Tata Motors Filed Record 222 Patents and Secured Grant of 333 Patents in FY24

Tata Motors, India’s leading automobile company, has achieved a significant milestone towards intellectual property rights (IPR) creation with a record-breaking number of 222 Patents and 117 Designs applications filed during the year FY24, highest in its history.

These filings span across a wide spectrum of product and process innovations, addressing key automotive megatrends such as Connectivity, Electrification, Sustainability, and Safety (CESS). They also cover various vehicle systems such as powertrain, body & trim, suspension, brakes, HVAC, and emission control.

Tata Motors also received its highest ever grant of 333 patents during the same period, taking its total tally of granted patents to over 850.

Tata Motors’ strong commitment to engineering excellence, cleaner powertrains, design, connectivity, and intelligent safety features ensures that its innovations seamlessly align with real-world needs.

By prioritising both consumer well-being and environmental stewardship, the company’s purposeful research and innovation efforts have yielded more efficient, greener and safer vehicles, benefiting end-users and transforming the industry. In FY24, Tata Motors received five prestigious accolades and honors of global repute for its excellence in intellectual property rights (IPR).

Commenting on the milestone, Rajendra Petkar, President & Chief Technology Officer – Tata Motors expressed, “Tata Motors’ unwavering commitment to research and innovation has propelled us to new heights in innovation & value creation through intellectual property. With a record number of patents filed and granted, we continue to redefine automotive excellence. Our cutting-edge technologies, greener vehicles, and customer-centric approach position us as trailblazers in the industry. As mobility evolves, Tata Motors remains at the forefront, shaping a smarter, more connected future for all.”

For the 1st Time in 11 Yrs, Domestic Patent Filing Surpasses Int'l Patent Filing in India

Filing of patents increases by more than 50% in the last 7 years

Nearly five-fold increase in grant of patents 2021-22 as compared to 2014-15

Shri Piyush Goyal appreciates consistent efforts made by DPIIT to strengthen the IPR regime in India

For the first time in the last 11 years, the number of domestic patent filing has surpassed the number of international patent filing at Indian patent office in the Quarter Jan-Mar 2022 i.e. of the total 19796 patent applications filed, 10706 were filed by Indian applicants against 9090 by non-Indian applicants, said the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, in a press release.

The Union Minister of Commerce and Industry,  Mr. Piyush Goyal appreciated the consistent efforts made by DPIIT on strengthening the IPR regime in India by fostering innovation, and reducing compliance burden. The coordinated effort by DPIIT and IP office has led to increased IP awareness among all strata of society. These efforts have on one hand led to increase in the number of IPR filings, on the other hand has reduced the pendency of patent application at IP offices. 

Filing and Grant of patent applications over the years

He also mentioned that this will take India a step closer to the India’s ambitious target of being in the top 25 nations of Global Innovation Index.

Last year in February, government launched a campaign called KAPILA (Kalam Program for Intellectual Property Literacy and Awareness Campaign) for Intellectual Property Literacy and creating patent awareness among Indian innovators,

Some of the key initiatives taken by the Government over the years that has bolstered India's IP regime includes fee concessions like 10% rebate on online filing, 80% fee concession for Start-ups, Small Entities and educational institutions, and provisions on expedited examination for Startups and MSMEs along with other categories.

Last year in August, Mr. Goyal informed that CY 2020-21 saw 572% growth in patent grants, where in 28,391 patents were granted in 2020-21 as compared to mere 4,227 patent grants during 2013-14. In the following month, the ministry reduced the patent fees for Educational Institutions by 80%.

The cornerstone laid down by National IPR policy and the efforts made by the Government has transpired into the following achievements for India:

• Filing of patents have increased from 42763 in 2014-15 to 66440 in 2021-22, more that 50% increase in a span of 7 years
• Nearly five times increase in grant of patents in 2021-22 (30,074) as compared to 2014-15 (5978)
• Reduction in Time of patent examination from 72 months in Dec 2016 to 5-23 months at present, for different technological areas
• India’s ranking in Global Innovation Index has increased to 46th in 2021 (+35 ranks) as compared to from 81st in 2015-16

Ex-Chief Justice of India addresses Conference on 'Intellectual Property through Collaborative Enforcement Best Practices in IPR'

United IPR, a leading full-service Intellectual Property (IPR) firm known for its IPR prosecution, litigation and entrepreneurial and operational skills today organised a conference on ‘Intellectual Property through Collaborative Enforcement Best Practices in IPR’ in association with PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry at PHD House, New Delhi.

The conference was presided by Chief Guest, Hon’ble Mr. Justice Dipak Misra (Former Chief Justice of India). Other dignitaries who graced the event include Hon’ble Mr. Justice Manmohan Singh, Chairman of IPAB; Shri Rajeev Talwar, President of PHD Chambers; Mr. Suvashis Chaudhary, (I.P.S.) Additional Commissioner of Police, Economic Offence Wing; Mr. N. R. Meena, Deputy Controller Patents & Designs; Professor C. J. Rawandale, Director, Symbiosis Law School, Noida; and Mr. Sudarshan Kumar Bansal, Partner, United IPR.



The Conference discussed growth and development of IPR regime in India, steps taken by the government to promote IP besides the role of judiciary and law enforcement agencies in enforcement of IPR laws in the country. It provided a platform / major opportunity for interaction among educators, organisations, judiciary, enforcement agencies, law practitioners and representatives from the industry to form fruitful and long-term collaborations to enforce IP Laws.

Delivering the special address, Hon’ble Mr Chief Justice of India, Dipak Misra (Retd.) said, "Collaborative Enforcement of Creativity, Innovation and Invention” and stressed on the need for “Intellectual Vigilance” so that Right holder shall get due credit for his creation and any wrong doer should not be allowed to encroach upon the rights and creativity of another.

Guest of Honour, Hon’ble Mr Justice Manmohan Singh, Chairman of IPAB in his keynote address discussed the entire jurisprudence of the enforcement and development of the Intellectual Property Rights regime in India.

Talking about the steps taken by Government of India to promote IP in India Mr NR Meena, Dy. Controller General of Patents and Designs enumerated upon the key developments made with respect to development and enforcement taken up by the Office of Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Mark and have been working towards creating awareness amongst the public regarding counterfeits and IPR Enforcement Mechanisms.

Moving towards an Institutional and Academic Perspective, Professor C.J. Rawandale addressed the gathering on the need to change the outlook in terms of understanding Intellectual Property as a Right and its need to be protected.

Sharing best practices for IPR enforcement in India, Mr. Sudarshan Kumar Bansal, Partner, United IPR stressed on the applicability of the rule of law in the enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights. He pointed out that there are adequate laws and mechanisms present in India however there is an imminent need to create effective awareness and prioritize the same and IPR laws if well used can be a great stimulus for business development.

Menace of fake and counterfeit goods (both online and offline spheres) is adversely affecting the economy as well as the consumers. It is one of the major challenges that is faced by the IP right holder. Against this backdrop, the conference featured a session on ‘Enforcement of IPR in the markets of India and at the territorial borders’ by Mr. Gaurav Gogia, Advocate and Senior Associate, United IPR; Dr. H.P. Kumar, PHD Chamber of Commerce; Mr. Mahesh Kumar, Deputy Commissioner of Customs and Mr. Amardeep Sehgal, Assistant Commissioner of Police (Economic Offences Wing). This was followed by a panel discussion on ‘Online Enforcement of IPR’ featuring experts from the legal world and industry’. The panelists included Mr. Naveen Chandra Kushwaha, (Head Legal, Luxottica, India); Mr. Sushant Singh, Advocate; Dr. H.P. Kumar, PHD Chamber of Commerce; Mr Rishi Bansal, Advocate, Managing Associate, United IPR; Mr. Shivang Bansal, Managing Associate, United IPR; Mr. Gaurav Gogia, Advocate and Senior Associate, United IPR; Mr. Yahya Sabir, Brand Protection Analyst, United IPR and Ms. Krati Jain, Advocate and Associate, United IPR. The discussion drew references to Counterfeit Products being freely circulated and sold through several E-commerce platforms. The panelists agreed that there is an imminent need to combat the menace of online counterfeiting.

The conference also featured presentations on IPR Enforcement from legal counsels of leading brands like P&G, Luxxotica, Hugo Boss, LBrands and Lacoste. Representatives of these brands stressed on the urgent need to have a structured framework and well stringent measures to curb the circulation of counterfeits.

The conference saw active participation of over 250 delegates from legal fraternity and industry from Delhi NCR region. This include senior lawyers, law faculty members, students and senior officials from law enforcement agencies.

About United IPR:

United IPR is a dedicated full-service Intellectual Property Firm principally based in Delhi (India), globally known for its IPR prosecution, litigation and entrepreneurial and operational skills. Formed with an avowed object of rendering efficient, effective and comprehensive legal advice and consultancy to their esteemed international and national clients in the field of IPR, it aims to create, protect, prosecute, manage, enforce, enhance, extend and evaluate IPRs to keep in tune with changing times and realities in the field of law. It provides quality and world class legal services to both international and domestic clients.

Rendering services for more than 60 years, United IPR has specialized in Trademark, Copyright and Design, Geographical Indication and Patent litigation, filing, prosecution, registration of IPRs including renewals, licensing and enforcement. In addition, it provides services for other IPRs viz., Domain Names, Unfair-Trade Practices, Trade Secrets, Parallel Imports and Anti-Counterfeiting. United IPR comprises of dedicated team of experienced IPR lawyers, Patent Agents, Patent, Copyright and Design Consultants, who have excelled in their fields of practice and have at their command, the state of art technology, office facilities and an extensive library.

How A Startup Can Reap IPR Benefits from DIPP's 'Startup India' Program

The 'Start-up India States' Conference' held in the capital last year saw the Indian Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman making a big announcement that brought a big cheer on the face of every Indian startup.

Sitharaman announced that a startup in India would now only require a certificate of recognition from the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) and will no longer have to be examined by the inter-ministerial board.

Earlier, a budding entrepreneur had to invest his precious time in sitting through an elaborate time-consuming process of approaching an inter-ministerial board in order to procure the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) benefits. But, this is now a thing of the past.

According to Sitharaman, the step was taken with an aim of improving ease of doing business and encourage more and more people to take the entrepreneur route.

In this article, we will discuss in detail about the procedure that an applicant has to go through in order to obtain a 'Certificate of Recognition' from Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) before and after filing the Application of Patent.

Scenario: 1

This particular procedure has to be undertaken by applicants who have not yet filed the application of patent.

The Application form is available here.

Once you have reached the registration page, click on Startup India Services, followed by Startup Recognition option and finally click the Application tab to get your application form.

Once you have the application form, here's what all you have to do:

1) Take time and carefully fill out the following information in the form;

a. Name of the Entity;
b. Nature of the Entity – Private Limited Company/Limited Liability Company/Registered Partnership
c. Incorporation/Registered No.
d. Date of Incorporation/Registration
e. Address of Registered Office
f. Details of authorises representative
g. Details of Directors/Partners

2) The application form requires the applicant to submit either of the following supporting documents to obtain the Certificate.

a. A letter of Recommendation from an incubator recognized by Government of India in a form specified by the DIPP ;or

b.A letter of support by any incubator which is funded, in relation to the project, from the Central or any State Government as a part of specified scheme to promote innovation;

A panel of facilitators has also been constituted with a sole aim of providing assistance and support to applicants in filing applications for Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), wherein, the DIPP will bearing the facilitation cost. The list of the Incubators is available here;

c. A letter of Recommendation from an incubator established in post-graduate college in India, in a form specified by the DIPP; or.

d. A letter of funding from the Central Government or any State Government as a part of specified scheme to promote innovation; or – If the Central Government or State Government has provided funds as a part of any scheme to promote innovation to the applicant, a Letter of Funding from either of them is also considered as a legit document to be submitted.

e. A letter of funding of not less than 20 percent in equity by any Angel Network/ Incubation Fund/Accelerator/Angel Fund/Private Equity Fund which is duly registered with the Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) that promotes innovative nature of the business – If SEBI has funded, not less than 20% in equity by any above mentioned Funds which promotes the innovative nature of the business of the entity to the applicant, A letter of Funding by SEBI is also admissible.

f. A letter of recommendation from industry association recognised by the DIPP – A letter of recommendation can be obtained by any Industry Association or Organisation which is recognized by DIPP.

A detailed list of the Industries/Organisations whose letter of Recommendation are admissible is available here. Just go to the information tab and then click on the option that reads Industry Association/Organisations for Recommendation Letter.

3) It is mandatory to submit an Incorporation or Registration Certificate- Company/ Partnership Incorporation/LLP/ Registration Certificate.

4) An applicant is also required to submit a brief note or a supporting document that talks about the the innovativeness of their idea of the product or the services being offered by the entity.

5) If you decide to go for tax benefits, your application will take more time as it will then head to the Inter–Ministerial Board for evaluation. But, if your aim is to only obtain benefits related to IPR, you should not choose the tax benefits option.

Typically, an application for a certificate takes around 10-25 working days to be processed, if accepted, the certificate is available to be procured.

All the formats specified for the aforementioned "Letter of Recommendation, Letter of Support from Incubator, Letter of Funding from SEBI, Recommendation letter from Industry Association/Organisation" are available here.

Scenario: 2

These set of steps have to be followed by applicants who have filed for patent and the same has already been published.

1) Visit the link and fill in all the details requested in the form carefully.

2) The second step in this scenario involves
selecting the "Patent filed and published in the Journal by the India Patent Office in areas affiliated with the nature of business being promoted" option against the Nature of Recommendation field.

3) Once you're done with the second step, you will be asked to submit a "Supporting document based on the nature of recommendation selected above", here you need to upload journal extract of the publication of your patent application.

4) The fourth step involves uploading Incorporation/ Registration Certificate.

5) Against the "Brief note on innovativeness of products /services offered by the entity" option, upload a document in PDF format that provides details relating to the nature of business of your company and why the products or services offered by your company are innovative.

6) Lastly, as mentioned in scenario 1, if you decide to go for tax benefits, your application will take more time as it will then head to the Inter–Ministerial Board for evaluation. But, if your aim is to only obtain benefits related to IPR, you should not choose the tax benefits option.

7) Finally, submit the application upon self-certification.

Though the procedures under both the scenarios are fairly easy, one should make sure that they don not take any unfair routes to obtain the certificate as a forged document can lead to a fine which shall be fifty per cent of paid up capital of the startup but shall not be less than Rs. 25,000/- (Rupees Twenty Five Thousand only).

So, make sure that you meticulously upload every required document and each of the uploaded document is genuine.