India’s patent filings surpassed 1.4 lakh in FY26, with a notable increase in resident applications, as per a Nasscom report. The filings surged by 30.2% in FY26 following a 19.8% rise in FY25. Resident filings, particularly from startups, MSMEs, educational institutions, and individual innovators, drove nearly 70% of the applications.
Computer technology’s share of filings rose to 19.1% in FY26 from 16.3% in FY25. This marks the ninth consecutive year of growth in India’s patent filings, reaching new annual highs. The report emphasizes the necessity to shift towards a value-driven patent ecosystem, focusing on enhancing filing-to-grant conversion rates and improving the quality of patent applications.
To strengthen the patent ecosystem, efforts should be directed at building robust commercialization pipelines through licensing, technology transfer, and spin-offs. It is crucial to track patent outcomes consistently, including grants, citations, and commercialization metrics, to align research investments effectively. The report underlines the importance of a more outcome-oriented patent ecosystem in strategic sectors like artificial intelligence, deeptech, biotechnology, semiconductors, and clean energy to solidify India’s global innovation standing.
Patent grants in FY26 decreased to 21,400 from 33,500 in FY25, indicating a growing disparity between filing momentum and grant outcomes. Educational institutions, major contributors to patent filings, hold around 40% of applications but only about 10% of grants. Multinational corporations, despite filing fewer applications, secured over half of all patent grants.
