Relative Innovation Index: State of Patent Examination in India

For the second decade in the 21st Century, the encouraging steps taken to foster the innovation environment in India have started bearing fruits by way of the introduction of new indigenous technologies1 in the market, specifically in the area of generic medicines as well as in engineering sectors with automotive as a prime example.2 Several initiatives3 have been taken by the Government of India (GOI) to increase Research and Development (R&D) activity in India, for example, in providing tax holidays and exemptions have resulted in the development of indigenous technologies and increased patent filing. However, the prime concern now is to handle such a large number of patent applications and disposal of patent applications by the Indian Patent Offices. The author uses the empirical investigation to identify the motive of legal provisions in the Indian Patent Act, 1970 and employs a quantitative method of research to the data published by the Indian Patent. This paper evaluates the disposal mechanism in terms of a number of First Examination Reports (FERs) issued across various years by the Indian Patent Officeand gives a performance indicator on its working efficiency. The study gives an overview of the Patent Prosecution Procedure for the disposal of patents in India. Also, the paper studies the disposal of patent applications by the four regional Patent Offices in India. The paper would focus on analysing the disposal of patents and its impact on the global innovation index published by the WIPO.