India’s AYUSH Patent Landscape Expands: 4,077 Applications Filed Through FY 2025–26
September 2026 | Intellectual Property | India Patent News
India’s AYUSH innovation story goes well beyond traditional herbal formulations.
Over the years, Indian institutions have secured patents for a diverse range of AYUSH-related inventions. Some of the patents owned by CCRAS are AYUSH-56, which is a method for making an anti-epileptic preparation that works, AYUSH-64, which is a method for making an anti-malarial preparation that works, and Ksharsutra, which is a method for making a medicated thread for treating ano-rectal diseases.The portfolio also includes inventions involving medicinal-plant compounds, herbo-mineral formulations and other pharmaceutical preparations.
These examples show how AYUSH-related innovation can extend across formulations, preparation processes, medicinal compounds and specialised therapeutic products-bringing traditional healthcare knowledge into a more formal research and IP framework.
The latest numbers show that this activity has grown substantially.
The Status Report on AYUSH Related Inventions in India-2026, released by the Office of the Controller General of Patents, Designs & Trade Marks (CGPDTM), provides a 12-year snapshot of patent activity related to AYUSH inventions. IP India listed the report as a news update on 23 September 2026.
According to the report, 4,077 AYUSH-related patent applications were filed between FY 2014–15 and FY 2025–26, while 711 patents were granted during the period.
Annual filings have also changed significantly, rising from 63 applications in FY 2014–15 to 590 in FY 2025–26.
AYUSH patent filings have picked up pace
A closer look at the numbers shows that most of this activity has taken place in the more recent years.
Of the 4,077 applications, 2,854-or around 70%-were filed between FY 2020–21 and FY 2025-26. The highest annual filing figure was 606 applications in FY 2022-23. Filings fell to 299 in FY 2023-24 before climbing again to 590 in FY 2025-26.
The grant numbers tell a similar story. A total of 711 patents were granted during the period, with 204 grants recorded in FY 2023-24, the highest annual figure in the report.
These numbers, however, need some context. A patent application and a patent grant are separated by examination and prosecution timelines, so grant figures cannot be treated as a direct measure of innovation activity in the same year.
Who is filing AYUSH patents?
The report also gives an interesting picture of who is driving this activity.
Individuals and educational institutions together account for 76.3% of AYUSH-related patent filings during FY 2014–15 to FY 2025–26.
There is also a clear geographical concentration. Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Karnataka together account for approximately 57.3% of the filings.
For the wider AYUSH ecosystem, this points to an opportunity to strengthen patent awareness, IP support and technology-transfer capabilities, particularly among research institutions and emerging innovators.
From research to patentable innovation
Patent filings are only one part of the larger AYUSH research ecosystem.
For FY 2025–26, the report records:
- 693 research studies undertaken by AYUSH Research Councils
- 653 peer-reviewed research papers
- 43,722 evidence-based research articles available through the AYUSH Research Portal as of July 2026
But research output does not automatically translate into a patent.
A research paper documents knowledge; a patent protects an invention that meets the applicable legal requirements. Likewise, a patent grant should not be interpreted as proof of clinical efficacy, safety, regulatory approval or commercial success.
For researchers and organisations, the important step is identifying whether a research outcome contains a genuinely new and technically supportable invention that can meet requirements such as novelty, inventive step and industrial applicability.
India’s AYUSH IP framework is also evolving
The rise in filing activity comes alongside a more focused IP framework for AYUSH-related inventions.
IP India has published the Guidelines for Examination of Ayush-Related Inventions – 2025, providing specific guidance for examining inventions connected with AYUSH systems. The guidelines cover areas including AYUSH products, equipment and devices, as well as certain value-added products, subject to the requirements of Indian patent law.
This is relevant to organisations working across traditional knowledge, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, natural products and medical devices.
What does this mean for AYUSH innovators?
For an organisation developing an AYUSH-related product or technology, intellectual property planning should ideally start well before the patent application is drafted.
A typical innovation-to-IP journey may look like:
Research → Invention Disclosure → Prior-Art Search → Patentability Assessment → Patent Drafting → Filing → Examination → Commercialisation
This is where patent research can make a practical difference.
A well-structured prior-art search or patent landscape analysis can help researchers understand what has already been disclosed, see where activity is concentrated, identify potential technology gaps and make better-informed decisions before committing further resources to R&D.
For universities and research institutions, the same exercise can help identify inventions that may otherwise remain buried within research projects and publications.
The bigger opportunity is beyond patent numbers
The significance of the latest report is not simply that India has recorded 4,077 AYUSH-related patent applications.
The more important question is what happens after research produces an invention.
The report highlights the need for stronger institutional IP capabilities, better invention disclosure and patentability assessment, closer collaboration between research institutions and industry, and greater use of prior-art and Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL) searches.
For the AYUSH sector, building this connection between research, IP protection, technology transfer and commercialisation could be as important as increasing the number of applications itself.
Einfolge’s perspective
The growing AYUSH patent activity is a good example of why IP intelligence needs to be considered as part of the innovation process, rather than only at the patent-filing stage.
For researchers, universities, startups and businesses, a patent landscape can help answer practical questions such as:
Which AYUSH technology areas are attracting patent activity?
Who is working in these areas?
What technologies have already been disclosed?
Where might potential white spaces exist?
What prior-art issues could affect a new invention?
Which research outputs may warrant further IP evaluation?
A structured patent landscape analysis and patentability assessment can give organisations a clearer picture before they make important R&D and IP decisions.
As India’s AYUSH research base continues to grow, the ability to identify promising inventions early, protect them appropriately and connect them with potential technology-transfer opportunities will become increasingly important.
Source: Office of the Controller General of Patents, Designs & Trade Marks (CGPDTM), Government of India, Status Report on AYUSH Related Inventions in India – 2026; Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS), Patents and Technology Transfer.