The number of patent applications pending for examination as on March 8, 2011 were 83,686, Mr Jyotiraditya Scindia, the Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha on Monday.
This pendency is due to substantial increase in filing requests for examination and shortage of examiners of patent and designs, he said. Under the 11th Five-Year Plan, 200 posts of Patent Examiners were created, he said. As part of the recruitment process, an examination to recruit 257 patent examiners (including the new posts created) was conducted on January 2, he said, adding that there is no proposal to establish more branches of patent offices.