Bhaskar Bagchi

Before joining CPA as its country head in India, Baskhar set up a world-class operations centre for Xl capital, providing actuarial, financial and risk management support to XL businesses in 35 countries.

Why IP – what drew you into the field?
IP has immense potential as a corporate asset. 85% of the value of today’s S&P 500 firms can be found in their intellectual assets, which makes working in the sector incredibly fascinating.

What’s your most memorable career event to date?
It would have to be the launch of our state-of-the-art facility in India. We have over 300 talented people working here in a secure work environment, delivering to world-class quality standards.

What’s your top tip for IP networking?
I think that the IP world can, and in fact already does, benefit immensely from new socially collaborative means of knowledge creation and sharing. The increasing popularity and reach of Internet-based blogs focused on the various nuances of IP practice is just an indication of the evolution of networking in our community. Therefore, maintaining an active web presence would be my recommendation to keen practitioners.

Which professional do you think is making the biggest waves in IP at the moment?
Commercialisation opportunities for IP are of immense interest to me, so creative companies and individuals who are contributing to making IP a more liquid corporate asset are the biggest rainmakers to my mind.

What is your favourite aspect of the IP profession?
The chance to work with an exceptionally bright and motivated group of people. Economies the world over have become knowledge economies. That, coupled with the ever-increasing acknowledgement of the importance of intellectual assets, presents a significant opportunity for practitioners to make a substantial impact.

What is your least favourite?
The increased attention towards IP has led to a massive growth in the applications for IP protection. The governmental infrastructure hasn’t always been able to cope with this growth and that sometimes leads to the protection of debatable innovations. I am positive, however, that this is only a state of transition and some of the ongoing commendable efforts and attention of legislators towards IP will soon enable a much more efficient and cost-effective use of this asset.

Which IP-related book would you recommend to fellow professionals?
The Economics of the European Patent System – IP Policy for Innovation and Competition. The authors of the book include present and past chief economists of the European Patent Office. They discuss the economic vantage point of the patent system and its influence on society. The book also discusses interesting examples from the trilateral patent authorities (US, Europe and Japan). I would recommend it to anyone.

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