Plan for timely grant of patents in works: Prabhu

Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu today said he has directed the ministry to formulate a plan to grant patents at the earliest.

Over 2.32 lakh patent applications were pending with the Indian Patent Office as on November 30 last year.

He said that the ministry is taking steps such as modernising patent offices for effective implementation of intellectual property rights (IPRs) laws.

Prabhu said, I have directed my ministry to prepare a plan to release patents at the earliest possible time, which will be given to me in a few weeks.

He was speaking at the Leadership Summit on Anti-Counterfeiting and Brand Protection here.

Usually, it takes about 6-7 years for grant of a patent. The ministry is working to significantly cut this time.

In 2016-17, 9,847 patents were granted by Indian Patent Office as against 6,326 in the previous year.

Prabhu also said that the ministry was preparing a module for law enforcement agencies, including the police department, to enforce IPR rules.

Intellectual property-related crimes are different and it is difficult to understand IPR law violations, "so we are sensitising the police," he added.