India's Higher Education Patent Boom: A Reality Check on Quality vs. Quantity
India's research narrative in higher education is frequently highlighted by the surge in patent applications. However, a detailed examination of data from the India Patent Office for the period 2020–2025, with a focused analysis on 2020-2023 outcomes—considering the average two-year timeline for patent grants under expedited routes—uncovers a more troubling reality. The system appears to increasingly prioritize activity over tangible results, raising questions about the true state of innovation.
Stark Contrasts in Patent Approval Rates
At first glance, the numbers present a compelling story. The Indian Institutes of Technology, collectively, filed for 6,558 patents between 2020 and 2025, with 2,806 granted, resulting in an approval rate of 43%. Narrowing the focus to 2020-2023, the performance improves significantly: 3,331 patent publications led to 2,118 grants, pushing the success rate to an impressive 64%. The premier Indian Institute of Science follows a similar trajectory, successfully converting 257 out of 379 applications during 2020-2023, achieving an approval rate of nearly 68%.
The National Institutes of Technology also demonstrate strong outcomes, with 2,333 patent applications published over five years and 949 grants secured, yielding a success rate of 41%. In the 2020-23 window, 933 publications resulted in 626 grants, boosting the success rate to 67.1%, comparable to India's top public research universities.
Private Universities: High Volume, Low Success
In contrast, high-volume private universities tell a different tale. Lovely Professional University leads in sheer numbers with 7,096 patent applications over five years, yet only 164 were granted, translating to a success rate of just 2.3%. For 2020-23, the picture remains bleak: 5,774 publications yielded 164 grants, with a success rate of a mere 2.8%. Chandigarh University shows an even sharper skew, with 5,318 filings since 2020 and only 45 grants overall. In 2020-23, it published 2,350 patents and received 44, resulting in a success rate of 1.87%.
An education expert from Ambattur, Tamil Nadu, who analyzed this data, posed a critical question: "Are patents being filed as genuine innovation assets or merely as metrics for rankings and visibility?" For serious innovation, experts argue that patenting cannot be reduced to an academic exercise. It demands sustained financial investment in laboratories, hiring of skilled researchers, and legal support to ensure successful conversion and technology transfer.
Systemic Issues and Financial Realities
Currently, several privately-run institutions appear to be filing patents on an industrial scale but have almost nothing to show in terms of conversion. Galgotias University, which showcased a Chinese dogbot at the India AI Impact summit, published 2,233 patents over five years but secured only two grants. In 2020-22, it filed 1,752 applications and received none. Shobhit Institute of Engineering and Technology presents a similar story: 961 filings with zero approvals, both cumulatively and in 2020-23. Jain University and the Chandigarh Group of Colleges also report overall success rates of 0.6% or lower, with zero success in 2020-23 despite four-figure publication counts.
V Ramgopal Rao, group Vice-Chancellor of BITS Pilani and former director of IIT-Delhi, noted that some patents can take 8-9 years to be granted. He emphasized, "Filing patents, prosecuting them, and keeping them alive costs real money. Turning applications into granted patents and then into technologies that industry is willing to license demands well-funded labs, experienced researchers, legal muscle, and years of sustained investment. When the financial commitment does not match the claims being made, the gap has a way of revealing itself."
Outliers and Policy Changes
Despite the overall trend, there are outliers among private institutions that seem to be pushing research more effectively. Vellore Institute of Technology published 2,879 patents over five years and received 63 grants, a grant rate of 2.2%. However, in 2020-23, its conversion rate stood higher at 22%, with 61 grants from 279 publications. Sathyabama Institute of Science & Technology filed 878 patents cumulatively, securing 18 (2.1%), while its 2020-23 success rate rose to 13.5%. Graphic Era University's overall success rate is 4%, with a 2020-23 rate of 10%.
The process of filing for patents has been relaxed in recent years. Under the Patents (Amendment) Rules, 2021, educational institutions became eligible for an 80% reduction in patent filing and prosecution fees, leading to a surge in applications by universities. Examination timelines—from the date a patent is published to the time it's granted—also decreased from an average of 72 months in 2015 to 12-30 months.
Calls for Reform in Ranking Systems
Achal Agrawal, founder of India Research Watch, argues that it is time for the system to address the skew created by academic ranking and rating agencies like NIRF and NAAC, which count the number of patent applications filed. "They should give substantial weightage to the percentage of patents granted instead. Otherwise, it incites institutes to file frivolous patents to bolster up the numbers, leading to loss of taxpayers' money, in the form of subsidy, as well as waste of patent examiners' time," he stated.
This analysis underscores a critical need for a shift in how innovation is measured in India's higher education sector, moving beyond mere numbers to focus on quality and real-world impact.
