India patent surge
India saw patent filings rise about 30.2% to 143,729 in FY26, and officials reported the domestic share of filings crossed 69%, according to commerce minister Piyush Goyal. This increase was presented as a record jump in patent activity for the year. (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
India’s patent filings climbed to 143,729 in the 2025-26 fiscal year, the highest annual total the government has reported. (timesofindia.indiatimes.com) Commerce minister Piyush Goyal said filings rose 30.2% from 110,375 in 2024-25, and more than 69% came from domestic applicants. He said Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Maharashtra led the state rankings. (economictimes.indiatimes.com) A patent is a legal right that lets an inventor block others from making or selling a new invention for a limited period. In India, an application is examined for novelty, inventive step and industrial applicability before any grant is issued. (economictimes.indiatimes.com) The latest jump extends a long run of growth. Annual filings were 45,444 in 2016-17, then 66,440 in 2021-22, 82,208 in 2022-23 and 92,163 in 2023-24 before crossing 110,000 in 2024-25. (economictimes.indiatimes.com) India has also moved up in the global rankings. The World Intellectual Property Organization said India was the world’s sixth-largest patent office, and its resident share rose to 55.2% in 2023 from 24.8% in 2013. (wipo.int, marks-clerk.com) Officials have tied the rise to policy changes aimed at smaller applicants. The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade says startups and small entities get sharply reduced fees, and eligible applicants can seek expedited examination. (dpiit.gov.in) India’s patent office has also pushed more filing online. The Intellectual Property India portal now routes applications and related services through electronic filing systems, cutting some of the paperwork that used to slow applicants down. (ipindia.gov.in, online.ipindia.gov.in) More filings do not automatically mean more patents granted. India’s system still allows pre-grant opposition by any person and post-grant opposition by an interested person, adding another filter after examination. (economictimes.indiatimes.com) The new filing total puts India’s patent system under more pressure to examine applications quickly and consistently. For now, the clearest shift is numerical: more inventors inside India are entering the patent system than at any point on record. (timesofindia.indiatimes.com, wipo.int)
