**Executive Summary**
This document contains the answer from the Minister of Commerce and Industry to Unstarred Question No. 2564 in the Lok Sabha, scheduled for December 16th, 2025. The question pertains to the pendency of patent applications in patent offices, the time taken to grant patents, the number of posts in the patent offices, and the recruitment of employees on a contractual basis. The information provided is current as of November 2025.
**Key Points / Main Content**
* **Patent Application Pendency:**
* Patent application filings have approximately doubled in the last five years.
* Pending applications at various processing stages:
* Awaiting request for examination: 250,384
* With request for examination but awaiting publication: 17,946
* Awaiting issuance of First Examination Report (FER): 158,618
* Applications with applicant's reply to the first examination report pending: 19,147
* Pending for re-examination or disposal: 29,719
* **Average Examination Time (Request Filing to Stage - Months)**
* First Examination Report
* Expedited examination: 5.7
* Normal examination: 24.7
* Final Decision
* Expedited Examination: 14.7
* Normal Examination: 38.9
* **Average Patent Grant Time (Months)**
* The office has sector-wise data according to 15 technical fields
* Expedited examination: varies by field (e.g., Biochemistry: 13.0, Civil: 32.3)
* Normal examination: varies by field (e.g., Biochemistry: 57.3, Civil: 55.5)
* **Patent Office Posts:**
* Sanctioned, filled, and vacant posts as of November 2025:
* Senior Joint Controller: 3 sanctioned, 2 working, 1 vacant
* Joint Controller: 47 sanctioned, 40 working, 7 vacant
* Deputy Controller: 112 sanctioned, 72 working, 40 vacant
* Assistant Controller: 498 sanctioned, 492 working, 6 vacant
* Examiner: 773 sanctioned, 677 working, 96 vacant
* Total: 1433 sanctioned, 1283 working, 150 vacant
* **Contractual Employees:**
* No Patent Examiners or Controllers have been recruited on a contractual basis since 2014.
**Impact Analysis**
**Applicant**
* **Impact:** Affected by the pendency of applications and the time required for examination and grant of patents.
* **Action Required:** Should be aware of the current processing times and plan accordingly.
**Patent Office**
* **Impact:** Responsible for processing applications within reasonable timeframes.
* **Action Required:** Needs to address the backlog and improve efficiency to reduce pendency and grant times, while also addressing the vacant post count.
Key Entities Referenced
Start-Ups Intellectual Property Protection (SIPP) scheme: A scheme facilitating pro bono assistance to Indian startups for filing and processing of patent, trademark, and design applications.
Ministry of Commerce & Industry: The Indian government ministry responsible for policies related to commerce, industry and internal trade, including patent processing.
Patent Office: The office responsible for processing and granting patents.
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF COMMERCE & INDUSTRY
DEPARTMENT FOR PROMOTION OF INDUSTRY AND INTERNAL TRADE
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2564.
TO BE ANSWERED ON TUESDAY, THE 16TH DECEMBER, 2025.
PENDENCY IN PATENT OFFICES
2564. MS. MAHUA MOITRA:
Will the Minister of COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY be pleased to state:
वाणिज्य एवं उद्योग मंत्री
(a) the details of the number of patent applications pending for approval, including
the average time of pendency and stage-wise processing;
(b) the details of the average time taken to grant patent applications, sector-wise ;
(c) the number of sanctioned posts, filled in posts and vacancies of patent
examiners and controllers; and
(d) whether any employees have been recruited on a contractual basis, if so, the
details thereof the year and post-wise since 2014?
ANSWER
वाणिज्य एवं उद्योग मंत्रालय में राज्य मंत्री (श्री णिणिन प्रसाद)
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF COMMERCE & INDUSTRY
(SHRI JITIN PRASADA)
(a): The number of patent applications being filed annually have nearly doubled over
the last 5 years on account of several initiatives by the Government to strengthen
the patent ecosystem in the country such as reduction of fee for startups, small
entities, and educational institutions, providing expedited Examination of Patent
applications, pro bono facilitation to Indian startups for the filing and processing of
patent, trademark, and design applications under Start-Ups Intellectual Property
Protection (SIPP) scheme. The number of pending applications at different stages
of processing as of November 2025 is:
Sl. Action Stage Point of Pending No. of
No. Action Applications
Applications awaiting filing of
Request for Examination to Applicant 2,50,384
(a) Application enable further processing
Pending for Applications with request for Statutory
Examination examination filed but awaiting requirements
statutory publication including 18 17,946
months
publication
Applications awaiting issuance of
the First Examination Report Patent Office 1,58,618
(FER) by the Office
Subtotal 4,26,948Applications for which applicant’s
reply to the first examination Applicant 19,147
Applications Pending report
for reexamination (FER) is pending
(b) and/or Disposal
Applications pending for re-
examination and/or Patent Office 29,719
disposal by the Office
Subtotal 48,866
(c) TOTAL (a) +(b) 4,75,814
(ii) Table showing average time taken from the filing of request for examination
(pendency time) at different stages of processing in 2025 (till November
2025):
SI. Stage Examination Request Type Average time taken
No. (in months)
1. First Examination Expedited Examination 5.7
Report
Normal Examination 24.7
2. Final Decision Expedited Examination 14.7
Normal Examination 38.9
(b): The following table lists the average time taken for the grant of patent
applications (from the filing of request for examination), field-wise, for the year
2025 (up to November):
S. No. Technical Field* Average time taken (in months)
Expedited Examination Normal Examination
1 BIOCHEMISTRY 13.0 57.3
2 BIOMEDICAL 18.7 38.9
3 BIOTECHNOLOGY 17.2 70.6
4 CHEMISTRY 11.1 33.2
5 CIVIL 32.3 55.5
6 COMMUNICATION 12.3 36.6
7 COMPUTER 16.0 47.7
8 ELECTRICAL 13.8 36.8
9 ELECTRONICS 13.3 41.2
10 FOOD 17.2 75.3
11 MECHANICAL 18.7 46.0
12 METALLURGY 10.1 39.6
13 PHYSICS 14.9 46.0
14 POLYMER 11.0 33.7
15 TEXTILE 20.9 45.7
*The Office does not maintain sector-wise data on patent applications. However,
patent applications are classified into 15 technical fields for the purpose of
examination. As a significant portion of applications may span multiple technical fields
due to their multidisciplinary nature, each application is assigned to only one technical
field of examination.(c): The following Table enlists the details of posts (sanctioned, working and
vacant) in Patent Office as of November 2025:
Sl. Name of the post Sanctioned Working Vacant posts
No Strength Strength
1. Senior Joint Controller 3 2 1
of Patents and
Designs
2. Joint Controller of 47 40 7
Patents and Designs
3. Deputy Controller of 112 72 40
Patents and Designs
4. Assistant Controller of 498 492 06
Patents and Designs
5. Examiner of Patents 773 677 96
and Designs
TOTAL 1433 1283 150
(d): No Patent Examiners and Controllers have not been recruited on a contractual
basis since 2014.
*********