Govt cuts patent fee for educational institutions by 80%

The government on Thursday announced that it has reduced by 80% the processing and patent filing fees, charged on educational institutions.

This has been done at par with the similar concession provided to startups under the Startup India initiative and has been introduced by amending the patent rules.

The commerce and industry ministry said that at the time of applying for patents, the innovators have to apply these patents in the name of the institutions that have to pay fees for large applicants, which are very high and thus work as a disincentive.

The government said that educational institutions engage in many research activities, where professors/teachers and students generate several new technologies which need to be patented to facilitate commercialization of the same.

“High patenting fees present a restrictive element for getting these technologies patented and thus work as a disincentive for development of new technologies," it said in a statement.

The time taken for examination of patents have come down from average 72 months in 2015 to 12-30 months at present, depending upon technology fields. Further, it is expected that the time for final disposal of patent applications, which has reduced to average 48 months at present from few years earlier, will be reduced to average 24-30 months from filing by end of 2021.