IP Intelligence › Myths › A higher patent count means a stronger IP position.
Patent myth
“A higher patent count means a stronger IP position.”
Count is the least informative number about a portfolio. What matters is what a competitor cannot do without a licence.
A portfolio of sixty narrow patents that competitors route around freely is weaker than four broad ones covering a component everybody needs. Count is easy to report, which is why it is reported - and why pruning, which reduces the count, is usually the right decision.
Renewal fees on cases that protect nothing, and a false sense of security in diligence.
Sources & further reading
- The Patents Act, 1970 (consolidated to 1 August 2024) — Official IP India text
Related
Patent portfolio
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.
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.
Patent valuation
Estimating the economic value of a patent or a portfolio - typically by cost, by market comparables, or by the income it can be expected to protect or generate.
Not sure whether this applies to your invention?
The honest answer usually needs someone to look at your actual disclosure, your timeline and the prior art. That is a conversation, not an article.
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.