India has been leapfrogging on innovation parameters in last few years. The number of patents granted by India registered a sharp increase of more than 50 percent in 2017. As per a report released by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), 8,248 patents were granted in 2016 while the number reached 12,387 last year. The patents in 2017 are more than double of 6,022 patents granted in the year 2015 and therefore, it suggests that the number of granted patents got doubled within two years. Also, the patents granted to foreigners by India increased exponentially. “Of the patents granted last year, 1,712 went to entities and individuals based in India, and 10,675 to foreigners, said WIPO. “The steep increase in the number was driven by patents granted to foreigners, which accounted for 85 per cent of the total increase,” it added. India for the first time broke into the list of top ten countries in granting patents.
Almost 14 lakh patents were granted across the world in 2017 with 4, 20,144 patents granted by China, followed by 3, 18,829 granted by American authorities. “Demand for IP (intellectual property) protection is rising faster than the rate of global economic growth, illustrating that IP-backed innovation is an increasingly critical component of competition and commercial activity,” said WIPO Director-General Francis Gurry during media interaction while releasing the report.
India also received many applications from the United States. India received a total of 46,582 patent applications last year, of them 14,961 were from Indian individuals or entities and 31,621 were from foreigners, and of them, 9,222 came from the US, read the report. In India, the pharmaceutical industry has been the most innovative accounting for 15.7 percent of total domestic applications. Many patents were granted to Indian companies and authorities in the United States. Last year, the United States received applications for 6, 06,956 patents, of which 10,309 came from India. The number of trademarks and designs registered in the country has also seen an upward trend. The country registered 10,188 designs this year, 6,622 of which were from domestic applicants and 3,566 from foreigners. On the trademarks front, India currently has 1.6 million activations, of them 339,692 new ones were added in the last year itself. 287,139 trademarks from the country and 52,553 from outside the country were registered last year.
In the Global Innovation Index, which ranks the countries on their ability to innovate, India moved up by 24 ranks. Cornell University, INSEAD, and the World Intellectual Property Organization jointly developed the Innovation Index to make nations aware of the importance of innovation. It surveyed 143 countries around the world and used 81 measures to gauge innovation capability of an economy. India was ranked at 81st position in 2013 while the country got ranked at 57th spot in 2018.
India’s ranking in Global Competitiveness Index, 2018 has also improved significantly due to good performance on the innovation front. India has got the 31st rank in the innovation capability index. The country achieved the 75th spot out of 140 countries in enabling business environment, 104th in human capital, 29th in markets component due to its sheer market size. The overall ranking of 58th was driven by good ecosystem on innovations front. In recent decades, India led the global markets with great innovations in Information Technology (IT), biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry. On the IT front, Indians dominate the innovation ecosystem with the majority of top executives in Silicon Valley being Indians. The economic liberalization unleashed the potential of Indian entrepreneurs and now the country is leading the global economy with innovative business practices.
