New Delhi, November 12 (IANS). According to the latest annual report of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), India’s number of patents and industrial designs filed for intellectual property rights has doubled between 2018 and 2023, taking the country to the sixth position.
For the first time, India has been included in the top 10 countries in the world for three main intellectual property (IP) rights: patents, industrial designs, applications and trademark applications. Patent filing rate in India has been in double digits for the fifth consecutive year.
According to WIPO report, the number of patents filed in India in 2023 was 64,480. The country’s growth rate in patent filing till 2022 was 15.7 percent.
The report said that more than 35 lakh patents were filed worldwide in 2023. This was the fourth consecutive year of positive growth in global patent filings.
Maximum patents 1.64 million filed from China in 2023. China was followed by the United States with 5,18,364 patents, followed by South Korea with 2,87,954 patents. After South Korea, 133,053 patents were filed from Germany and 64,480 patents were filed from India.
Asia continues to top the list for patents, accounting for 68.7 per cent, 66.7 per cent and 69 per cent of global patent, trademark and industrial design filing activity in 2023, respectively.
Intellectual property rights define human creations that do not exist in nature. These include inventions, literary and artistic works, designs, symbols, names, and images used in commerce.
Intellectual property rights are protected by law to prevent their illegal use. Intellectual property rights include patents, copyrights, trademarks, industrial designs, geographical indications and trade secrets.
A patent gives exclusive rights to a person’s invention. For example, discovery of a medicine. Whereas, copyright refers to the rights of creators in their literary and artistic works such as songs, music, books, etc.
Trademark is a legal term that distinguishes one company’s goods or services from those of others. It could be a symbol, design or name that the company uses on its products.
Industrial design constitutes the decorative or aesthetic aspect of mass-produced goods.
The World Intellectual Property Organization was established in 1967 as a United Nations agency. Based in Geneva, Switzerland, the organization’s main work is to promote the protection of intellectual property rights around the world. This organization is one of the 15 specialized agencies of the United Nations.
–IANS
SKT/ABM
