IIT Kanpur files record 107 IPRs in 2021

Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur filed 107 intellectual property rights (IPRs) in 2021 despite the pandemic, breaking its previous record of 76 IPRs in 2019, the institute said in a statement. This takes the total tally of IPRs filed by the institute to 810, said Abhay Karandikar, director of IIT Kanpur.  

The 107 IPRs filed during 2021 include 62 patents, 24 trademark applications, 15 design registrations, 4 US patent applications and 2 copyrights.  

The institute said that many of these patents were filed to protect measures and inventions by them to fight Covid-19.  Some of the prominent inventions that were patented include reusable face masks with composite nanofibers that can kill the coronavirus as soon as it enters the mask. There was also a nasal spray formulation to fight Covid-19 and related respiratory viruses. 

The institute also filed patents on inventions for the treatment of industrial wastewater and biodegradable magnesium-based alloys which can be used in healthcare, especially orthopaedic.  

“This is quite an achievement for the institute and is also indicative of the fact that, despite the pandemic, IIT Kanpur has diligently driven structural initiatives strengthening translational and transformational research contributing to a self-reliant India,” added Karandikar.  

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Karandikar pointed out that the institute has an exceptional technology transfer rate of 15.2% to industry partners from the total patents filed. IIT Kanpur has seen a two-fold increase in revenue from IP licensing and commercial use.  

IIT Kanpur was one of the most active technical institutes during the pandemic and came up with several solutions to tackle it. During the second Covid-19 wave, the institute developed two variants of oxygen concentrators and shared the technology with six different companies under the Mission Bharat Oxygen project. 

The institute’s other notable innovation in the medical field includes a bandage made from a polymer that allows air ventilation and helps wounds heal faster.  

According to World Intellectual Property Organization’s (WIPO) latest report, published November 2021, patent and trademark applications from India increased despite the pandemic. In fact, many of the patents were filed in pharma to fight Covid-19. Patent filings increased by 5.9% while trademark filings grew by 15.4% in 2020. India overtook Japan to become the fifth country to record the highest trademark filings.