CGPDTM Annual Report
2017-18 brought into force, the amendments in the Trademark Rules which further simplified the Trademark procedures and removed redundant provisions. The overall impact of this amendment was that the Trademark registration became easy & user-friendly and the numbers of forms were reduced from 74 to 8. One application form for all types of trademark applications, concession in fee for start-ups, individuals and small enterprises, video conferencing for hearings, e-communication and expedited processing for the entire trademark prosecution procedure were other key features of the 2017 Trademark amendments.
Year 2017-18 can be considered as the year of digital reforms, amendments, re-engineering of IP procedures for efficient and improved IP administration. The outcome of these efforts resulted in improved performance, decreased pendency and higher rate of disposal of IP applications.
Highlights of the CGPDTM Annual report 2017-18 are:
1. Filing of patent applications increased by 5.3% wherein domestic filing increased by 32.5%. Grant of patents increased by 32.5% and disposal application increased by 57.6%.
2. Increased acceptance of trademark applications from 10% to about 46% at initial stage, registration of trademarks increased by 20.3% and final disposal by 91.4%.
3. Online filing increased to 90% in patents and 86% in trademarks.
4. Filing of design applications increased by 7.4% with 21.1% increase in number if registered designs.
5. Copyright applications increased by 7.4% with remarkable progress of 456% in copyright registration and 631% rise in final disposal of the applications.
6. Trends in respect of IP activities are mentioned in the table:
7. During the year 2017-18, the total revenue generated was Rs 769.73 crore, which is about 26% higher, while total expenditure was only 153.58 crore.
8. Electronic payment gateway for PCT application fee was introduced to avoid delay in transmission of fees for PCT application to International Bureau and International Searching Authorities.
9. Both WIPO CASE and WIPO-DAS have been made functional for IPO since Jan 2018. Indian Patent Office has become an Accessing and Depositing Office for WIPO centralized Access to Search and Examination System (WIPO-CASE) and WIPO Digital Access Service (DAS) under the WIPO-India Co-operation Agreement. More details can be accessed here.
10. Maharashtra filed maximum number of patent application in the year 2017-18 followed by Tamilnadu, Karnataka, Delhi, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh.
11. Council of scientific & Industrial Research and Indian Institute of Technology were the top most contributors in filing patent applications in the year 2017-18.
12. The top filing countries for the PCT National Phase applications were USA, Japan, Germany and China.
The complete Annual report 2017-18 of CGPDTM can be accessed here.
