Close to 2.5 lakh patent applications are pending, at various stages of disposal, with the government, which is taking various measures to clear the pending requests, Parliament was informed on Wednesday.

"As on March 1 this year, 2,47,824 patent applications are pending at various stages of disposal, out of which 2,06,836 are pending at the examination stage," Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told the Rajya Sabha in a written reply.

She also said that as on March 1 this year, 7,53,471 trademark applications are pending at various stages of disposal, of which 45,043 are pending at the examination stage. 

The minister also said the government had taken various measures to clear the pending applications, which include hiring manpower and organising Intellectual Property (IP) awareness and training programmes. 

"Recruitment has been completed for 459 posts of examiners of Patents and Designs, of which 396 new appointees have started examination work after undergoing training, in addition to the existing 130 examiners," she said.

Replying to a separate question, the minister said India is negotiating a broad-based Bilateral Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA) with the European Union (EU) and a Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA) with the European Free Trade Association (EFTA).

"India is committed to a pragmatic and balanced outcome of both the negotiations, and is awaiting the response of the EU side to resume the BTIA negotiations," she said, adding: "15 rounds on TEPA have been held. It is expected that greater trade and investment flows will result from these agreements in many sectors, including textiles."