Participatory Swot Analysis of the Intellectual Property Management System in the National Research Centre on Meat: StrategicImplications for Technology Management

The study analyzed the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats pertaining to the Intellectual Property Management System (IPMS) of National Research Centre on Meat, a south zone animal science research institute under Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). The IPMS constituted the institutional system that performed the functions of intellectual property creation, protection, and transfer/commercialization. A SWOT repository was developed based on inputs received from relevant literature, institute's scientists and selected stakeholders. Based on ratings of the repository items by scientists, the top ten key strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats were identified. The top rated key strengths included ‘Institute Technology Management Unit with access to the attorney for patent filing' and ‘registered logo and trademark', whereas, ‘Inadequate technical / supporting staff' and ‘lack of a system for registering licensees in industries for commercialization' were the top-ranked key weaknesses. The key opportunities included ‘Joint ventures with outside organizations for product development, evaluation and upscaling' and ‘Geographical Indication enabling provisions for traditional and unique meat products'. The most prominent threats were ‘lack of personnel with legal and commercial expertise in the veterinary field' and ‘high cost of securing and maintaining IPR'. Participatory SWOT analysis enriched with weighted SWOT matrix technique was employed to identify the best strategies to improve and develop the IPMS further.