Why the US govt is unhappy with India’s intellectual property regime

US wants India to improve its patent regime

The increasing number of patents held by US companies in India coincides with concern in Washington regarding India’s intellectual property right regime.

In FY24, a total of 92,168 patent applications were filed by foreign companies in India , of which 13,907 were by US entities—the highest among all countries—accounting for more than a sixth of the total. The number of patents held by US companies has jumped 30 percent over the last five years compared with the 5.7 percent growth witnessed between 2014-15 and 2019-20.

USA has raised several red flags over India’s intellectual property regime in the 2025 National Trade Estimate Report (NTER).

US companies also hold a significant number of copyrights and the NTER report also raises concerns about piracy in India. The NTER report, which was released on April 1, made several critical observations about India’s IPR regime including what it termed as “ high compliance burden “and “ineffective enforcement” amongst others.

When it comes to trademark applications, US companies lead the pack, as they filed for 3,681 trademarks in FY2024 out of 12,981 that were filed in total during the year, data showed.

US based semi-conductor firm Qualcomm filed most number of patent applications by a foreign company in India. The firm filed 3,017 applications in FY24, followed by Samsung at 1,555.

Also, three of the top six foreign companies with maximum patent applications are from the US. Apple and Google are the other US firms on the list, in fifth and sixth position respectively, with about 500 patent applications each.

Earlier, the Special 301 Report for 2024 – a US government report on international intellectual property rights—put India under “Priority Watch List” with countries such as Russia and Venezuela for alleged lack of protections to IPR.

“India remained on the Priority Watch List in the 2024 Special 301 Report due to inconsistent progress on long-standing intellectual property (IP) concerns raised in prior Special 301 Reports. In the field of copyright, policy uncertainty and ineffective enforcement remain concerns,” the NTER report observed.

In particular, the report has raised concerns about patents in India’s pharma sector.

“Pharmaceutical stakeholders continue to raise concerns as to whether India has an effective system for protecting against unfair commercial use and unauthorised disclosure of undisclosed test or other data generated to obtain marketing approval for pharmaceutical and agricultural chemical products,” the NTER report said.

Counterfeiting is a key concern in India, observed the US government report, citing places like Heera Panna in Mumbai, SP Road Market in Bengaluru and Tank Road in Delhi where many counterfeit products are sold.

The US government report has also raised concerns about a Parliamentary Standing Committee on Commerce proposal dated July 2021 to make licensing mandatory for platforms that broadcast content through web medium. Currently, such licensing is mandatory for satellite television channels in India.