Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) has taken multipronged approach to increase disposal of patent applications. The pendency of patent applications at examination stage has come down from 2.04 lakh as on 31^st March 2017 to 1.72 lakh as on 28^th of February this year. This information was given by the Minister of State of Commerce and Industry, C R Chaudhary, in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today. He said that 6235 applications were examined in February 2018 as against 3925 during the corresponding period during last year. Patent offices have been established in Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata and Mumbai and necessary physical and IT infrastructure is established in all the patent offices.

The Minister informed that the manpower has been augmented for examination and disposal patent applications, 495 Examiners of Patents and Designs have been recruited and 84 new posts of Examiners and 95 posts of controllers have been sanctioned for patent offices. Computerized work-flow, automation and IT enablement have been implemented to facilitate the examination work and optimize the speed and quality of examination. Timelines have been imposed to ensure speedy disposal and the number of admissible adjournments has been limited under the amended Patent Rules. Now applications can be transferred electronically from any of the branches of Patent Office to another. Expedited examination and hearing through video conferencing are also permitted.

Pendency reduction in patent examination improved by procedural reforms, IT enablement, and limits on adjournments. Reduction of patent application pendency was achieved by expanding examination capacity, recruiting 495 examiners and sanctioning additional posts, and establishing physical and IT infrastructure across patent offices. Computerized workflow, automation and IT enablement were implemented to improve examination speed and quality. Procedural reforms under the amended Patent Rules imposed timelines, limited adjournments, enabled electronic transfer of applications between branches, and permitted expedited examination and hearings via video conferencing to accelerate disposal.