80% Fee Reduction in Patent Applications – India & Abroad

[CSLalit Rajput]

Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Minister Sh. Piyush Goyal on 17.08.2021 has announced to provide 80 % fee reduction to all recognized educational institutions applying for patents, whether in India or abroad. Earlier this scheme was available to all recognized educational institutions which are owned by the government of India only but now further extended.

Define Patent:

A patent is the granting of a property right by a sovereign authority to an inventor. This grant provides the inventor exclusive rights to the patented process, design, or invention for a designated period in exchange for a comprehensive disclosure of the invention. They are a form of incorporeal right.

A patent is an exclusive right granted for an invention, which is a product or a process that provides, in general, a new way of doing something, or offers a new technical solution to a problem.

Key Highlights – Announcements :

• This scheme is available to government (owned), government-aided, or private institutions, irrespective of whether these institutions are situated in India or anywhere in the world
• all recognised educational institutions, universities, schools, and colleges would now enjoy the benefit of an 80% fee reduction.
• The total fee for filing publication and renewal for an institute will reduce from about ₹ 4,24,500 to ₹ 85,000, which is a reduction of 80%.

Explanation:

Total fee (Filing + publication + Renewal fee) for an Institute is ~₹ 4,24,500/- now, this will  be reduced to ₹ 84,900/ -, The fees among the top Patent Offices worldwide.

• Ministry Further updates:

The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) is going to start the process of approval of this announcement. Further, , the minister suggested DPIIT to work out modalities on introducing scholarships for 75 students studying law related to IP ecosystem and who come from economically weaker sections.

The ministry is continuously working to improve India’s ranking in the Global Innovation Index from 48 to among the top 25. Time of patent examination has also been reduced from 72 months in December 2016 to 12-24 months in December 2020. The minister also suggested anonymizing patent applications, so that there is a complete transparency in the process.

Some Update about Patent

• India records 572% growth in grant of Patents in last 7 years
• 28,391 patents granted in 2020-21 as compared to 4,227 grants during 2013-14 .
• 14.2 lakh trademark registrations done in 4 years (2016-2020) in comparison to 11 lakh during 75 years (1940-2015)
• India"s ranking in Global Innovation Index jumps to 48th in 2020, (+33 ranks from 81st in 2015-16)
• Reduction in Time of patent examination from 72 months in Dec 2016 to 12-24 months in Dec 2020

Intellectual property is the key for success of Start-up India, Make in India & Design in India – by Shri Piyush Goyal