Despite the Coronavirus pandemic plaguing the entire of 2020 and the month long lockdowns announced by the Governments across the world, the Indian patent office appears to have done a remarkable job in disposing patent and design applications. For instance, over 26000 patents have been issued by the patent office in 2020 as opposed to 23527 patents issued in 2019. Likewise, over 51000 patent applications were published in 2020 as opposed to 49351 patent publications in 2019.
In this post, we bring to you a recap of the patent and design statistics from 2020 and a comparison of these numbers with the statistics from 2019. The data provided herein is calculated for the respective calendar years (January to December). The data is likely to be significantly different from the data provided in the annual reports of the Indian Patent Office which take into account the financial year of March to April. Please note that the data is accurate to the extent of the information made available by the patent office through its online databases and official journals.
| Total applications Published | 51325 |
| Indian resident applicants | 17875 |
| Delhi | 2275 |
| Mumbai | 1791 |
| Bangalore | 2182 |
| Chennai | 1859 |
| Pune | 1179 |
| Hyderabad | 1049 |
| Kolkata | 317 |
| Total Patents issued | 26309 |
| Delhi | 9314 |
| Chennai | 8838 |
| Mumbai | 3915 |
| Kolkata | 4242 |
| Total applications examined | 70924 |
| Delhi | 20926 |
| Mumbai | 12087 |
| Kolkata | 7505 |
| Chennai | 22406 |
| Total applications refused | 4955 |
| Total applications abandoned due to failure to respond to examination report (s. 21(1)) | 16557 |
In 2020, a total of 51,325 patent applications were published. Of these, about 17,875 applications belong to Indian applicants or where the applicant’s address includes India. Based on the applicant city, Delhi tops the list with 2,275 patent applications followed by Bangalore with a total of 2,182 patent applications. Chennai based applicants filed 1,859 applications while Mumbai based applicant filed 1791 patent applications. Pune pipped Hyderabad by contributing a 1179 patent applications while Hyderabad contributed a total of 1049 applications. Numbers from Kolkata were significantly lower as compared to the other major cities in India as Kolkata contributed to a measly total of 317 patent applications.
A total of 26,309 patent applications were granted in 2020 marking an increase of roughly 12% from 2019. The maximum grants came from the Delhi patent office which issued as many as 9,314 patents. The Chennai patent office issued 8,838 patents while the Mumbai and Kolkata patent office issued 3,915 and 4,242 patents.
In terms of examination of applications and issue of First Examination Reports (FERs), the Chennai patent office issued over 22,400 FERs followed by the Delhi patent office which examined and issued FERs for 20,926 applications. The patent offices at Mumbai and Kolkata issued examination reports for 12,087 and 7,505 applications respectively. In all, the patent offices collectively issued 70,924 FERs in 2020 as opposed to 83,226 examination reports issued in 2019.
Industrial Designs
A total of 14,550 designs were registered in 2020 as compared to 14,529 registrations in 2019. Out of the 14,550 designs registered, about 1315 designs were filed by applicants residing or having place of business in Maharashtra while Delhi contributed to about 996 design registration. These numbers have decreased sharply for both Maharashtra and Delhi which contributed 2035 and 1764 designs in the year 2019. Design applications from Gujarat were also lower in 2020 as compared to the number of design filings in 2019. While in 2019 Gujarat had filed as many as 1375 design applications, this number in 2020 reduced to 743 designs. Likewise West Bengal contributed to merely 647 design registrations as opposed to its impressive tally of 1116 design registrations in 2019. Tamil Nadu received 508 design registrations while design registrations from Karnataka halved to 250 applications as opposed to 572 design registrations in 2019. Telangana and Andhra Pradesh were the only states from the list to see an increase in the number of design registrations in 2020.
| Total designs registered |
14550 |
| Maharashtra |
1315 |
| Delhi |
996 |
| Gujarat |
743 |
| West Bengal |
647 |
| Tamil Nadu |
508 |
| Karnataka |
250 |
| Telangana |
116 |
| Andhra Pradesh | 79 |
Authored by Gaurav Mishra
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