Fees For All Recognised Institutes Applying For Patents Reduced By 80%: Minister

The Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal stated on Tuesday that all recognised educational institutions applying for patents, whether in India or abroad, will receive an 80% fee reduction. Earlier, all recognised government-owned educational institutions were eligible for the 80% fee reduction, he claimed.

“I believe it is unjust that government institutions are the only ones capable of innovation. The fee cut will be applicable to all recognised institutions depending on whether the educational institution is government-owned, government-sponsored, or private, regardless of whether they are in India or elsewhere across the world,” Goyal stated at the CII’s Intellectual Property Webinar.

He went on to say that all accredited institutions, universities, schools, and colleges will see their fees reduced by 80%. This indicates that the institution’s overall fee of publishing and renewal will drop from roughly Rs. 4,24,500 to around Rs. 85,000. This represents an 80% reduction.

“I think this is good news for universities. I hope it attracts a large number of new universities and educational institutions. According to my understanding, this is now the lowest fee among the world’s top patent offices. We invite all Indian and international colleges to take advantage of this,” added Goyal.

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He requested that the Department of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) begin the approval procedure for this announcement. The minister noted that the notion of using IPR as collateral for financial institutions and bank finance might be taken up with the finance ministry.

The industry body CII can propose this suggestion to the finance ministry for consideration, and he said that he would urge DPIIT and CII to engage with the department of banking to move that idea forward. The minister also advised that DPIIT work out ways for offering scholarships for 75 students studying law relevant to the IP ecosystem who are from economically weaker backgrounds.

“In the following 52 weeks, we must set a goal of raising awareness of IPR (intellectual property rights) among millions of students. Then we can think about incorporating it into the curriculum,” he stated. He also stated that the ministry aspires to raise India’s ranking in the Global Innovation Index from 48 to among the top 25 countries.

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In the four years between 2016 and 2020, 14.2 lakh trademark registrations were filed, compared to 11 lakh in the previous 75 years (1940-2015), according to Goyal.

“The time it takes to analyse a patent has been cut in half, from 72 months in December 2016 to 12-24 months in December 2020.” He said, “We’re also looking into how we can compress this time even more.” The minister also urged that patent applications be anonymised to ensure that the process is completely transparent.