A. INTRODUCTION

Vehicular safety tools for riders such as Anti-lock Brake Systems (ABS), passing the mandatory crash tests and vehicular emission norms are becoming increasingly compulsory (CMVR, 2015) for developing countries like India. European Union (EU) has already made safety systems such as ABS and Combined Brake Systems (CBS) mandatory since 2012.

However, majority of patents related to safety systems such as ABS, in areas such as positioning of ABS unit, speed sensors, configuration of logical units, emission norms (that directly links to engine performance), vehicle stability structures, CBS, etc. are owned by a limited number of organizations such as Honda, Bosch, Nissin, etc.

Similarly, controlling the emissions with new emission norms impacts direct interference in the working of engines and efficiency. Understanding and implementing solutions to such dynamic and complex inter-relationship in innovations requires high expertise. The adoption of such safety and emission reduction systems is quite simpler in developed markets such as the EU owing to customers willing to paying more for these systems. Further, in the former markets, two-wheelers are used more as a leisure vehicle than a daily commuter vehicle as in India.

However, absorption and implementation of such innovations in large markets

such as India require solutions that would go beyond what is protected through exclusive means, viz. patents. For instance, organizations such as Honda, ZF, Bosch, etc. lead in patents related to ABS, emissions, and other vehicle safety systems. However, patents and exclusivities in such areas slow down the technology absorption in the grassroots levels of large markets, which are incredibly cost-sensitive. So we face a conjugate problem of safety systems being implemented compulsorily in all new vehicle launches on the one side and technologies in such areas monopolized by few players on the other side. This study seeks to propose a framework for creating a balance between broader technology assimilation along with its availability of affordable components and commercial benefits owing to exclusive patent rights by various players. For instance, taking an example from a parallel field of communication technologies, wherein the latest innovations made available to a broad public base at a fast pace was possible by implementing what is known as SEPs. A SEP is a patent that must be used to comply with a technical standard. However, determining which patents are essential to a particular standard can be a subject of debate, consultations, and negotiation between various parties. Further, organizations related to standardization require licenses on such essential patents, which are based on FRAND terms.

Therefore, broader applicability of solutions to factors such as safety norms requires two essential components, viz. establishment of standardization organizations, which could be part of existing government policy-making and determining the essential patents. This study aims to explore the options for a practical approach to a broader technological, commercial, and social cause.

B. LITERATURE REVIEW

C. DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS

With increasing trade and interdependencies of the Indian economy with the global economy, standards are increasingly being recognized as increasingly important for expanding conventional markets and socio-economic development of the society. This can be observed from the increasing focus of the policymakers on the front of standardization and regulation in almost all the related areas, as illustrated above. One of the most important reasons for increased focus on standardization is its ability to allow interoperability and compatibility between different markets and technologies. Another reason for the increased focus of India in the standardizing various areas of technology, including automotive safety, is providing a common area of operation for innovators to innovate in a particular direction without thinking much about essential areas of compatibility and functionality. This observation is more supported by the number of patent filings in the various areas of automotive technologies. It could be seen that there is an increasing trend of patent filings in all the new areas for technologies such as Artificial intelligence, battery technologies, electric vehicles, safety systems, etc. Further, like other progressive nations such as the US and EU, India also has provided definitive bureaucratic and organizational support on the development of standards related to automotive safety, which could be observed from the regulatory functionality of AISC, CMVR-TSC, and BIS.

All the above holds good when the various branches of the Government work in tandem to give out meaningful solutions to existing problems faced by the industry in particular and the society in nature. For instance, the transport sector is mainly managed by the MoRTH, in which the field of patents and associated intellectual property regulations are governed by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MCI). There is no charter between the two agencies, i.e., the Indian Patent Office (IPO), which is governed under the Indian Patent Act 1970 and the AISC under Motor Vehicles Act 1988 and CMVR 1989. While the AISC works out the technical standards which are formalized as Indian Standards by the BIS, there is no such collaboration between either the AISC or BIS with the Indian Patent establishment that includes the Indian Patent Office for development of automotive safety standards. The reasons for the same could be reasoned as: Both the verticals, i.e., IPO and AISC, work under different ministries of the Government of India.

The motives and goals of both organizations are different in terms of their objective and working nature. For instance, IPO works on the promotion of innovation culture and the consequent protection of intellectual property in the country. The IPO acts as the nodal agency for patent-related laws and regulations, while the AISC assists CMVR-TSC for framing of automotive standards.

There is no-correlation on the framing of standards by taking into consideration the associated IPR assets of participating organizations and their dominant positions in terms of patent holdings by various automotive companies. For example, on one side, automotive safety standards on ABS and CBS, such as IS 14664 (2010), are done in consultation with various two-wheeler manufacturers; the technical parameters and capability of the organizations are seldom studied to avert any misuse of any dominant position by such organizations.

Therefore, a lack of coherent system wherein both the domains of IP as well as automotive safety system as in brakes is detrimental in providing a cost-effective solution to existing safety issues. This needs of imminent addresses of overhauling the regulatory framework of establishing standards in India that would have a cross-functional action to fulfill today's demands of going in tandem with cross-functional inventions and consequent regulatory changes.

D. CONCLUSION

As India moves ahead in adopting better technologies and systems with the implementation of safety norms on braking systems such as ABS and CBS, new emission norms and new fuel norms, it is imperative that the technologies associated with such solutions/proposals need to be available in a more comprehensive, more accessible, and cost-effective manner. Further, it is also essential to maintain a balance and motivation in terms of commercial profit for innovators to provide such solutions. However, no organization deals with such areas, unlike the presence of various organizations, which deal with such scenarios in the communication field.

Hence, there is an urgent need for formulating a legal framework in India, which would further engage technology providers, suppliers, and end-users to effectively utilize each other leading to adaptation of such norms in ABS and CBS in a more comprehensive and much cost-effective manner. Therefore, there arises a need for a framework for creating a balance between broader technology assimilation along with its availability of affordable components and commercial benefits owing to exclusive patent rights by various players. Therefore, more general applicability of solutions to factors such as safety norms requires two essential components, viz. establishment of standardization organizations, which could be part of existing government policy-making and determining the essential patents.