IIT Madras records doubling of patents granted in 2023

The Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) has recorded a doubling of patents granted during the 2023 calendar year.
According to a release issued by the institution, the number of patents rose to 300 in 2023 from 156 in 2022. Additionally, the number of international patents filed, including those granted under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT)) also went up considerably to 105 during 2023, from 58 in the preceding year.
Worth mentioning here, a total of 221 patents have already been filed in the current fiscal (as of December 2023), including 163 Indian Patents and 63 International patent applications (including PCT), the release informed.
The IIT Madras has filed around 2,550 IP (including Patent) applications both in India (1,800) and abroad (750) since its inception. Out of these, 1,100 are registered IPs/granted patents, consisting of 900 Indian and 200 International patents.
Prof. V. Kamakoti, Director of IIT Madras congratulated the faculty, researchers, and students on their pioneering and translational research. He stressed that as the country marches towards the 100th year of Independence to become a superpower, it is very important to protect the ideas.
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According to a press release, researchers at IIT Madras are constantly generating intellectual property (IP) in domains such as wireless networks, advanced materials, robotics, additive manufacturing technology, engine advancements, and other emerging technologies. He also hailed the contributions of the Industrial Consultancy and Sponsored Research (ICSR).
The ICSR at IIT Madras coordinates the different aspects related to Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer, and collaborates with faculty, researchers, and students. It also has a dedicated Legal Cell.
Prof. Manu Santhanam, Dean of ICSR said “ The institute has made it easy for inventors to access existing patent information through an online AI-based patent search tools. This facility has helped the inventors not only to quickly evaluate the invention by themselves but also to improve their ideas and claims. The emphasis is also equally on the quality of the work being translated as IP. This is only possible because of the collaborative effort of our inventors and the IP team.”
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Prof Ravindra Gettu, former Dean of ICSR, highlighted that there are three aspects of IP enabling at IIT Madras. These include clarifying, simplifying, and demystifying IP filling; providing support for quick filing and follow-up without the faculty losing time or worrying about procedures, and facilitating technology transfer and monetization of IP.
Some of the IIT Madras inventors also expressed their happiness on the success of patent filing. One such inventor includes Prof. T. Pradeep of the Department of Chemistry in IIT Madras and a Padma Shree awardee who has filed more than 100 Indian patent applications (since January 2004), 50 international patent applications (since January 2005), and received almost 100 grants overall.
He stated that although there were no efficient mechanisms when he filed his first patent, a robust system was built over the years for the filing and commercialization of patents.
Similarly, Prof. Mohansankar Sivaprakasam from the Department of Electrical Engineering at IIT Madras, said he and the rest of the inventors are motivated to file and commercialize patents because of the “immense potential for research and innovation to develop solutions that create impact on health and lives of people.” He said that the aim is to further increase this international footprint in the coming years.