An online networking facility introduced on November 19 by the National Research Development Corporation (NRDC) will enable Indian manufacturers to keep track of international patents and the latest available industrial technologies. In the past, representative organisations of the Indian industry regularly complained about delays in patent and copyright information.

As part of its network, the NRDC has established online links with the world's largest databank of patents related information, Dialog in California, US. This link will enable Indians to delve into more than 400 databases containing worldwide patent information for the past 20 years, including all the patents filed at the European Patent Office in Geneva.

Says an NRDC official, "The globalisation of the Indian economy will be greatly facilitated by our single window service."