful, healthy garden by themselves.

Origiin: Hello Mr. Mallesh. It is a great pleasure for us to interact with you and publish your thoughts in this interview.

Mr. Mallesh Tigali: Thank you and I appreciate your efforts in helping the world get better by introducing some of the innovations in the green space.

Origiin: Being an engineer by profession and such a long term association with hard core technology, how did you shifted to agriculture and organic farming? Would you like to give a gist of your journey?

Mr. Mallesh Tigali: Well, being in IT, I have seen many of my colleagues suffering due to bad eating habits. As we are progressing, the various types of medical ailments are on the rise. It is observed that our elders generally have better health condition as compared to the young generation. One of the key reasons for this is the quality of food they used to have. Many of us do not realize that the food that we eat is laced with a huge amount of chemical residues, which are extremely harmful for the body. The food is neither fresh, as it travels from far off places in un-hygienic conditions. No wonder, our share of green export is declining and many produces are being rejected at international level.

Origiin: Please tell us a little about Purna Organic to our readers. How the idea behind online training of farming “e-Gardening” got conceptualized?

Mr. Mallesh Tigali: We have been offering regular gardening workshops, like many others across the country. Typically, in these workshops, individuals come and attend the session, ask some little questions and then walk out. Many times, they become inquisitive when they start working in their own garden but have no access to communicate with us to resolve their queries. In order to solve this issue and make this better, we engage the individuals for over a period of 4 weeks during the weekends, and walk them through the gardening skills so that they have first hand experience of sowing; raising the sapling, de-weeding, carrying out nutrient/pest management, harvesting and so on. The main challenge here was that people wanted to enroll for this, but were not ready to travel 4 times for over a period of 4 weeks to our location. Also, we had around hundreds of inquiries from across the country where people want to know about how to set-up and maintain a garden. We had instances where individuals had attended our training program, travelling all the way from Mumbai, Chennai, Coimbatore, Vijayawada, Mysore and so on. I would admire and appreciate those individuals for their commitment to gardening, but would feel sorry for the ordeal that they were going through for their travel. That’s when I started working out on a plan to see how we can integrate gardening with technology to enable a garden enthusiasts who are sitting in any part of India (read it as world) to attend, learn, ask questions live. I am glad to say that we have completed 1st batch and the 2nd batch is progressing very well, where we are teaching garden enthusiasts across the country.

Origiin: Purna Organic has developed many innovative products like that of planter box, which is equipped with automatic self-watering facilities. Have you sought any IP protection in terms of patent, copyright or trademarks for the wide range of your products?

Mr. Mallesh Tigali: Yes, for the self-watering, we have applied for a patent to protect our innovation. This innovative product will help watering the plant using an automated process, where the plants will absorb as much water as they need and whenever they need.

Origiin: What are the hurdles that you had to overcome while setting out this brand name at large in the country? What has been your driving force?

Mr. Mallesh Tigali: Some of the hurdles are like increasing the awareness on Organic Gardening across our urban people, hand holding them all along the journey, getting them addicted to organic food that is grown by them and eaten, while it is still fresh, logistical challenges when we started sending across India. Hand holding customers, who are outside Bangalore and not able to come and so on.

Origiin: What sort of customers reach out to your farm? Would you like to share some of their feed back or experiences?

Mr. Mallesh Tigali: We have customers from all walks of life. Some of them are engineers, doctors, businessmen, and teachers and so on. One of the quotes, “when everyone was crying because of the rise in vegetable prices, I was just smiling.”

Origiin: Would you like to give any advice to young aspirants who carry the same zeal like yours to venture into entrepreneurship and contribute to society?

Mr. Mallesh Tigali: There is a great deal of satisfaction in giving back to society. Perhaps, each one of us can give back to society and work towards improving our country and our people.

Origiin: Thank you so much for your valuable inputs. We wish you all the best to you!

Mr. Mallesh Tigali: Thank you and it has been a pleasure. Wishing you all the best and good luck in your future endeavours

Innovative product

Self Watering Planter Box: A Product by Purna Organic

Your dream of owning a terrace garden can just be fulfilled by this unique product from Purna Organic, a Bangalore based start up which is extensively dedicated to bring out more greenery in our surroundings with its varied range of gardening products. One such product, which caught attention of many, is the Self watering planter box. This box is unique because it is self-watering the plants, which are planted in it. This innovative planter box is made with of food grade high quality plastic. The containers are very easy to install with the water outlets in your garden or terrace, which can be used to plant any plant-lets of your choice. The planter box comes in three variants, such as automatic self watering, semi automatic and manual watering system based boxes.

This self-watering planter box is a revolutionary technology that helps to keep your garden fresh even when you are out of station as it delivers water through a simple mechanical procedure as and when there is a shortage of water in the planter box. So without the hassle of being worried when and how to water your dear garden, you can enjoy the planned vacation.

Self-watering planter box, which fulfils your dream of possessing a beautiful garden surely an innovative product and deserves applauds.

Interesting Patent

Title of the invention: Apparatus for harnessing wind to drive a bicycle

Publication number:       US 6932368 B1

Publication type:             Grant

Application number:       US 10/816,446

Publication date:              Aug 23, 2005

Filing date:                       Mar 31, 2004

Inventors:                         Vladimir Zam

ABSTRACT: A sail attachment which when connected to the bicycle harnesses wind to drive the bicycle forward. The attachment is adapted to fit on the rear of the bicycle above its rear wheel and is securable to the bicycle seat. The attachment is provided with a wind receiving sail which when attached to the bicycle can harness wind 45 degrees from either the left or right side of the bicycle, 90 degrees from either the side of the bicycle and at the rear of the bicycle to power the bicycle.

Interview with Subhadip Sarkar, Director of Intellectual Property at Cognizant Technology Solutions

In this issue, we are extremely happy to publish interview of Mr. Subhadip Sarkar,Director of Intellectual Property at Cognizant Technology Solutions. 

Mr.Sarkar who has past experience of association with many renowned companies like GE, Infosys, British Oxygen Company, has diversified knowledge of Intellectual Property and Technology Management.His core competencies include Intellectual Property (IP) strategy and management, Commercialization/licensing of IP and deal negotiation, incubating new businesses and practice areas, product IP risk and compliance mgmt., pricing and valuation of technologies, technology transfers, enabling co-creation with clients, partners, universities, managing Govt. affairs among others. Mr. Sarkar, who has completed his masters from IIM, Kozhikode, patent law from NALSAR and graduation in Engineering, is presently pursuing PhD in Intellectual Property.

Origiin: Hello Mr. Sarkar. It is a great pleasure for us to interact with you and publish your thoughts in this interview.

Mr. SubhadipSarkar: Thank you and it is my pleasure.

Origiin: Being alumni of IIM and an engineer by profession, when did you make a conscious decision to pursue patent law and enter into the field of IPR? How do you think IP as a career added to your profile?

Mr. Subhadip Sarkar: I don’t think that my transition from technology to IP was a very thought through process.  I was doing well at my job and was quite satisfied.  However, I wanted a desk job because my tech job involved lot of travelling and sometimes even staying away from my family for months.  This is something which I thought cannot go for ever and I wanted a change.  However, I did not want to leave technology completely and hence IP gave me an opportunity to learn something new without leaving technology.  That was a good motivation for me.  And today, I think the decision was great because I have learnt many things in my professional life which would have been somewhat difficult if I had been into technology only. 

Origiin:You have been the driving force in setting up of IP cell at Cognizant as well as in Infosys. Can you tell us about the challenges you had faced from the initial phase to the current phase? And how fulfilling has the experience been?

Mr. SubhadipSarkar:  Like you know, starting something new is always challenging.  You have good and the bad part.  But, one should have patience and dedication.  It was not easy to start but my experience in Infosys really helped me in Cognizant because I at least knew what I should not be doing.  It was challenging at times, especially when you start something in an area which is not known to many people.  Therefore, I had to put in that extra effort and I was fortunate to get all support, cooperation and encouragement from my seniors, management, leaders, peers and all my colleagues.  It was a wonderful journey and the good part is that this journey never ends and I am still learning.  It has been also a great learning for me, which motivates me to take up the challenge.  There were several challenges and one cannot generalize them because it is company specific.  However, the most common challenge was to respond to the question – “Why is this required” and “What will happen if this is not done”.  These are very good questions and it takes time for people to understand and that’s why I mentioned that one need to have lot of patience to start something new.

Origiin: What are your thoughts on IP workforce available in the market currently.Are they ready to perform all types of IP tasks such as prior art searches, drafting the application, prosecution and litigation? If not, how do you train them?

Mr.Subhadip Sarkar:  It is wrong to expect a fresher to perform all IP activities from day 1 of his/her job.  This is common for all profession.  When I hire a fresher on IP, the only point that I check is the fundamentals and the willingness to learn and hunger for knowledge.  As long as these elements are present, I think we can train and coach the person to be a very bright resource.  In the field of IP, one needs to obtain lot of “on the job” training along with external specialized trainings.  In addition, every IP professional need not do all the IP activities.  Every activity requires a particular skill and he/she can specialize in an area depending on his/her interests and skills.  A good patent drafter need not be a good patent analyst and vice versa.  Overall on supply perspectives, I think we have some scarcity of good IP professionals in our country.  The situation may hopefully improve after a few years.

Origiin: How important is IP valuation and IP audit for a company?

Mr. Subhadip Sarkar:  Both the activities are important but they are highly contextual.  If you have to do a valuation exercise, you need to understand the purpose of doing that and the expected outcome.  Same is the case with IP audit.  IP audits can be done to determine your IP assets and make a plan or it can be done to identify all risks and compliance issues for your product or service or a specific transaction or matter.  Likewise, IP valuation needs to be done for asset purchase/sale or for determining your intangibles or during litigation or for something else.  The models and approaches for both valuation and audits need to be customized,based on the need and the business objective. 

Origiin:The world has seen perhaps the longest and most bitter battle between the two tech giants, Apple & Samsung fighting for their patent portfolios. What is your take on that?

Mr. Subhadip Sarkar:  These are bound to happen.  It is quite expected that litigation will increase in the era of incremental innovation. Personally for me, I enjoy reading these cases because it is a very good source of knowledge and learnings.  These litigations also help us interpret some of the laws and court’s positions.  Some of these cases are very interesting and should be a source of your training programs.  I think companies will gradually move to target more of strategic patents rather than running after numbers.  At least this is what I wish.  I also expect more of cross-licensing deals in the future.

Origiin:What best precautions should a company take to avoid IP Infringement?

Mr. Subhadip Sarkar: There are lots of traditional approaches.  It is a combination of training the developers, freedom to operate searches and opinions, IP insurance, IP audits, contractual protection and overall protecting your offering.  However, as I mentioned earlier, the approaches should be decided based on the company policy, the offering, the risk appetite of the company, the IP strategy of the company and the offering etc.  You cannot have “one rule fit for all” policy.  Further, everything boils down to evaluating the business case and the associated “ROI”.  Finally, the approaches need to be planned and should have a structure and processes. 

Origiin:You are an expert in Technology management and commercialization/Licensing of IP. In general what type of hurdles you face in commercialization of IP.

Mr. Subhadip  Sarkar: The biggest hurdle is deal structuring, commercial construct and negotiation.  Negotiations hurdles can be minimized if the other 2 are properly taken care.  If one is trying to manage all three at the same time, it can be a nightmare, especially for complex deals.  The sequence is very simple – You structure the deal first – based on the deal structure, you define the commercial construct and then proceed on actual contract and negotiation.  Finally, one needs to remember the golden rule of deal closure– “Negotiation is not a war with only bloodshed where one party wins – it is a discussion where all the parties win”

Origiin: Would you like to give any advice to young aspirants trying to carve a niche for themselves in IPR?

Mr. Subhadip Sarkar:  No special advice on IP.  The fundamentals remain the same – Honesty, dedication, sincerity, professionalism and eagerness to learn.  There is lot of learning to be done in the field of IP because it is an evolving area.  Therefore, never stop learning and always look at devising innovative methods/approaches to solve a problem.  Finally, any activity that is done should be executed keeping the ROI for your company in mind and not because someone else is doing that.

Origiin: Thank you so much Sir for your valuable inputs. The information’s are indeed very helpful.

Innovative product

Smart Moo-ConTrak – Remote monitoring services for dairy farm

Stellapps, a Bangalore based company, is India’s first dairy technology solutions company, building automation tools integrated with cloud, mobility, and data analytics for dairy farms, cooperatives, and private dairies. As an end-to-end solution initiative, Stellapps provides dairy farm optimization and monitoring services with special focus on small and medium herd size farm. Stellapps has developed a highly accurate and robust cold chain management solution Smart Moo™ ConTrak™ – Remote monitoring system for Bulk Milk Coolers, Silos and Cold Rooms.

It enables Internet based, real-time management of cold-chain with enhanced reporting, pilferage reduction & tamper proofing features.

For any type of dairy farm maintaining milk quality is very crucial. Milk is a very perishable item and its quality is directly related to how well the cold chain is maintained and controlled. Any deviation in the temperature range results in degradation of the milk quality.Further, the dairy collection/chilling centres are located at remote/far-off locations -as a result it becomes extremely difficult for the cooperatives to monitor them continuously. Stellaps offers solutions to such problem. Its product ConTrak™ enables remote monitoring of the BMC, Silos or Cold Rooms using an Android device or through Internet based PC. It not only provides the live data about the cold-chain but also provides alerts and notifications in case of potential issues. It is also equipped with preventive maintenance feature which detects a problem in its initial phase thus avoiding breakdowns. Other key features included like Milk Lifting schedule adherence & compliance detection, DG / GRID power consumption computation, Cleaning –in-Place (CIP) adherence & compliance detection, Alerts via Email & SMS etc.

With such innovative features any conventional dairy farm surely gets a Hitech modern touch and farm management becomes quite easy.

Interesting patent

Title of the invention: Hollow stem; perfume source

Publication number:    US 6830733 B2

Publication type:         Grant

Application number:    US 10/164,818

Publication date:         Dec 14, 2004

Filing date:                  Jun 7, 2002

Inventors:                    Virgil E. Stanley, III

ABSTRACT:  An artificial flower includes a hollow stem and a flower portion disposed adjacent one end of the hollow stem. A fragrance source is associated with the artificial flower. In one embodiment, the fragrance source is disposed within the hollow stem of the artificial flower and the fragrance source is adapted to emit a fragrance that moves through at least a portion of the hollow stem.

Interview with Dr N Sundarajan, Vice-Chancellor of Jain University, Bangalore

In this issue, we are extremely happy to publish interview of Dr N Sundararajan, Vice-Chancellor of Jain University, Bangalore

Dr. N. Sundararajan, the First and Founding Vice–Chancellor of the Jain University, Bangalore, bears a testimony to the society as an Academician and mantles the academic battle as a successful educational administrator, as excellent teacher and a thoughtful writer. Formerly the Principal of Sri Bhagawan Mahaveer Jain College, Bangalore, he is lauded in the academic circles as well as  his peer group as the harbinger of many useful and effective academic, administrative and co-curricular reforms in the field of education.

Prior to his appointment as the Principal, School of Graduate Studies, Sri Bhagawan Mahaveer Jain College, Bangalore, he was a professor of Physics at Christ College, Bangalore for  3 decade and more, teaching, mentoring, students from Pre-University Education to Research Scholars under the aegis of Bangalore University, to which the college was affiliated. Dr. Sundararajan is a prolific writer who has authored about 30 books in physics to the undergraduate and Pre-University students.

Dr Sundararajan is associated with Indian Physics Association, Bangalore Chapter being its Vice–Chairman between 2003 – 2006.

Dr. N. Sundararajan has received many prestigious awards like Outstanding Aluminus Award by National College, Trichy and the Rank of Honorary Colonel by Government of India through NCC Directorate, Karnataka and Goa.

Below are his expert opinions in IP and importance of IP education in educational institutions.

Origiin: Hello Sir. It is a great pleasure and honour for us to interact with you and publish your thoughts in this interview.

Dr. N Sundararajan: Thank you. I feel privileged to share my views and thoughts with your esteemed organization.

Origiin: Jain University has a special cell, which is dedicated towards Intellectual Property and Innovation. Would you like to throw some light how it has come up and how has the response been from the students?

Dr. N Sundararajan: Yes, Jain University encourages students to think innovatively. The creativity has no limits and students come out with many innovative ideas. In fact, we conduct Idea contests every year, for thestudents and faculty members as well. The prizes are distributed on World IP day, i.e., April 26th.  We have a dedicated person Dr.S. Rama Murthy, Professor from Centre for Emerging Technologies, who has given IPR sensitization lectures to all the departments. He takes care of converting innovative ideas into products or processes, which leads to patents. The response from the students is encouraging and now students and teachers are coming up with new innovations.

Origiin: How important is IPR education and knowledge about protecting one’s idea & product among students?

Dr. N Sundararajan: We have introduced IPR as one of the electives to under-graduate students of Aerospace, Mechanical and Electronic and communication departments. An IPR course for M. Tech. students has also been introduced.Centre of Emerging technologies, a research wing of Jain University is providing opportunities to conduct innovative projects.

Origiin: Jain University has filed many patents so far. Is Jain University also working in the direction of IP commercialization?

Dr. N Sundararajan: Yes, it is our main interest to commercialize most of the technologies for which we have filed for patents. Jain University is in the process of commercializing one of the technologies to companies in Sri Lanka on non-exclusive basis.

Origiin: What are the hurdles academic institution faces while patenting the inventions?

Dr. N Sundararajan: In academic institutions, students are busy with tests, assignments and examinations and teachers are busy with Lab work, teaching and examination works. The time for taking up innovative research projects is limited. But still, Jain University has filed 14 patent applications and 7 more Patent applications are in the pipe line under processing at NRDC.

Origiin: Unlike other western Universities like Harvard or Stanford, that are not just patenting but also commercializing patents successfully, we hardly see such scenario in Indian Universities. In your opinion what are the reasons for this gap?

Dr. N Sundararajan: Yes, you are right. There are several reasons. Firstly, I would say it is mind -set and IP culture has not reached to that level of Universities like Harvard or Stanford.  Secondly, filing patents is expensive, which most of academic institutions may find it difficult to spend. Thirdly, return on investments of patents takes several years. In India, IP culture is slowly picking up and I hope to see more funds from the government for R &D and for filing patents.

Origiin: What is your view regarding IP as career? Does your University provide any assistance in terms of course or PhD to those who would like to carve a niche in IP as a career?

Dr. N Sundararajan: Future of India is based on the Knowledge economy. Our Chairman encourages all innovative projects. Jain University has plans to start degree courses in interdisciplinary areas like LLB and Engineering combined. This course will help in acquiring both legal and technical knowledge. The students of this course will have openings in progressive Law firms like yours! If there is an interesting problem, we are encouraging PhD students also.

Origiin: What are the initiatives taken by Jain University to create awareness in the field of Intellectual Property?

Dr. N Sundararajan:  Dr Rama Murthy, who is instrumental in spearheading IPR at Jain University, has delivered several lectures to all the departments. In addition, VTPC, Govt. of Karnataka has organized seminars on the role of IPR to academics and Business.

Origiin: What would be your message to IP innovators of India?

Dr. N Sundararajan: IP innovators are the future Technology creators and they should continue generating more and more innovative ideas. IP innovators should be encouraged and should be rewarded for their work. IP innovators should take up task of “Training of Trainers” and IP knowledge should spread like atomic fission.

Origiin: Thank you so much Sir for your valuable inputs.

Dr. N Sundararajan: Thank you