India's Patent Office received 1,10,375 patent applications in 2024-25, up 19.75% on the year before and nearly double the 58,503 filed in 2020-21, according to the CGPDTM Annual Report 2024-25. Indian applicants filed 68,201 of them (61.79%), a 32% jump in a single year, while filings from abroad grew only about 4%. PCT applications by Indian applicants have also risen from 964 to 2,600 in four years. For inventors and startups, a busier Patent Office means a more crowded field: searching early and filing first matter more than ever.
| Who is affected | Inventors, startups, universities, research teams and companies developing new products or technology in India. |
|---|---|
| What to do | Run a patentability search before investing further, file a provisional application early to secure your filing date, keep the invention confidential until it is filed, and plan any international (PCT) filing within 12 months. |
| Source | CGPDTM Annual Report 2024-25 |
India's Patent Office received 1,10,375 patent applications in 2024-25, the first time annual filings have crossed one lakh. That is almost double the 58,503 applications filed five years earlier, according to the Annual Report 2024-25 of the Office of the Controller General of Patents, Designs, Trade Marks and Geographical Indications (CGPDTM). The bigger story is who is filing: Indian applicants now account for more than six in every ten applications.
Five years of patent filings in India
| Year | Applications filed | Change on previous year |
|---|---|---|
| 2020-21 | 58,503 | |
| 2021-22 | 66,440 | +13.6% |
| 2022-23 | 82,811 | +24.6% |
| 2023-24 | 92,168 | +11.3% |
| 2024-25 | 1,10,375 | +19.8% |
Indian applicants are driving the growth
- 68,201 applications came from Indian applicants in 2024-25, which is 61.79% of the total, up from 55.96% the year before.
- Domestic filings grew by 32.23% in a single year.
- Filings from foreign applicants grew by only about 3.9%, to 42,174.
- In other words, roughly nine out of every ten additional applications this year came from Indian inventors, companies, startups and institutions.
Where the inventions come from
- Top states: Tamil Nadu filed the most ordinary applications by Indian applicants, followed by Karnataka and Maharashtra.
- Top fields: growth was seen across almost every field, led by computer science and electronics, mechanical engineering, chemicals, bio-medical and communication technologies.
Indian inventors are going global
- International (PCT) applications filed by Indian applicants through the Indian Patent Office rose from 964 in 2020-21 to 2,600 in 2024-25, more than two and a half times in four years.
- 2,30,480 patents were in force in India as of 1 April 2025.
What this means if you have an invention
- The field is getting crowded, so file early. India follows a first-to-file system: if someone else files a similar invention before you, they get priority. A provisional application secures your filing date while you finish development.
- Search before you spend. More filings mean more prior art. A patentability search tells you whether your idea is new before you invest in drafting and filing.
- Keep it confidential until you file. Publishing, pitching publicly or selling before filing can destroy the novelty of your invention.
- Use the reduced fees. Individuals, startups and small entities pay much lower official fees. A provisional application filed online costs ₹1,600 in government fees.
- Plan for other countries early. A PCT application, filed within 12 months of your first Indian filing, keeps your options open in more than 150 countries.
How CorpBridge can help
At CorpBridge, patent work is handled only by registered patent agents. We can run a patentability search, draft your specification and claims and file your patent application, with every government fee shown upfront. You can also estimate the official fees with our patent fee calculator.
This is a plain-language summary for general information, not legal or tax advice. The court order or official document is the authoritative text. Ask an expert how it applies to you.