Number of patent applications in the country to increase by 30.2 percent to 1.43 lakh in 2025-26: Goyal

New Delhi. Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Sunday that the number of people filing patent applications in the country has increased by 30.2 percent to 1,43,729 in the financial year 2025-26.

This is due to various initiatives of the government to strengthen the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) regime. In the previous financial year this number was 1,10,375.

Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said in a statement issued on ‘X’ post, “Our patent applications have historically increased to more than 1.43 lakh in the financial year 2025-26, which is an increase of 30.2 percent compared to the previous financial year.” Of these, more than 69 per cent of patents have been filed domestically, with innovators from Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Maharashtra playing a leading role.

According to the Commerce Minister, there has been a steady increase in the number of applications since 2016-17, when the number was 45,444. After this, it was 47,894 in the financial year 2017-28, 50,660 in the financial year 2018-19, 56,268 in the financial year 2019-20, 58,503 in the financial year 2020-21, 66,440 in the financial year 2021-22, 82,208 in the financial year 2022-23 and After this it was 92,163 in the financial year 2023-24.

He said the government has taken several steps to strengthen the patent mechanism in the country, especially targeting startups, MSMEs and educational institutions.

These steps include reduction in fees for startups, small units and educational institutions, provision of expedited examination of patent applications and providing free facility to Indian startups to file and process patent, trademark and design applications.

It is noteworthy that India is the sixth largest country in the world in terms of filing patents. This reflects a confident India that is soon set to become a global superpower in the field of innovation.