February 6, 2022, 9:33 PM IST Kunwer Sachdev in Voices, Economy, India, TOI
A patent is an exclusive right to an inventor for a product, design, invention, or process that generally provides a new way of doing something or offers a new technical solution to a problem. It is granted in exchange for a comprehensive disclosure of the invention.
Mark Twain once said, “A country without a patent office and good patent laws is just a crab, and can’t travel any way but sideways and backways”. I have been a firm believer in his thought, though as a country we have come a long way in creating and streamlining the patenting process.
Interestingly, most people think that a patent is to be filed only when you have a great new product but it is not true. India is possibly one of the very few countries where people innovate to solve their day-to-day problems i.e. jugaad, and very often these ideas are patent worthy but not many know that. In an ideal world, India deserves to be world’s no. 1 in patent filing and not at the 9th position that it holds today. If we compare the last 5 years, the number of patents granted by India shot up by 50% in 2017, keeping up a trend of steep increases, according to the UN’s World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO). India had almost 117,336 applications still pending in 2020, which had sharply reduced compared to a year earlier by 23.4%. International patent applications filed via WIPO’s PCT reached 275,900 applications in 2020. China with +16.1% was the only country that recorded a double-digit annual growth between 2019 and 2020, whereas India reported a -6.5% decline over the same period.
We live in a tech-led world where patents play an increasingly important role in the innovation and economic performance of the overall ecosystem. Constant scientific and technological advances prove that the strength of an organization can be measured through patenting activity these days.
Software by itself is not patentable in India however, it is allowed a patent if it is part of an invention that is both innovative and of industrial use.
A patent application can be filed, by an individual, a group, or an assignee. In India patenting is a long process involving multiple checks, but once granted, it gives an exclusive right to an inventor to make use of and sell his/her invention for 20 years from the date of filing.
IMPACT OF COVID 19 ON GLOBAL IP FILING
The lockdown has had a disastrous impact on the economy and also intellectual property. Foreign patent and trademark offices throughout the world are taking necessary steps to address the impact of lockdown on IP practitioners and their operations. Measures have been taken to provide relief to the entire IP ecosystem that includes extending deadlines related to the prosecution of patents, copyrights, and trademarks. The filings related to pharmaceuticals increased from 4.1% in 2019 to 4.6% in 2020, and surgical, medical & dental goods increased from 1.5% to 2.3%, as per WIPO research data. These trends were mirrored by certain countries that saw large increases in trademark filing activity.
RECENT TRENDS
Our patenting system has undergone several changes but for now, India is a very small player in the global patent market. However, it is interesting to note that there is a decent improvement in patent filing despite the pandemic. According to a WIPO report, globally patent filing has seen a surge of 1.6% and India ranks 9th in the patent filing.
For apparent reasons, there has been an increase in patent filings by pharmaceutical and healthcare entities – clearly, the urgency to find a vaccine for COVID-19 and the future cure has led this trend. Another industry that saw a rise in patent filing is medical equipment and devices, in the areas of diagnostics, sanitation, protective equipment, and others. Over and above, as travel was restricted and social distancing replaced in-person interactions, there have been innovations in communication technology so IT and telecommunication have had a hike in the patent filing.
COVID-19 has dramatically transformed the way we live and it continues to push our boundaries to adapt to change. There is no going back to the old ways whether it is a business, economy, our culture, or even our daily life choices, all must evolve with time and the last two years have proved that. There is another round of evolution necessary from the IP rights protection perspective too as we are moving into different industries and see fresh new alternatives to the status quo.
Let us take Electric Vehicles (EV) as an example. The EV segment came into focus at an accelerated pace after the government push to make India an all-electric passenger vehicle market by 2030 through PLI and other initiatives. The automotive sector had already begun its journey towards the future of mobility, accepted the idea of going electric, and is rapidly evolving in terms of technology and financing a sustainable future. Many automakers are creating separate, parallel EV businesses to contribute to the EV boom, however, India is at a very nascent stage at multiple levels.
To understand this, we must look at patents granted to EV manufacturers. The patent trends are significant as they define a clearer vision of how the industry is changing from new products invented, to research and development, up to dissemination and market development.
EV SPACE
The EV industry is poised to grow at a massive scale very shortly. We will see a lot of patents being filed across batteries, motors, controllers, chargers, and testing equipment for EVs. India is rightly placed to create solutions with a hybrid model like solar battery and mains back-up, all in one solution.
Patents related to battery technology – The focus on, and growth of EVs has led to greater innovation into battery technology. There is an immediate imperative for the government to push for carbon reduction especially, vehicular emissions. Many patents have been filed related to energy storage that is focused on improving battery technology.
Patent for EV charging station – Adoption of EVs has led to increased patents for charging infrastructure including wireless EV charging. That said, even the charging stations will need backups because we still grapple with power cuts in India. Patent data for the EV sector confirms that electric vehicles as a sector has tremendous scope to contribute to the future of mobility. The industry is still developing and we can expect a few surprises in the coming years.
Patents will play a critical role in shaping future mobility in India and its sustenance. Manufacturers and innovators will create products and opportunities that will give them a competitive advantage over others and patents will help them protect their contribution. This entire exercise will eventually help to push for new market dynamics and predict the future of the industries for the better.
Note: Following are a few patents that have been filed and are supporting the above narrative about the EV space.
