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In simple words
Patent portfolio
A collection of patents is not a portfolio. A portfolio is a collection with a reason.
- In simple words
- The set of patents and applications an organisation holds, managed as an asset with a strategy about what to file, where to file, what to keep and what to let go.
- Think of it as
- A property portfolio, with rent to pay on every plot.
- Why it matters
- Portfolios cost money every year. The discipline is not acquisition but pruning: deciding which patents defend a product, which block a competitor, which support a licensing story, and which are simply costing renewal fees.
- A simple example
- A company with 60 Indian patents may find that 12 cover current products, 8 have licensing value, and 40 are legacy filings whose renewal fees exceed any plausible return.
- Common mistake
- Measuring a portfolio by count. Count is the least informative number about it.
Sources & further reading
- The Patents Act, 1970 (consolidated to 1 August 2024) — Official IP India text
Related
Renewal fee
A fee payable to keep a patent in force, due from the expiration of the second year from the date of the patent and each year after that, payable before the year exp…
Pruning a portfolio without losing anything you need
Case by case, against stated criteria, with three checks before anything is dropped - and with the decision and its reason written down.
Running a patent portfolio as an asset
By reviewing every case against the same four commercial questions on a fixed cycle, with a named owner for each - not by counting filings.
Keep going.
Every explanation here links to the ones next to it. Follow the thread rather than the menu.
Educational guidance, not legal advice. This material is published by Ragulika IP for general education and information. It is not legal advice, it does not create a professional-client relationship, and it is not a substitute for advice on your own facts. Patentability, infringement, prosecution strategy and every other IP outcome turn on the specific facts and on the law and Patent Office practice as they stand at the time you act. Please take professional advice before making a decision, and read the underlying provision or judgment before relying on any point stated here.
Last reviewed by Ragulika IP on 2026-08-23. Indian patent law and Patent Office practice change; check the position before you rely on it.