India way behind China in International Patents

In part 2 of this series on research in India, we compare the International patent applications from India with the BRICS nations and the USA. India is far behind China both in terms of patent applications & grants. China files 35 times more patent applications than India and is also granted 35 times more patents than India.

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With the launch of ‘IMPRINT India’, there is a renewed debate about research in India. In Part 1, we looked at the details of this new initiative and also the patent filing numbers in India. In this piece, we look at Indian Patent filing in the international arena (WIPO) and how it compares with the BRICS nations and the USA.

Number of Patent Applications

According to the data available with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), China and USA are way ahead of India in the number of international patent applications. In the five years from 2009 to 2013, China has seen tremendous growth from 2.4 lakh applications in 2009 to 7.34 lakh applications in 2013. This is more than 200% rise. In the same time, USA has grown from 3.97 lakh applications in 2009 to 5.01 lakh applications in 2013, a 25% growth. India on the other hand has grown from 11939 applications in 2009 to 20908 applications in 2013, representing a 75% increase. Among the BRICS nations, India comes third after China & Russia. South Africa is at the bottom among the BRICS nations.

Number of International Patent Applications filed (Data from WIPO)
Origin Country	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013
China	241434	308326	436170	561408	734096
United States of America	397919	433199	440632	473489	501162
Russian Federation	28859	32837	31464	34379	34067
India	11939	14869	15896	18202	20908
Brazil	5420	5735	6359	6603	6848
South Africa	1964	1996	1763	1688	2211

India was at the 21^st place in the world in 1999 in the number of patents applications filed. And India is at the 11^th place since 2010. In terms of patent grants, India is at the 26^th place in 2013.

Number of Patent Grants

Interestingly, Russia & South Africa are way ahead of the other nations in the percentage of patents granted to the patent applications filed. Russia has a close to 70% grant rate in all the years while South Africa is a close second. USA has a grant rate in the high forties that steadily grew from 2009 to 2013. While India is far behind China in the number of patent applications filed, it is not that far behind in the grant rate. China’s grant rate has seen a continuous decline, from 28.4% in 2009 to 21% in 2013. India on the other hand started at 26.7% in 2009 and fell down to 21% in 2013. The worst grant rate is for Brazil with less than 20% in all the years. So while China has been increasing the number of patent applications at a fierce pace, the grants have not kept the same pace.

Patent Applications by GDP & Population

Based on the GDP figures (2011 PPP), China again leads the pack in the number of patent applications per 100 billion USD. China started at around 2000 applications per 100 billion in 2009 and went up to 4500 applications per 100 billion in 2013. China is closely followed by USA in the second place. USA started at around 1500 applications per 100 billion in 2009 and went up to 1770 in 2013. India is 4^th among the BRICS nations, only ahead of South Africa. From 143 applications per 100 billion USD in 2009, India went up to 163 in 2013. Brazil is also ahead of India in this aspect.

As expected, India is at the bottom when it comes to number of patent applications per million population. India started at 6 applications per million population in 2009 and went up to 9 in 2013. China on the other hand started at 172 applications per million in 2009 and went up to 519 in 2013. In other words, China files 50 times more applications per million population compared to India. USA is on the top, thanks to the lower population. From 733 applications per million population in 2009, USA went up to 910 applications per million in 2013. Russia also has a healthy rate in the 3 digits while Brazil & South Africa are in the two digits. India is the only country among the six to have a single digit, owing to the high population.

Indian Patent Grants by Technology

As expected, the most patent applications & grants from India are in the fields of Computer Technology & Pharmaceuticals. The top ten sectors include Organic Chemistry, Digital Communication, Telecommunications, Bitechnology etc.

Number of Patent Grants by Technology (WIPO Data)
Technology	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013
Computer technology	125	455	537	727	1069
Pharmaceuticals	239	263	232	335	356
Organic fine chemistry	256	260	288	338	336
Digital communication	25	83	88	126	197
Telecommunications	20	55	54	98	111
Basic communication processes	32	81	55	65	99
Biotechnology	73	93	87	81	89
Basic materials chemistry	49	47	51	73	87
Audio-visual technology	11	29	43	65	84
Measurement	20	38	38	60	84