IIT Bombay records 50% increase in patent grants in 2021-22, steady rise in Intellectual Property Rights

(Graphics by Angshuman Maity)

It rose to 30 patents out of 128 applications in FY 2017-18, 42 out of 115 in 2018-19, and 67 out of 123 in FY 2019-20. The numbers saw exponential growth in 2020-21 when IIT Bombay filed 164 patents and 120 of them were granted.

Even as the number of patents filed by IIT Bombay dropped to 131 in 2021-22, with 96 of them granted, the institute has maintained a success rate of over 73 per cent.

According to the Director’s Report from this academic year, there has been a spurt in the number of IPR applications from 2020-21 as compared to the past few years. One of the reasons for this rise in numbers stated in the report is the “filing of IPR applications for COVID-19 related technologies.”

(Graphics by Angshuman Maity)

The annual Director’s Report from the past three years shows a steady rise in the success rate of IPR applications being granted, hinting at a better R&D policy implemented by the institute.

In 2021-22, IIT Bombay filed 189 applications for IPR, including patent, trademark, design and copyright, and a little over 87 per cent or 165 were granted. This was a considerable jump in the number, which had been less than 60 per cent in the past.

In 2019-20, out of the 153 IPR applications, 86 or roughly over 56 per cent were granted. Whereas, with 264 applications, 2020-21 saw a considerable rise in the number of total IPRs filed. However, out of these, only 145 were granted, recording a success rate of around 55 per cent.

The report also pointed to a significant increase in the registration of trademarks and designs. “Increase in trademark registrations could be considered as an indicator of licensing possibilities of various innovative technologies at IIT Bombay,” stated the Director’s Report for 2021.

As many as 88 trademarks and 10 design IPR applications along with one copyright were filed by the institute in 2020-21. Whereas a year before that, only 9 trademarks and 23 design IPR applications were filed.

This growth, according to the report, was due to targeted efforts. While proactive efforts were taken to assess the possibility of intellectual property in the work of MTech/Dual degree students to file for possible protection, the report stated, “A new initiative was undertaken to proactively conduct outbound prospecting for technologies protected/ filed for protection by the Institute.”