Startups filed thousands of patents to impress investors, then let them die

India’s startup boom has long been celebrated for fuelling the country’s transition into a technology-led economy. But a closer look at government data tells a different story, one where hundreds of fledgling companies file patents not to protect real inventions, but to embellish pitch decks and signal innovation to venture capitalists.

A recently released response in the Lok Sabha reveals that startups filed 13,089 patent applications between FY21 and FY25. Yet only 2,174 of those patents were eventually granted, and nearly 500 applications were abandoned or withdrawn at early procedural stages—often before any substantive examination by the patent office.

The data, published by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), suggests that the country’s much-touted “startup innovation engine” may leak: while founders race to file patents, they often do not pursue them long enough to convert those filings into actual intellectual property.

A patent for the pitch deck

In India’s venture ecosystem, patents carry symbolic weight. They signal technological differentiation even when the underlying innovation is still evolving, or in some cases, not technically patentable. Around 196 startup patent applications were abandoned under Section 9(1) of the Patents Act, which typically covers incomplete specifications. Another 257 were abandoned under Section 21(1), often triggered when applicants miss deadlines or fail to respond to examination queries.

These procedural lapses point to a pattern familiar to IP lawyers: early-stage founders file patents quickly, often through inexpensive consultants, to impress investors but lack the resources or intent to see the process through.

“It’s become routine for founders to file a provisional patent right before a fundraise,” said a senior Delhi-based patent attorney. “But once the funding round closes, many never follow up with complete specifications or responses. The patent quietly dies.”

"Patent applications are filed for various reasons—obtaining investments is a major one. Trademarks are filed far more frequently because they're significantly cheaper and easier to obtain than patents. I once knew someone on a drafting team at a firm who filed two provisional patent applications in his daughter's name just to help her get admission to a university in the US. Those applications were later abandoned," said Paridhi Somani, Trademark Attorney.

"Patents are filed for multiple reasons, and many are abandoned midway through the process. Sometimes inventors decide the cost isn't justified, sometimes the underlying technology proves too weak, and sometimes they pivot away from the product or technology they initially thought would be their main focus," she added.

The examination gap

The numbers also expose a broader structural mismatch between startup enthusiasm and the system’s capacity to process filings.

Of the 13,089 startup patent applications, only 4,172 have even been examined so far—just 32%. The backlog has grown as India’s overall patent filings nearly doubled between FY21 and FY25, while examinations dropped sharply.

In FY21, the patent office examined 73,153 applications across all applicant types. By FY25, that figure had fallen to just 15,723, an 80% decline.

Startups often sit at the back of the queue, their applications competing with multinational filings and institutional patents.

Quality vs Quantity

The contrast between startups and other applicant categories is stark. Between FY21 and FY25:

• Startups had 13,089 filings, but just 2,174 grants
• Small entities, with fewer filings (14,098), secured 13,570 grants
• Natural persons (individual inventors) had 90,627 filings and 21,959 grants

The grant-to-filing ratio for startups is among the lowest in the ecosystem.

According to IP professionals, the issue is not just the speed of examination—but the quality of applications. Many startup filings are drafted in haste, lack novelty, or fail to meet the technical depth required for patentability.

A branding-first startup economy

The government’s data shows a telling hierarchy in the intellectual property portfolios of young companies.

While startups filed 13,089 patents over five years, they filed 44,000+ trademarks in the same period. In FY25 alone, startups filed 10,429 trademark applications, nearly eight times the number of patents filed that year.

This suggests India’s startup economy is anchored in brand-building rather than deep-tech R&D.

The pattern is reinforced by design filings. Startups filed only 55 design applications in FY21, but by FY25 that number had surged to 2,404, reflecting a shift toward product-led differentiation, especially among D2C brands and hardware startups.

Patent filings, in contrast, have remained relatively flat.

The optics of innovation

Patent abandonments are not inherently problematic; many companies routinely discontinue filings that no longer align with product strategy. But the magnitude and timing of startup abandonments raise questions about whether some founders are deploying patents as signalling tools rather than commercial assets.

That behaviour also creates distortions. Investors may believe they are backing IP-rich companies when in reality, the intellectual property never matures.

The cost of quiet abandonment

The consequences extend beyond optics.

Abandoned filings leave technology unprotected, increase risks of IP disputes, and weaken the legal foundation for cross-border expansion. Startups that grow rapidly without real IP protections often face challenges in markets with strong enforcement regimes.

For India’s innovation metrics, the pattern adds noise to patent statistics. Filings rise every year, but a significant share never translates into enforceable rights.

The central government has announced initiatives to fast-track startup patents and subsidise fees. But unless the underlying quality of filings improves, and unless founders see patents as more than fundraising collateral—the gap between filings and grants is likely to persist.

Where ecosystem goes from here

India’s IP ecosystem is expanding rapidly. Patent filings across categories rose from 58,503 in FY21 to 110,372 in FY25. Startup participation is essential to sustaining that momentum.

But the latest data suggests a maturing ecosystem will require not just more filings, but better filings, and a cultural shift away from patents as signalling devices toward patents as strategic assets.

Until then, many early-stage patents will continue to live short lives: created for investor decks, abandoned in bureaucratic corridors, and eventually forgotten.