Summary
This post presents a detailed analysis of patent statistics in India with a focus on foreign applicants over the last decade. It examines the trends in convention and PCT national phase applications, highlighting the decline in filings for the year 2013-14 compared to previous years. The data identifies the major contributors and top countries filing patents, with the USA consistently leading. The post objectively outlines the shifts in patent filing patterns among residents and non-residents, offering a clear view of the evolving intellectual property landscape in India.
The post provides patent statistics with respect to foreign companies. It covers patent numbers during the last decade.
Applications filed by foreign applicants in-
- Convention Applications-The total number of applications filed claiming priority under the Paris Convention during the year 2013-14 was 3,704.This shows 11.47% decrease in the number of convention applications as compared to previous year’s 4,184.
- PCT National Phase Applications-The majority of foreign applications are filed through the PCT National Phase route.
The number of such applications filed during the year 2013-14 was 27,078, which shows a 4.8% decrease in comparison with the previous year (28,435).
| APPLICATIONS FILED BY RESIDENTS AND NON RESIDENTS VIA VARIOUS ROUTES (2003-14) | ||||||||||||
| Years | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 | 2011-12 | 2012-13 | 2013-14 | |
| Residents | 3218 | 3630 | 4521 | 5314 | 6040 | 6161 | 7044 | 8321 | 8921 | 9911 | 10941 | |
| Non- Residents | Ordinary | 1678 | 3165 | 1008 | 693 | 834 | 681 | 826 | 816 | 1031 | 1144 | 1228 |
| Convention | – | – | 3509 | 3969 | 4453 | 4264 | 2986 | 3728 | 4280 | 4184 | 3704 | |
| National Phase (under PCT) | 7717 | 10671 | 15467 | 19768 | 23819 | 25706 | 23431 | 26544 | 28965 | 28435 | 27078 | |
| Grand Total | 12613- | 17466- | 24505- | 29744- | 35146- | 36812- | 34287- | 39409- | 43197- | 43674- | 42951- | |
Major contributors towards the PCT international applications during the year 2013-14 were Council of Scientific & Industrial Research, Hetero Research Foundation, Hewlett-Packard, Development Company LP, Reliance Industries Limited, Tata Consultancy Services Limited, Cadila Healthcare Limited, etc.
Top 10 foreign resident applicants 2013-14:
It is observed that Qualcomm Incorporated continued to top the list. It was followed by Koninklijke Philips N.V., Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson and Robert Bosch GMBH etc
Trend of PCT National phase filing
There is a slight fall observed in foreign applications through national phase filing after 2011-12 .
Top Five Countries Filing Via National Phase
| 2003-2004 | |
| USA | 2939 |
| Germany | 867 |
| France | 441 |
| UK | 425 |
| Japan | 410 |
| 2004-2005 | |
| USA | 4053 |
| Germany | 1292 |
| France | 671 |
| Japan | 626 |
| Netherlands | 520 |
| 2005-2006 | |
| USA | 5874 |
| Germany | 1351 |
| Japan | 1060 |
| France | 822 |
| Netherlands | 817 |
| 2006-2007 | |
| USA | 6955 |
| Germany | 1933 |
| Japan | 1409 |
| Switzerland | 1077 |
| Netherlands | 1073 |
| 2007-2008 | |
| USA | 8606 |
| Germany | 2441 |
| Japan | 1806 |
| Switzerland | 1327 |
| Netherlands | 1293 |
| 2008-2009 | |
| USA | 9013 |
| Germany | 2774 |
| Japan | 2259 |
| Switzerland | 1422 |
| Netherlands | 1524 |
| 2009-2010 | |
| USA | 8087 |
| Germany | 2582 |
| Japan | 2386 |
| Switzerland | 1287 |
| Netherlands | 1281 |
| 2010-2011 | |
| USA | 9084 |
| Japan | 3112 |
| Germany | 2991 |
| France | 1426 |
| Switzerland | 1335 |
| 2011-2012 | |
| USA | 9137 |
| Japan | 3980 |
| Germany | 3405 |
| Netherlands | 1642 |
| France | 1418 |
| 2012-2013 | |
| USA | 8754 |
| Japan | 4939 |
| Germany | 3364 |
| France | 1390 |
| Switzerland | 1380 |
| 2013-2014 | |
| USA | 8534 |
| Japan | 4517 |
| Germany | 3065 |
| Switzerland | 1411 |
| Netherlands | 1347 |
Observation based on the above-
- USA is the clear leader in the last 11 years of the filing history and is substantially ahead of number two every year.
- Japan has been on number two for the past four years and Germany at number three.
Read Dr. Kalyan’s note on The Case of Indian Intellectual Property
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