Knowledge process outsourcing (KPO) is passe. Opportunities are now knocking for those ’lawful brains’ in the country’s fast-growing BPO sector. This time around, the buzzword is legal outsourcing (LO). A survey of corporate law departments conducted by the American Corporate Counsel Association suggested that a majority (to an extent of 86%) cited legal costs as their top concern. Does it mean an opportunity for the legal players?.
In the present IPR regime, pressure is increasing to comprehend the structure demanding specialisations in intellectual property rights (IPRs). So where lies the opportunity? In terms of drafting contracts, online research, reviewing and reporting documents, litigation support, IP researching, drafting and applying for patents.
On all these services, the cost-arbitrage is the attractive factor for the outsourcing companies. For example, to draft a patent by an US firm, an attorney charges about $250-$600 per hour in the US whereas in India, it is $50-$60! But, it is still a matter of concern for clients in terms of perfection, says a leading attorney from Andhra Pradesh. It is understood that although there is a huge potential existing for LO for patent-related services right from proof-reading to patent translation, the present manpower and strengths among the legal community are both short-staffed as well less-experienced.
According to a study done by Snapdata Research, the US legal market revenue during the year 2003 was close to $197 billion. Research by Hilderbrandt International estimates that the worldwide spending on legal outsourcing might touch $6.5 billion by next year.
With over 850,000 law professionals conversant with the legal system in the US and UK, India is the ideal destination. GE, Citigroup, DuPont, Oracle and Cisco have certain law firms which are already outsourcing legal services to India.
“The outsourcing of patent drafting and technical research and analysis to India is growing and as a company providing these services,” says Sanjay Kamlani, co-founder of Pangea3 which is providing patent clients in the US with end-to-end patent services. “Patent-related outsourcing falls in the domain of both engineering and law. In fact, in the US, the filing, prosecution and enforcement of patents are more legal practices than engineering,” he points out. Agrees Ramesh B Vishwanath, a member of the patent technology cell of CII,”There are several companies working on their own or support their organisations overseas. ,” he says.
Looking at the statistics, during May 2004, close to 607 patent agents and attorneys got registered with the Patent Office. Registration is also a critical point as it needs a special process with the current system being stringent with the nature of application. The Patent Office has started conducting examinations twice in a year focusing on how to draft a patent and and how to converse with a client. Hopefully, this might pave way to tap the next line of opportunities in offshore-onshore legal activities
BV MAHALAKSHMI
Posted online: Monday, October 24, 2005 at 0113 hours IST
The Financial Express
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