Why Is The Patent Office Working Overtime?

The last decade has seen a tremendous surge in the number of patent applications being filed every year, and for the very first time in its history, the patent office has granted over 1 lakh patents in fiscal 2024.

As an indication of this surge, patent application filings in FY24 have nearly doubled as compared with FY14, which is a significant uptick by any reasonable estimate.

To promote a culture of creativity and innovation, India's patent growth story has received a significant push from the government. From amendments and measures to ensure that applications are filed and processed faster, to making sure that the department stayed on top of the Covid-19 pandemic disruptions, significant progress has been made.

The increase in the number of filings over the years has prompted the patent office to exponentially increase its resources as far as technology is concerned. The patent office has made a conscious effort to properly train its controllers and examiners, has integrated artificial intelligence into its operations, and has taken other related measures to enhance efficiency, Archana Shanker, partner at Anand and Anand, told NDTV Profit.

However, one of the primary issues that has plagued the Indian patent landscape is the delay in getting a final decision on a patent application.

It is a well-known fact that the life of a patent is 20 years from the date of its filing, but if the application is processed at a snail's pace, then it is tantamount to sounding a death knell to the patent.

The department is working to clear the backlog of patent applications to match the standard life-cycle of a patent application, which should not exceed 2-3 years, Shanker said.

This is primarily because all innovations in today's day and age are short-lived as the technology space is constantly evolving and innovations are rendered obsolete in no time. This makes it all the more important that a decision on a patent application be taken as quickly as possible, without compromising on the decision's quality.

The patent office seems to have taken note of this fact, and has made conscious efforts to reduce the average time span for processing applications and rendering decisions on the same.

For instance, there was a notable increase of around 20% in the number of applications disposed of during FY24 in comparison with FY23. Moreover, the patent office granted nearly 250 patents every working day in 2024.

Another example that would vouch for the patent office's proactiveness is the fact that in FY22, an average of 60 decisions were taken daily, as compared with an average of 70 in FY23. This number grew almost three times in FY24 to an average daily of nearly 185 decisions.

In fact, a certain day in FY24 garnered nearly 1,500 patent decisions!

Pankaj Soni, partner at Remfry & Sagar remarked that even so, there is no data to suggest that the quality of patent decisions have been compromised as the examiners and controllers are well-versed with patent law provisions. Also, in many instances, examiners are open to drawing upon global best practices in the interpretation and application of law.

The patent office has been making concerted efforts to improve processes and efficiencies, and this extends to meeting international benchmarks in examination as well as grant timelines, Soni said.