India has recorded the fastest growth in patent applications at 15.7 per cent in 2023, to secure sixth position in top 10 countries for all three major intellectual property (IP) rights in patents, trademarks, and industrial designs in the World Intellectual Property Indicators (WIPI) 2024 published by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). It has marked the fifth consecutive year of double-digit growth for India.
In the year 2023, India received 64,480 applications for patent, with resident filings accounting for 55.2 per cent of all submissions in a first for the country. The patent office also granted 149.4 per cent more patents in 2023 compared to the previous year.
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The report also indicated a steady rise at 36.4 per cent in India’s industrial design applications with the top three sectors - Textiles and Accessories, Tools and Machines, and Health and Cosmetics - contributing almost half of all design filings.
Between 2018 and 2023, patent and industrial design applications more than doubled, while trademark filings increased by 60 percent. India’s patent-to-GDP ratio also witnessed a significant growth, rising from 144 to 381 in the past decade.
India ranked fourth globally in trademark filings, with a 6.1 per cent increase in 2023. Around 90 per cent of these filings were by residents, with major sectors including Health, Agriculture, and Clothing leading the way at 21.9 per cent, 15.3 per cent and 12.8 respectively. With over 3.2 million trademarks in force, India's trademark office holds the second-largest number of active registrations globally.
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Furthermore, the report highlighted a 2.7 per cent growth in patent application filed worldwide totalling to 3.55 million as compared to the year 2022. This growth was primarily driven by residents in China, the United States, Japan, South Korea, and India.
Offices located in Asia received around 2.44 million applications in 2023, constituting 68.7 per cent of the world total. Notably, over the course of a decade, Asia’s share of total applications filed globally has increased by 10.3 percentage point from 58.4 per cent in 2013 to 68.7 per cent in 2023. Meanwhile, Northern America’s share has decreased from 23.6 per cent in 2013 to 17.8 per cent in 2023, while Europe’s has fallen by 3.2 percentage points down to 10.3 per cent during the same period.
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