IIT Madras claims top slot in patents; count more than doubled in FY24

Premier campus achieves dream of filing 'patent a day', has some 1,100 granted to it

Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) was granted 435 patents in Financial Year 2023-24 (FY24), more than double the previous year and prompting it to say it is “definitely on top” by that parameter.

The premier engineering campus got 204 patents in FY23. According to experts, the FY24 number is the highest for any academic institution in India. IIT Madras achieved its goal of filing ‘one patent a day’ by putting out 378 in FY24 compared to 233 in FY23.

The institute has an Office of Industrial Consultancy and Sponsored Research (IC&SR) to deal with intellectual property (IP) and technology transfer. It has a legal cell to take care of any agreements associated with the process.

“I am very excited that the ‘patent a day’ dream of IIT Madras has become a reality in Financial Year 2023-24. It is important that we protect our ideas and intellectual property for our country's economic growth and prosperity,” said V Kamakoti, director of IIT Madras.

Since its inception in 1959, the institute has filed more than 2,550 IP (including patent) applications in India (1,800) and abroad (750). It has some 1,100 registered IP/granted patents (about 900 Indian and 200 international). The grants in the last five years include about 80 patents related to sustainability, 40 in healthcare and 34 in artificial intelligence / machine learning.

"Among Indian institutions, IIT Madras is definitely on top, in terms of the number of patents filed and granted. Globally also, we are similar to some of the leading universities. What we have done over the last five years is quite remarkable. We have ramped up our innovation," said Manu Santhanam, dean (IC&SR) at IIT Madras. The institute is aiming for 450-500 patents in the next one year.

The success is due to the institute driving faculty, researchers and students to protect their innovations by filing for IP. Researchers at the institute have filed patents in “cutting edge areas”, leading to products, processes and commercialisation.

“The robust innovation ecosystem in the country, and the need to find home-grown solutions to leading technological problems have led to the spurt in IP. We expect filings to grow at a steady pace in the future, and also hope to increase the turnaround with respect to the commercialization of the IPs generated, so that the technologies developed can be utilized towards the country’s progress," said Santhanam.

IIT Madras researchers are getting IP in wireless networks, advanced materials, robotics, additive manufacturing technology, engine advancements, assistive devices, advanced sensor applications, clean energy, aerospace applications, polymer material and thin films, catalysts, biomedical applications and other domains.

The institute started filing patent applications in January 1975. The total number of IP applications filed crossed 1,000 in 2016 and 2,500 in 2023.