'Over 100,000 patents granted in 2023, to strengthen IP rights ecosystem'

Indian patent office has granted over 1 lakh patents in the past year on account of steps taken by the government to further strengthen the intellectual property rights ecosystem, an official statement said on Saturday.

It also said that there has been a notable surge in Geographical Indication (GI) registrations, demonstrating a threefold increase compared to the previous year.

As on date, 573 GIs are registered in India.

In 2023-24, 98 new GIs have been registered and another 62 will be registered by March 31 this year.

Similarly, so far this fiscal, copyright and design registrations totalled at 36,378 and 27,819 respectively.

"Every 6 minutes one technology is seeking IP protection in India. In 2023, an all-time high of 90,300 patent applications were received. Patent office granted over one lakh patents in the last one year (15-Mar-2023 to 14-Mar-2024). Every working day, 250 patents were granted," the commerce and industry ministry said.

It added that the Patent Rules, 2024 have been notified and these rules introduced several provisions aimed at simplifying the process of obtaining and managing patents, thereby facilitating a conducive environment for inventors and creators.

In the revamped rules, a unique provision for New 'Certificate of Inventorship' has been introduced to acknowledge the contribution of inventors in the patented invention.

Besides, the time limit to furnish foreign application filing details in a specified form has been changed from six months from the date of filing of application to three months from the date of issuance of the first examination report.

"Considering the fast pace of technology, the time limit for filing requests for examinations has been reduced from 48 months to 31 months from the date of priority of application or from the date of filing of application, whichever is earlier," it said.

It added that the renewal fee has been reduced by 10 per cent if paid in advance through electronic mode for a period of at least 4 years.