The recent report of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM), Why India Needs to Urgently Invest in its Patent Ecosystem?, highlights the significance of a robust patent system for a knowledge economy and for the promotion of technological innovations. It highlights the rising share of residents in the total number of patent applications filed in India, which has more than doubled during the last decade. And, for the first time, the number of patent applications by residents has surpassed that of foreign applications during the last quarter of the financial year 2021-22. The Economic Survey 2022-23, for instance, highlighted the rising share of Indian residents in patent applications.
A major concern expressed in the EAC-PM report is the long pendency of processing patent applications in India. Therefore, it has recommended several measures to reduce this. Increasing the efficiency of processing patent applications will certainly improve the patent ecosystem in the country. At the same time, we need to investigate the patent ecosystem more closely to connect the dots so that appropriate measures are adopted to improve the patent ecosystem, keeping in view the national innovation ecosystem.
