First time in 11 years, Domestic Patent Filing Surpasses International Patent Filing

India achieved yet another milestone in the context of the Intellectual Property (IP) innovation ecosystem.

For the first time in the last 11 years, the number of domestic patent filing has surpassed the number of international patent filing at the Indian patent office in the Quarter Jan-Mar 2022.

Of the total 19,796 patent applications filed, 10,706 were filed by Indian applicants against 9090 by non-Indian applicants.

The Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal appreciated the consistent efforts made by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) on strengthening the IPR regime in India by fostering innovation, and reducing compliance burden. The coordinated effort by DPIIT and IP office has led to increased IP awareness among all strata of society. These efforts have on one hand led to increase in the number of IPR filings, on the other hand has reduced the pendency of patent application at IP offices.

He also mentioned that this will take India a step closer to India’s ambitious target of being in the top 25 nations of the Global Innovation Index.

India’s ranking in Global Innovation Index has increased to 46th in 2021 (+35 ranks) as compared to 81st in 2015-16.

“Some of the key initiatives taken by the Government over the years that has bolstered India’s IP regime includes fee concessions like 10% rebate on online filing, 80% fee concession for Start-ups, Small Entities and educational institutions, and provisions on expedited examination for Startups and MSMEs along with other categories,” read a statement by the Ministry of Commerce & Industry.

According to the statement, the filing of patents has increased from 42,763 in 2014-15 to 66,440 in 2021-22, more than 50% increase in a span of 7 years. Nearly five times increase in the grant of patents in 2021-22 (30,074) as compared to 2014-15 (5978).

Also, there has been a reduction in the Time of patent examination from 72 months in Dec 2016 to 5-23 months at present, for different technological areas.