The Indian patent office has granted over one lakh patents in the past year on account of steps taken by the government to further strengthen the intellectual property rights ecosystem, an official statement said on Saturday.

What do a rising number of patents mean for a country? Simply put, they indicate a growing appetite and capacity for innovation. Indians are inventing more. Establishing intellectual property rights (IPR) over original ideas, products and services is, therefore, crucial in today’s world.

The discovery and development of innovative medicines play a crucial role in finding treatment and addressing disease burden. The cost of bringing a new drug to market is approximately $5 billion and can take nearly 15 years to get a drug introduced to the market.

In the dynamic landscape of intellectual property rights, patents stand as pillars of innovation, providing inventors with exclusive rights to their creations. Patents not only incentivize inventors to bring their ideas to fruition but also foster economic growth by encouraging investments in research and development. To adapt to evolving technologies and global trends, patent laws and regulations undergo periodic revisions