Indian patent applications hit record high

Recently, the Indian Patent Office released its annual patent report covering patent applications from April 2023 to March 2024, showing a significant increase in application submissions, fast examination and active international collaboration.

Patent applications continue to grow

• In 2023-24, a total of 92,168 patent applications were filed from India, up 11.3% year-on-year. Indian applicants filed 51,574 applications, or 55.96%, up from 52.29% in 2022-23. Foreign applicants filed 40,594 applications, a modest increase of 2.74%.

Regional trends

• Among Indian states, Tamil Nadu topped the list with 9,565 applications, followed by Maharashtra (7,251) and Karnataka (6,086).
• While Tamil Nadu leads in number of applications, Karnataka leads in per capita applications, indicating that Bengaluru’s ecosystem remains dense and efficient. The rise of Punjab and Telangana suggests that state initiatives to promote IP, such as setting up facilitation centres and subsidy schemes, have begun to bear fruit.

Applicant Category Analysis

• According to the Indian Patent Act, applicants are classified into the following categories: Natural Person (NP), Start-up Business (SU), Small Entity (SE), Educational Institution (EI) and Non-Natural Person (ONP).
  • Educational institutions submitted 23,543 applications
  • Startups submitted 2,546 applications
  • Small entities filed 3,421 applications
• Among corporate applicants, Jio Platforms Ltd. topped the list with 818 applications. Other notable applicants included Bluest Mettle Solutions, Lovely Professional University and Jain University.
• Among research institutes and academic institutions, Chandigarh University Technology Business Incubator topped the list with 1,126 applications, while the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) received 1,106 applications. Lovely Professional University ranked highest with 1,418 applications, followed by Jain (Deemed-to-be) University and Chandigarh University.

International Applications and Foreign Applicants

• In the reporting year, the total number of applications filed under the Paris Convention priority was 3,508, up 4.68% from 3,351 in the previous year. The number of PCT national phase applications was 32,187, up about 0.29% from 32,091 in the previous year.
• Among the top filing countries for PCT national phase applications, the U.S. led with 11,276 applications, followed by Japan (3,797), China (3,490) and South Korea (2,268).
• Top foreign corporate applicants in India: Qualcomm Incorporated filed 3,017 applications and Samsung Electronics filed 1,555. Huawei, Nokia, Apple and Google also ranked in the top 10.

Patent Examination and Grant Statistics

• During the year, the number of patent applications examined declined significantly, with the patent office examining 18,438 patent applications, a sharp drop from 49,961 in the previous year. However, 126,003 examination requests were processed, an increase of 109.84% from 60,046 in the previous year. The number of granted patents surged to 103,057, an increase of 201.91% from 34,134 in the previous year. Of these, 25,082 patents were granted to Indian applicants.

Fast review and accelerated processing

• Under the revised Patent Rules (effective from 2019), the IPO provides fast-track examination for the following applicants: start-ups, small entities, women applicants, government agencies and publicly funded institutions.
• In 2023-24, 14,941 requests for expedited examination were submitted, of which 7,831 applications were processed. Most of these applications were granted or closed within one year, much faster than the normal route.

India’s interaction with the PCT system

• The total number of Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) international applications filed by Indian applicants with the Indian Patent Office as a receiving office (RO/IN) was 1,209.
• Top PCT applicants from India include the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), TVS Motor Company Ltd. and the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IIT Madras)