Indian IT may have lost some of its bearings but not all its marbles. Evidence came from the creation of intellectual property assets not only by established players like Wipro, Infosys and TCS, but also from startups.
Even more delightful is the fact that Indian companies and startups dominate the intellectual property filings arena accounting for a staggering 60 per cent of all the technology patents filed in the US as on 2018. While international companies comprise a quarter of the total share, academics and researchers account for the rest.
Interestingly, Indian startups filed over 200 patents, much of which came from emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Cyber Security, IoT and Cloud Computing, according to trade body Nasscom’s latest report ‘Emerging Technologies: Leading the next wave of IP Creation for India.’ Indian entities filed over 4,600 patents between 2015 and 2018, of which 40 per cent of the tech patents filed have been granted. In fact, the share of tech patents in total patents filed increased to two-third in 2017-18 from half in 2015.
“Innovation is the key to driving transformation and such patents and trademarks are a testimony to this transformational growth,” Nasscom President Debjani Ghosh said, adding, “As a country, India can further strengthen its potential as an innovation hub through more investments in research and strategic collaborations. We are confident that we will usher in a new wave of innovation and intelligence in the country.”
Emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence, Cyber Security, IoT and Cloud Computing accounted for over 50 per cent of the tech patents filed in 2017-18. Within this, AI led the pack with over 330 patents filed between 2015 and 2018, while Cyber Security saw 193 filings followed by IoT at 107 and cloud computing at 88. What’s also heartening to note is that patent filings are increasing in newer application areas such as digital payments, e-commerce and navigation.
Meanwhile, non-tech patents came from sectors such as chemistry and chemical compositions, pharmaceuticals and mechanical and structural inventions. Some of the top ten Indian companies filing patents include Reliance Industries Ltd, Welspun Steel, Tata Group, Infosys, HCL Technologies, Wipro and the Mahindra Group.
Of the total 2,536 tech patents filed between 2015 and 2018, about 42 per cent have been granted as on February 2019. In other words, the average patent granting time in the US turns out to be roughly 22 months or close to two years.