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ARTICLE · 07 DECEMBER 2006

Outsourcing R&D to India: Pitfalls to Avoid

Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner LLP
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In today's global marketplace, an increasing number of technology driven companies include R&D outsourcing as part of their business practice. Some industry sectors even consider the viability of technology outsourcing as a prerequisite to any high-impact business plan.

United StatesIntellectual Property
Anand Sharma
Anand Sharma
Venk Krishnamoorthy
Venk Krishnamoorthy
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Originally published in Patent Strategy & Management, October 2006

In today's global marketplace, an increasing number of technology driven companies include R&D outsourcing as part of their business practice. Some industry sectors even consider the viability of technology outsourcing as a prerequisite to any high-impact business plan.

Many technology outsource providers base themselves in Southeast Asia and, more specifically, India. In fact, according to a recent Newsweek publication, more than 125 of the Fortune 500 companies now possess R&D bases in India, and far more share technology-outsourcing relationships with Indian companies. This phenomenon may be attributed, at least in part, to India's thriving economy and its highly talented (and more affordable) English-speaking workforce. Regardless of the rationale, these outsourcing relationships, based as they are on innovation, implicate a host of intellectual property concerns related to patents.

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