The Office of the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks (hereinafter referred to as the 'Office'), aims to meet requirements of constantly changing IP landscape and aspires to strengthen the culture of transparency, accountability and efficiency in its management. It endeavors to establish a vibrant and balanced IP regime in the country to support the country's innovation and developmental objectives. The Office has undergone sweeping transformations due to various initiatives for easing of access to all stakeholders, augmenting efficiency in the processing of IP applications, accomplishing uniformity and consistency in the examination of application, strengthening transparency and dissemination of IP related information, nurturing bilateral co-operation at the international level and leveraging the level of IP awareness amongst the public.

With these responsibilities in mind, the Office on April 23, 2018, released its Annual Report for the year 2016-17. The details of the activities performed by various departments under the Office during the year 2016-17, as well as the revenue and expenditure details of all departments under the Office and other relevant statistics are also included in it. Some of the highlights are mentioned in detail below–

Patents

During this financial year, 45444 patent applications were filed exhibiting a slight dip of 3.2% in the filing as compared to the previous year. The trends of last five years in respect of patent applications filed, examined, granted and disposed are given below. Disposal of applications includes patents granted/ refused by the patent office and also applications withdrawn and abandoned by the applicants.

Further, during 2016-17, the number of patent applications examined increased by 72.2%, number of grant of patents increased by 55.3% and disposal of applications increased by 37.7%, as compared to 2015-16. Domestic filing of patents applications was 29.2% in 2016-17 as compared to 28% in the previous year, thereby showing 1.2% increase as compared to 2015-16.

Patent
Year 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17
Filed 43674 42951 42763 46904 45444
Examined 12268 18615 22631 16851 28967
Granted 4126 4227 5978 6326 9847
Disposal 9027 11411 14316 21987 30271

Designs

During 2016-17, 10213 design applications were filed. The number of applications examined increased by 25.7% and number of design registrations increased by 3.1% in 2016- 17 as compared to 2015-16.

Design
Year 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17
Filed 8337 8533 9327 11108 10213
Examined 6776 7281 7459 9426 11940
Registered 7252 7178 7147 7904 8276
Disposal 7300 7226 7218 8023 8332

Trademarks

In the past year, 278170 applications for trademark registration were filed at all five locations of Trade Marks Registry. The number of applications examined increased by 98.7%, whereas number of registrations of trademarks showed a phenomenal increase of 284.5%. Disposal of applications, which includes registered, refused, withdrawn and abandoned applications, increased by 150% as compared to 2015 -16.

Trademark
Year 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17
Filed 194216 200005 210501 283060 278170
Examined 202385 203086 168026 267861 532230
Registered 44361 67876 41583 65045 250070
Disposal 69736 104756 83652 116167 290444

Geographical Indications

During the reporting year, 32 applications were filed, and 28 applications were examined. A total number of 34 Geographical Indications were registered. The trends in GI applications filed, examined and registered during the last five years are given below.

Geographical Indications
Year 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17
Filed 24 75 47 17 32
Examined 30 42 60 200 28
Registered 21 22 20 26 34

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