After a slump, IIT-B witnesses 8 per cent hike in patent application

The Ministry for Human Resource Development had earlier announced that IIT-Bombay made the highest annual earnings from patents among all IITs in the country. (File)

The Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IIT-B), which had seen a significant slump in its annual patent applications in 2016-17, has managed to pick up pace in 2017-18.

The Ministry for Human Resource Development had earlier announced that IIT-Bombay made the highest annual earnings from patents among all IITs in the country. In 2016-17, however, the institute had filed for 107 patents, a drop of 25 per cent from the previous year. In comparison, the institute filed 116 patents in 2017-18, an 8 per cent increase.

Over the last five years, the institute has filed 109 patents on an average every year, the highest being 143 in 2015-16. According to the data in the institute’s application to the government for the status of ‘Institute of Eminence’, the institute had filed 504 patents in total between 2012 and 2017.

In terms of copyrights and trademarks granted to the institute, the numbers have grown from a mere one in 2014-15 to 10 in 2016-17. In the last academic year, the institute received six copyrights and trademarks.

However, the conversion rate for patents has been poor. For the 116 patents filed in the last academic year, less than a quarter of them were granted (27). On an average, around 23 patents are granted every year.

According to Devang Khakhar, the institute’s director, patents are more complicated than ‘just doing research’. “It is a business decision. People file patents only when they feel there is a chance of monetising on the idea or product. Moreover, filing a patent is an expensive process,” he said.