4 private universities ahead of all IITs together in patent applications

NEW DELHI: In the 2022-2023 academic year, four private universities were ahead of all Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) in filing for patents, shows the Annual Report of Intellectual Property India, 2022-23. Lovely Professional University Phagwara, filed the maximum number of patent applications – 1,387 – as against 803 by IITs collectively.

Jain Deemed-To-Be University and Galgotias University were in the second and third places, respectively, with 1,093 and 1,089 applications. Teerthanker Mahaveer University had filed 1,007 applications over the same period.

Overall the report stated that the patent application filing increased by 24.64%, from 66,440 in 2021-22 to 80,211 in 2022-23. Out of the 80,211 applications, 34,134 resulted in patents being granted, which is an increase of 13.5% since 2021-22.

The Intellectual Property India is administered by the Office of the Controller General of Patents, Designs and TradeMarks (CGPDTM). This is a subordinate office of the government of India and administers the Indian law of patents, designs, trademarks and geographical indications.

“Out of the total the applications filed by educational institutes both Indian and foreign have also increased. In 2021-22 there were 7,405 applications by Indian institutions and 96 from foreign. In 2022-23 the number has increased to 19,155 from Indian universities/institutions and 275 from foreign.”

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Patent applications from universities

This year among educational institutions and universities, there are new entrants in the list. Hindusthan College of Engineering and Technology, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu is in the ninth position. Sanskriti University, Uttar Pradesh, which was at the top in 2021-22 slipped to the eighth position.

Patent applications: Top 10

Patents filed by IITs, CSIR, IISc

In this category the IITs (collectively) topped the category followed by Hindusthan College of Engineering and Technology, Shobhit Institute of Engineering and Technology (Deemed To-Be University) and Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).

In 2022-23 CSIR filed 231 applications, as against 223 in 2021-22. In the previous year CSIR was the top patent application filing institute.

Unlike in the 2021-22 academic year, in 2022-23 institutions like Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR), Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) are not part of the list.

The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) filed 84 patent applications in 2022-23.