Indian patenting system needs to improve, says WIPO chief

HYDERABAD: Indian patenting system needs to be improved for faster approvals, N N Prasad, Executive Director, World Intellectual Property Organisation ( WIPO), said here today at a seminar organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry and the AP Technology Development Centre.

The Geneva-based WIPO, an arm of the United Nations Organisation, helps member-countries in legal and technical matters pertaining to intellectual property.

"The Indian patenting system has improved in the last six years, but it needs to improve the processing time faster so that the applicant derives benefit out of his patent quicker. Our system needs to be faster, more modern and more efficient," Prasad told reporters on the sidelines of the seminar on monetising and managing IP assets.

He said that the main challenge is to modernise the Indian system so that extensive search of both domestic and international patents can be carried out more efficiently before granting a patent.

"Patents must have industrial applicability. Patents must be given in time, so that patent holders can benefit from it," he added.

Replying to a query, he said the present Indian scenario looks positive in terms of number of applications for patents and approvals.

"Earlier 90 per cent of applications were from foreign companies. Indian companies' share was only 10 per cent. I believe, according to Indian officials, the current trend is 30 per cent from domestic companies and 70 per cent from international companies. It shows a healthy trend," he said.

The number of Indian patent applications had gone up in the recent years. This year there are 20,000 patent applications compared to 1,060 in 1996. WIPO recently trained 250 patent examiners recruited by the Indian Patents Office, he said.