The Narendra Modi government at the centre has reduced the patent fees for educational institutes by 80 percent.
In a press release, the Union government said “In a yet another significant push towards Mission Aatmanirbhar Bharat, benefits related to 80 Percent reduced fee for patent filing & prosecution have been extended to Educational institutions as well. Centre has notified the amendments to the Patents Rules in this regard.”
It added that the move will help in strengthening the intellectual property ecosystem in the country.
“In order to create a conducive environment for innovation, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade has been working towards promoting greater collaboration between industry and academia. This can be achieved by facilitating commercialization of research undertaken in educational institutions”, it noted.
The earlier system was not conducive as “the innovators have to apply these patents in the name of the institutions which have to pay fees for large applicants, which are very high and thus work as a disincentive”.
With aim “to encourage greater participation of the educations institutions”, who play a pivotal role in country’s innovation, official fees payable by them in respect of various acts under the Patents Rules, 2003, have been reduced by way of the Patents (Amendment) Rules, 2021, which came into effect on 21st September, 2021.
The Patent Rules were amended in 2016, 2017, 2019 and 2020 to “achieve the objective of removing procedural inconsistencies and unnecessary steps in processing of applications thereby speedup grant/registration and final disposal”.
More patent filing will encourage better innovation and commercialization of the technology.
The fastest patent was granted within 41 days of filing the request. The government said the “facility of Expedited Examination system was initially provided for patent applications filed by Startups. It has been now extended to 8 more categories of Patent Applicants w.e.f. 17-09-2019 by making necessary amendments in the Patents Rules”.
The new categories include SME, Female applicants, Government Departments, Institutions established by a Central, Provincial or State Act, which is owned or controlled by the Government, Government Company, an Institution wholly or substantially financed by the Government and applicants under Patents Prosecution Highway.
The result of the various efforts taken by the government to expedite patent filing process is “the time taken for examination of patents have come down from average 72 months in 2015 to 12-30 months at present, depending upon technology fields”.
The Union government said “an Expedited Examination System has been introduced wherein an application for grant of patent is being decided within one year of filing such request under Expedited Examination as compared to the period of few years required in case of normal examination route.”
