IT WAS party time for India in November when the "World Intellectual Property Indicators 2023" (WIPI) report was released. India was a star performer in the report compiled by the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), which aggregates statistics culled from around 150 intellectual property offices worldwide to map global patenting activity. According to WIPI, this activity soared to record levels in 2022, fuelled by the substantial rise in patent filings by residents of China and India.
News of this kind invariably fans nationalist tendencies these days, and the media went to town on it, although these are figures for just applications and not grant of patents. Coming up for special mention was the WIPI observation that patent applications in India grew by 31.6 per cent in 2022, "extending an 11-year run of growth unmatched by any other country among the top 10 filers". Quite a feat, it would appear, when you look at the leading group. The top filers these are the countries with the highest numbers of patent filings-are China, the US, Japan, Republic of Korea and Germany, followed by France, India, the UK, Switzerland and the Netherlands.
Figures hide as much as they reveal; it all depends on the context and how much one wants to understand the big picture. Spectacular increases in percentages are possible on a low base figure, but not if one is already far ahead in the race. China is the world's largest patent holder, and it continues to file nearly half of all global patent applications.
With close to 1.6 million applications last year, it managed to notch up an increase of just 3.1 per cent in 2022. China was followed by the US with 505,539 applications, Japan (405,361), the Republic of Korea (272,315) and Germany (155,896). Applications in India were in the region of 77,000.
This story is from the December 16, 2023 edition of Down To Earth.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the December 16, 2023 edition of Down To Earth.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
INVISIBLE THREAT
Significant presence of microplastics in Puducherry’s agricultural soil raises concerns for soil and crop health
Feeding off each other
VEGETARIAN MOVEMENTS IN SOUTH ASIA AND THE WEST GREW WITH MUTUAL SUPPORT AND VALIDATION
India's unhealthy patent amendments
Despite strong pleas, the Modi regime has changed the rules to impose a cost on those who challenge faulty patents
URBAN DISCOMFORT
Poorly planned, heat-trapping infrastructure, along with dwindling natural spaces, turn up the temperatures in major Indian cities
BLAZING SUN IS ON
Rising temperatures are testing the limits of human tolerance to heat. With their predominantly built-up landscape, urban areas offer no respite. A study by the Centre for Science and Environment on the morphology and heat patterns of nine Indian cities over the past decade shows how these urban centres are turning into heat islands with a potentially serious impact on human health. An analysis by Rajneesh Sareen, Mitashi Singh and Nimish Gupta, with Shagun in Haryana and Kiran Pandey
"H5N1 may be more severe than COVID-19"
In early April, the US confirmed the first case of avian influenza in livestock, along with cow-to-human transmission of the virus disease.
A PSYCHEDELIC HIGH
Driven by surge in global trials and low success rate of current medications in treating mental health problems, researchers call for home-grown clinical trials of psychedelic drugs
Locked out
Two years after becoming the only state to be excluded from the Centre's ruralemployment guarantee scheme, villages in West Bengal grapple with distress migration and debt traps
'Protection from climate change part of right to life'
The Supreme Court of India, on April 5, recognised that citizens have a right to be free from the adverse effects of climate change, saying it is intertwined with the fundamental rights to life and equality. Here are the key arguments articulated by the three-judge bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra in their judgement
Weaving dreams
Tribal communities in West Bengal slowly embrace traditional weaving to ensure sustainable livelihood
