Patent Office's revenue up at Rs 250 crores; to hire 257 examiners

Rising patent activity reflects pickup in research and innovation in the country, which is on the path to clock over 9 per cent growth this fiscal.

Boosted by increased number of filings, the Indian Patent Office saw its revenues rising to nearly Rs 250 crore in financial year 2010-11, according to sources in the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP).

The revenues stood at Rs 214 crore in 2009-10 fiscal.

"The process of hiring 257 patent examiners is on. New appointments will help in reducing the delays in granting patents," Controller General of Patents, Designs & Trade Marks (CGPDTM) P H Kurian told PTI. CGPDTM is also known as Indian Patent Office.

In the wake of rising number of patent filings, the IPO is facing problems in speedy clearance of applications. Increasing the number of patent experts would help in clearing the backlogs.

Kurian said that final revenues for the previous fiscal would be released in the next few days.

DIPP sources said that patent filings in the last financial year climbed by about 15 per cent to 39,000. In the year-ago period, the same was at 34,000.

Last fiscal, there has also been a 25 per cent rise in trademark filing at 1.8 lakh (from 1.4 lakh 2009-10).

Besides, applications for designs increased by nearly 30 per cent to 7,500 during the same period, sources said.

As the country is witnessing a robust economic growth, the government has taken several steps to encourage R&D works.

"Innovative activity in a nation is difficult to measure but judging by patent activity there seems to be a pick in research and innovation in India...There is a sharp rise (in patent applications in recent years)," it said.