India sees record 31.6% rise in patent applications in 2022; ahead of China, U.K.

Patent applications by Indians grew by 31.6% to 55,718 in 2022, extending an 11-year run of growth that remains "unmatched" by any other country among the top 10 patent-filing nations, according to the latest study released by the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO).

Despite the huge rise in applications, India's total patent applications were far below that that of countries like China, the U.S., Japan, the Republic of Korea and Germany, which saw the highest numbers of patent filings in 2022.

For India, this is the “sixth year of growth” in a row, with patent filings in 2022 being the fastest increase since the year 2005. “A majority of top 20 offices – 13 out of 20 – received a greater number of patent applications in 2022 than in 2021.”

In 2022, innovators from around the world submitted a record-breaking 3.46 million patent applications, marking a third consecutive year of growth at 1.7% over 2021, the WIPO data reveals. Following a 3% decline in the Covid-hit year 2019, patent applications globally rose for three consecutive years, with growth rates of 1.5% in 2020, 3.6% in 2021, and 1.7% in 2022.

"A substantial rise in filings by China, which made 33,605 more applications than it did in 2021, combined with robust contributions from the intellectual property (IP) office of India (15,495 additional applications), South Africa (+3,030) and the European Patent Office (EPO) (+4,832), was the main driver of growth in 2022," says the WIPO report.

Among the areas that accounted for maximum patent applications in large middle-income countries were other special machines in Brazil (8.4% of total published applications) and Malaysia (7.4%); computer technology (9.6%) in India; pharmaceuticals in Mexico (12.1%); and medical technology in Türkiye (7.5%).

Applicants based in China filed around 1.58 million patent applications in 2022, covering both domestic and foreign jurisdictions. China was followed by the US (5,05,539), Japan (4,05,361), the Republic of Korea (2,72,315) and Germany (1,55,896).

The majority of the top 20 origins – 13 out of 20 – filed a greater number of patent applications in 2022 than in 2021. The largest increases were in India, which filed 31.6% more applications in 2022. Switzerland (+6.1%), China (+3.1%), Austria (+2.5%) and the UK (+2.5%) also reported robust growth in filings.

In terms of annual trademark applications, India’s number remained below 100,000 up until 2006, but rose to nearly 4,80,000 in 2022. The UN global body says Brazil, with about 3,87,000 applications, and India stand out as the only “two offices among the top five” to have received more applications in 2022 than in 2021.

An estimated 11.8 million trademark applications covering 15.5 million classes were filed in 2022. The number of classes specified in applications fell by 14.5% in 2022, marking the first annual reduction in application class count since 2009. The UN body says the "long-term trend in trademark filing" is still positive, despite having been distorted by the pandemic.