India must shift to value‑driven patent ecosystem as filings cross 1.4 lakh in FY26: Nasscom
New Delhi, April 28
India's patent filings crossed the 1.4 lakh mark in FY26, driven by a sharp rise in resident applications, a Nasscom report said on Tuesday, calling for a shift from a filing‑led mindset to a value‑driven patent ecosystem.
According to the report, filings grew 30.2 per cent in FY26 after a 19.8 per cent rise in FY25. The surge was driven by resident filings up 46.2 per cent in FY26 and 32.2 percent in FY25.
Resident filings accounted for nearly 70 per cent of applications led by strong participation from startups, MSMEs, educational institutions, and individual innovators. Computer technology's share of filings rose to 19.1 per cent in FY26 from 16.3 per cent in FY25.
India's patent filings saw the ninth consecutive year of growth and setting new highs in annual expansion, the report noted.
The shift from a filing-led mindset to a value-driven patent ecosystem will require a sharper focus on improving filing-to-grant conversion rates, strengthening the quality of patent applications, and enhancing support across examination and prosecution stages, the report noted.
It also emphasised the need to build stronger commercialisation pipelines through licensing, technology transfer, and spin-offs, ensuring that patents translate into tangible economic and industrial outcomes.
Other important measures include consistent tracking of patent outcomes, including grants, citations, and commercialisation metrics, to better align research investments with impact.
"A more focused and outcome-oriented patent ecosystem across strategic sectors such as artificial intelligence, deeptech, biotechnology, semiconductors, and clean energy, will be essential to reinforce India's position as a global innovation powerhouse," the report said.
The report highlighted a growing divergence between filing momentum and grant outcomes. Patent grants moderated to 21,400 in FY26 from 33,500 in FY25.
Educational institutions have emerged as the largest contributors to patent filings, accounting for nearly 40 percent of applications, yet their share in grants remains disproportionately low at around 10 percent.
Multinational corporations dominated patent grants, accounting for over half of all grants despite filing less than one-third of applications.
— IANS
Reader Comments
As someone working in a foreign MNC's R&D center in Bangalore, I see the disconnect. We file patents for global applications, but Indian universities file for the sake of faculty promotions. The report's call for outcome-oriented ecosystem is spot on.
The dip in grants from 33,500 to 21,400 is concerning. Shows our patent office examiners might be overwhelmed with this surge in applications. Need more examiners and better AI tools to speed up the process. 🧐
My startup filed our first patent this year. The process was smoother than I expected but the costs are still high for small players. Government should subsidise filing fees for MSMEs and startups more aggressively. It's happening but could be better. 🇮🇳
Impressive growth in resident filings (46.2% in FY26!). But let's be realistic - many of these are incremental innovations rather than breakthrough patents. The focus on commercialisation is key. Otherwise we'll end up with a lot of paper patents gathering dust.
I see this as a great sign for 'Make in India' and 'Atmanirbhar Bharat'. But we must ensure patents translate to jobs and products. The semiconductor and AI focus areas mentioned are exactly where we need to build domestic capabilities. Well done Nasscom for highlighting this.
P Priya S