The value of Indian patents: an empirical analysis using citation lags approach

Our study examines whether the growth in patenting activity in India, spurred by policy changes such as the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs), is reflected in a corresponding increase in the ‘quality’ of Indian patents. To investigate this, we utilise 6,777 Indian patent data granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), which were filed between 1984 and 2015. Using the Cox regression methodology and citation lag as a measure, we evaluate the value of Indian patents at inventor, firm, and technology levels. At the inventor level, we find patents with the first US inventor have a shorter citation lag, indicating a higher patent value than those with the first Indian inventor. Similarly, among assignees, the subsidiaries of foreign firms tend to have a higher patent value than other assignees, including Indian firms, institutions, and universities. At the technology level, we find that patents in electrical engineering are more valuable than those in other categories, including chemistry, mechanical engineering, instruments, and other fields. Furthermore, our empirical findings support an overall increasing value of Indian patents in more recent filings, as the study demonstrates a declining citation lag trend of newly filed patents.