Revenues from the Indian patent services offshoring industry are estimated at $46 m for the calendar year 2007 and are expected to reach $206 m by end 2012.
Typically catering to the international markets, patent services outsourcing to India is still in its infancy with a history of only about 3 to 4 years behind it. There are about 50 vendors in the industry with an estimated 1,550 professionals employed as of end 2007. While a few vendors have been in this business longer, this industry has gained momentum only in the last few years.
Patent services include a wide range of specific tasks or services. We have divided these services into the following broad areas: Patent searches, Patent illustration and proofreading, Patent drafting, Patent analytics, Patent asset management, Patent litigation support and Patent consulting.
Among the various functions in the patent services industry, the manpower intensive and process driven services are more easily offshored. The relatively low-value, high volume services include prior art searches, patent illustration and patent proofreading.
Large corporations are in favor of offshoring patent related (and other legal) work to India as they are the ultimate beneficiaries of the cost savings. The current addressable value of the patent services offshoring market is estimated at $2.2 b. According to Subha Kalathur, analyst and co-author of the report, “Indian vendors have significant opportunity to grow as the current addressable market is 50 times the current size of the industry. Having already established relationships with American companies and law firms, vendors also have significant opportunity in taking on work from the Patent Offices.”
According to Arun Jethmalani, CEO, "The established vendors with exposure to high-value services will look to complete their array of offerings to attract more business from their existing clients. They will look to leverage end-to-end solutions."
The report provides an in-depth analysis of the buyer market as well as the Indian vendor space along. Based on the extensive primary research and analysis, ValueNotes has identified top five vendors in this industry - Evalueserve, Pangea3, CPA Global, Lexadigm and Clairvolex.
The report is designed to help:
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Corporations, Law firms and Patent attorneys looking to outsource/offshore
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Outsourcing consultants to evaluate and compare the offerings of vendors
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Offshored patent service providers to understand the offshore opportunity as well as assess their competitive environment
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American and European corporations/law firms looking for Indian partners
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Venture capital companies looking for investment opportunities
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Researchers looking for detailed information on patent services outsourcing
The report is based on secondary data as well as extensive interviews with key people (buyers of patent services, patent attorneys and offshore patent service providers).
