HYDERABAD: When it comes to filing patents, the twin states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh are way ahead of competition, but experts say most of inventions have little or no commercial value.Recent statistics by Intellectual Property India Report, 2015, show Andhra Pradesh with 532 applications and Telangana with 459, hogging the ninth and tenth positions respectively in the national chart. This an increase of 25% in patent applications from the previous year.Across India, 12,071 domestic patent applications were filed. Electrical and electronics, chemical engineering and bio-technology are some sectors that have highest patent applications and they also account for highest dormant ones. Few patents have been filed in chemical, mechanical and electrical engineering. This can be attributed to students and universities rushing for top honours.However, the report puts the number of patents (both Indian and foreign) at 43,256, but functional patents were as low as 7,900. Experts also quote the study by National Research Development Centre (UK) which show only 35% patents have commercial utility.“Patents and their commercial viability cannot be viewed in singular direction as there are many influencing factors like the sector in which patents are being filed and changing market conditions after applications are received. But it’s always better to scientifically analyse commercial viability of a patent before filing,” said Professor VC Vivekandan of the National Academy of Legal Studies and Research (NALSAR- Hyderabad). The turnout will be poor due to multiple reasons, Vivekandan said.Experts say often patent applications are not checked by examiners for industrial or market use. “Varsities aboard refer students and professors who have patents to their name. And this triggers a mad race to augment patents to the kitty. Obtaining a patent costs anything between Rs 50,000 to Rs2 lakh only. Indian Science Congress (ISC) must look into this aspect and ensure that universities and students come up to file useful patents,” said Dr Babu Rao K, environmental scientist.Among premier institutes, Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) has been analysing patents. It recently set up a review mechanism which analyses the viability of each patent filed across 38 research bodies across the country. Experts advise similar check and balance mechanisms for universities. Also, the government Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) bodies need to hire examiners with technical expertise. “India is weak in terms of connectivity between industry and universities and we must take China as role model,” said Professor Balakrishna Reddy.