Here is good news for those worried over the mosquito bug. If chikungunya has created a near epidemic in Chennai and neighbouring States, then bio-scientists and research people have taken this challenge head on.

A private bio-lab in Chennai had sequenced the different strains of virus causing chikungunya in the process of creating a vaccine against this painful illness. The lab has applied for patent as it is on the verge of a breakthrough.

Director of BCG Vaccine Laboratory in Guindy, Dr Elangeswaran, said that this private bio - lab has applied for patent for it to manufacture vaccines against chikungunya for selling in the commercial market. According to him, the private lab had isolated the arbo virus said to cause chikungunya and had sequenced the genome of Aedes Aegypti ? the disease causing mosquito. Now they are waiting to get the patent for commercial launch of this vaccine.

There were plans to merge three vaccine producing centres in India ? BCG Vaccine Lab in Chennai, Pasteur Institute, Coonoor, and Central Research Institute at Kasauli in Himachal Pradesh ? for greater thrust on producing newer vaccines with emphasis on research-oriented activity.

Such an amalgamation would bring down the cost of production of drugs, enhance the hiring of skilled manpower in biotechnology, and better administration through a centralised authority of these premier research institutes.

A similar type of amalgamation was done in China recently. Replying to a query on the benefits of a proposed Vaccine Park in Tamilnadu through a public - private partnership, he said, 'all public sector offices are more than a 100 years old and wanting in modern infrastructure as most of the buildings are in dilapidated condition. If we have to compete in the international market then we need to have newer and improved facilities. All these cannot be done by the government alone, that is why the private sector is being planned to be roped in.'

Dr Elangeswaran further said the global and domestic companies in biotech sector were most welcome to set up their offices in the Vaccine Park which would have state-of-the-art infrastructure and manufacturing facilities. The Union Ministry of Health was expected to clear the file for setting up this bio-park with latest facilities which was targeted to attract global MNCs and Indian firms in the biotech sector.

Drugs and vaccines produced at the park would be supplied to government agencies at a subsidised rate, he informed. On the cancer research, he said a vaccine was being produced in large scale for therapeutic purpose. 'First the affected portion of the body will be removed surgically, then the BCG vaccine will be given to the patient to prevent further spreading of the disease. This has proved to be 96 per cent effective in treating cancer patients,' he explained.

In developing countries like India where there were low awareness on sanitation and hygiene and most of the population living below poverty line, Dr Elangeswaran said, vaccines played an important role in preventing epidemics. But he called for a wide-spread campaign to create awareness on adopting hygienic lifestyle and healthy sanitary practices.

But a major impediment in the fight against diseases was the lack of authentic statistics across the demographic spread in India. 'If there are dedicated and qualified people like the bio-engineers in Japan to implement good sanitary measures, then most of the diseases will vanish from the country,' he claimed.

In the last seven years, BCG Lab at Guindy has underwent a rapid transformation. From producing just 50-60 per cent of vaccines required in the domestic market, the BCG Lab since 1999 has been turning out nearly 100 per cent of the vaccine requirements in the country. As the lab is making use of its full capacity in generating vaccines, the country has stopped importing this vital drug since 1999.

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True to its reputation, the Indian Institutes of Technology top the charts for being the hub of scientific inventions in India, leaving behind scores of other universities.

The study on patent activity in India by the National Institute of Science, Technology and Development Studies (NISTADS) has found that IITs account for more than 55 per cent of the total patents registered by universities in India.

Analysing data for 1990-2002, the institute found that IITs registered 80 patents of the total 171 granted to Indian universities. Second came Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology with a figure of 41, followed by the Indian Institute of Science with 19 patents. The figure for the remaining 18 universities or educational institutions is in single digits. However, IITs have no patents against its name in the United States.

The good news for IITs is that unlike other educational institutions they have stepped up research activity since 1999 resulting in registration of as many as 40 patents during the period.

The IITs have also out-scored other educational institutions in the area of collaborative research though not much activity has been noticed in this sector by NISTAD.

"The university-industry interaction is limited but it is a still a good beginning," the study states.

The issue of declining scientific research vis-à-vis Indian universities also finds a mention in the study.

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SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - International Business Machines Corp. said on Monday it had filed two lawsuits accusing Amazon.com Inc. of violating patents on features used in its online shopping network.

The suits, filed in federal courts in Texas, assert that Amazon violates IBM patents for features that allow users to order items from an electronic catalogue, displaying advertising in an interactive service and storing data in an interactive network.

"We believe that Amazon's entire business model is built upon these patents and that damages could be substantial," said IBM spokesman Scott Brooks.
Brooks said IBM was interested in striking a licensing deal with Amazon, which is the world's biggest online retailer with $2.14 billion in second-quarter revenue.

"Many companies that do e-commerce have worked with us on license agreements, and frequently these are cross-license agreements," Brooks said. "It gives both companies greater freedom of action."

IBM, which holds more U.S. patents than any other company, said it had first notified Amazon of the infringement more than four years ago, but that the Seattle-based company had "shown no willingness to have meaningful discussions".

Amazon spokeswoman Patty Smith said the company does not comment on legal matters.

Marc Kaufman, a partner in the Washington office of law firm Nixon Peabody LLP, said both companies had incentive to settle. Amazon would want to avoid jeopardizing its Web site, and IBM would not want to risk having other licensing deals invalidated if its patents were overturned.

"This is pretty much the standard dance that parties trying to negotiate a license will go to if they can't come to an agreement early on," Kaufman said. "Like most cases, this is likely to be settled prior to any trial."

Amazon has famously been on the other side of patent litigation.

It sued the online unit of the Barnes & Noble book chain in 1999 for allegedly infringing its "1-Click" patent that lets shoppers order an item in a single step. The firms settled in 2002.

Amazon founder and Chief Executive Jeff Bezos has been an advocate of patent reform, and once invested in a venture, BountyQuest, that let companies challenge patents by offering cash prizes for evidence that could overturn them.

Other services IBM maintains are covered by its patents deal with presenting applications in an interactive service and adjusting Web links with weighted user goals and activities, which IBM said would apply to Amazon's popular feature that recommends products to users.

"We filed this case for a very simple reason. IBM's property is being knowingly and unfairly exploited," John Kelly, IBM's senior vice president of technology, said in a statement.

The suits were filed in two separate U.S. District Courts for the Eastern District of Texas, known in technology and legal circles for the large number of patent cases it hears and for the speed with which it handles them.

Shares in Amazon, which reports quarterly results on Tuesday, rose 31 cents to $32.88 on Nasdaq. IBM gained 1.2 percent to $91.56 on the New York Stock Exchange.

(Additional reporting by Michele Gershberg in New York)

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