The global patent, trademark and design filings
WIPO, the World Intellectual Property Organisation in Geneva, Switzerland has released the latest figures on global patent filings revealing continued growth and that China is topping patent filings
The WIPO publication World Intellectual Property Indicators 2012 reveals that 2011 patent filings worldwide were up 7.8 % in 2011, exceeding 7 % growth for the second year in a row. Increases registered also utility models (+35 %), industrial design (+ 16 %) and trademark filings (+ 13.3 %).
China is now the world’s largest patent office
China’s State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) surpassed the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to became 2011 the world’s largest patent office, in 2010 it overtook the Japan Patent Office (JPO). 100 years before 2011, only three patent offices, namely Germany, Japan and the US had occupied always the position of the largest office. The newest results reflect how the geography of innovation is shifting.
China received 526412 patent applications in 2011, The U.S. reported 505582 patent filings and Japan 342610 filings. The increase in China is based mainly on a growth of resident filings. From 2009 – 2011 patent filings increased worldwide by 293900 and China accounted for 72 % of this increase.
Table 1 presents a country ranking of all patent system filings
Overview of total (resident plus abroad) IP activity by origin, 2011 | ||||||||
Origin | Patents | Marks | Designs | Origin | Patents | Marks | Designs | |
China | 2 | 2 | 1 | Belarus (5) | 31 | 74 | 59 | |
Germany | 5 | 1 | 2 | Colombia | 54 | 46 | 71 | |
United States of America | 3 | 3 | 6 | United Arab Emirates (4)(5)(6) | 68 | 52 | 56 | |
France (5)(7) | 6 | 4 | 4 | Malta (6) | 64 | 53 | 60 | |
Japan (5)(7) | 1 | 10 | 8 | Chile (6) | 48 | 32 | 100 | |
United Kingdom (6) | 7 | 5 | 7 | Lithuania | 75 | 58 | 48 | |
Italy | 11 | 6 | 3 | Monaco | 75 | 54 | 54 | |
Switzerland (6) | 8 | 8 | 5 | Saudi Arabia (5) | 44 | 77 | 64 | |
Republic of Korea | 4 | 17 | 10 | Iceland | 57 | 76 | 53 | |
Netherlands | 9 | 9 | 13 | Serbia | 66 | 64 | 57 | |
Spain | 21 | 7 | 9 | Republic of Moldova | 69 | 73 | 50 | |
Austria (5)(6) | 18 | 11 | 12 | Egypt (5)(6) | 47 | 92 | 55 | |
Sweden | 13 | 13 | 16 | Uzbekistan | 61 | 72 | 62 | |
Poland (6) | 25 | 12 | 11 | Sri Lanka (1)(2)(6) | 65 | 69 | 63 | |
Belgium | 17 | 18 | 15 | Bermuda (4)(5)(6) | 73 | 67 | 60 | |
Turkey | 24 | 15 | 14 | Barbados (6) | 52 | 82 | 69 | |
Denmark | 15 | 22 | 17 | Argentina (4)(5)(6) | 60 | 62 | 82 | |
Canada (6) | 12 | 19 | 23 | Peru (2) | 86 | 48 | 75 | |
India | 14 | 16 | 25 | Kazakhstan (5)(6) | 35 | 97 | 78 | |
Russian Federation | 10 | 14 | 31 | Algeria | 81 | 80 | 52 | |
Finland | 16 | 23 | 20 | Philippines (2)(6) | 62 | 57 | 95 | |
Australia | 19 | 20 | 22 | Indonesia (5)(6) | 49 | 88 | 77 | |
Brazil (1)(2)(3) | 27 | 21 | 29 | Bahamas (4)(5)(6) | 78 | 70 | 67 | |
Czech Republic | 36 | 24 | 19 | Paraguay (1)(2)(6) | 94 | 55 | .. | |
Luxembourg | 32 | 27 | 24 | Panama | 88 | 63 | 76 | |
Ireland (3)(5) | 28 | 30 | 27 | Mongolia (1)(2) | 80 | 81 | 72 | |
Portugal | 46 | 25 | 18 | Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)(6) | 83 | 59 | 91 | |
China, Hong Kong SAR | 39 | 29 | 21 | Georgia | 72 | 95 | 68 | |
Israel (6) | 20 | 45 | 26 | Uruguay (6) | 90 | 68 | .. | |
Norway (5)(6) | 23 | 40 | 32 | Armenia | 67 | 83 | 88 | |
Ukraine | 29 | 34 | 38 | Seychelles (4)(6) | 84 | 96 | 65 | |
Romania | 40 | 28 | 35 | Azerbaijan (5) | 51 | 112 | 86 | |
New Zealand (3) | 30 | 42 | 33 | Ecuador (1)(2)(3) | 108 | 61 | 81 | |
Mexico | 34 | 26 | 46 | San Marino (4)(5)(6) | 89 | 78 | 86 | |
Singapore | 26 | 38 | 43 | Jordan | 86 | 75 | 95 | |
Hungary | 38 | 36 | 34 | Lebanon (4)(5)(6) | 92 | 90 | 74 | |
Bulgaria | 53 | 31 | 28 | Bangladesh (6) | 97 | 65 | 95 | |
Greece (1)(3)(5) | 41 | 35 | 37 | Costa Rica (3) | 97 | 66 | 95 | |
Slovenia (1)(2)(6) | 45 | 39 | 30 | Andorra (4)(6) | 101 | 88 | 70 | |
Slovakia | 50 | 43 | 36 | Cuba (6) | 73 | 100 | .. | |
Liechtenstein (4)(5)(6) | 42 | 49 | 39 | T F Y R of Macedonia (5) | 94 | 104 | 65 | |
Cyprus | 56 | 33 | 42 | D.P.R. of Korea (1)(5)(6) | 22 | 144 | 100 | |
Malaysia (6) | 33 | 50 | 49 | Iran (Islamic Republic of)(4)(5)(6) | 79 | 87 | 103 | |
South Africa (6) | 37 | 44 | 51 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 92 | 105 | 73 | |
Thailand (6) | 43 | 41 | 58 | Mauritius (4)(5)(6) | 94 | 86 | .. | |
Viet Nam | 59 | 37 | 47 | Tunisia (4)(5)(6) | 108 | 79 | 88 | |
Croatia | 55 | 56 | 44 | Guatemala (2) | 124 | 71 | 84 | |
Morocco (2) | 70 | 47 | 40 | Qatar (4)(5)(6) | 101 | 85 | .. | |
Latvia | 58 | 60 | 41 | Pakistan (5)(6) | 77 | 110 | .. | |
Estonia (6) | 63 | 51 | 45 | Kyrgyzstan (1)(6) | 71 | 118 | .. | |
Note: The rankings are based on total number of applications by origin. Patent data refer to the number of equivalent patent applications. Trademark data refer to the number of equivalent trademark applications based on class count (i.e., the number of classes contained in applications). Industrial design data refer to the number of equivalent industrial design applications based on design count (i.e., the number of designs contained in applications). D.P.R. of Korea = Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. The table reports origins for which at least two types of IP data are available. | ||||||||
(1) 2010 patent data. | ||||||||
(2) 2010 trademark data. | ||||||||
(3) 2010 industrial design data. | ||||||||
(4) Data on patent applications at the national IP office are not available; however, applications at the regional IP office are included. | ||||||||
(5) Data on trademark applications at the national IP office are not available; however, applications at the regional IP office are included. | ||||||||
(6) Data on industrial design applications at the national IP office are not available; however, applications at the regional IP office are included. | ||||||||
(7) Trademark data are estimated. |
Record patent filings
For the first time ever the total number of patent applications filed worldwide exceeded the 2 million mark in 2011. The 2.14 million applications filed consisted of 1.36 million resident and 0.78 million non-resident applications. In 2009 there was a drop of 3.6 % in filings, with a strong rebound in 2010 (+7.5 %).
The growth rates of the major 20 patent offices were as follows: China + 34.6 %, Hong Kong + 15.3 %, South Africa + 13.5 %. The middle and low income countries present a mixed trend. Algeria + 11,3 %, Madagascar + 41.9 % and Saudi Arabia (6.3 %), mainly due to non-resident filings, in contrast contractions are witnessed in Guatemala -13.1 %, Jamaica -27.6 % and Jordan -15.6 %.
The applicants’ origin is dominated by residents of Japan with 472417 filings, followed by Chinese residents (+ 41.3 %).
Digital communication witnessed the highest annual growth rate with 8.1 % between 2006 – 2010, on the other hand pharmaceuticals have continuously declined since 2007. Computer technology accounted for the largest number of applications with worldwide 126897.
Patent applications for four energy related technologies, namely fuel cells, geothermal, solar and wind energy increased by 8 % in 2010 to 34’873. Residents of Japan filed the largest number relating to solar energy and fuel cell technologies, while residents of Germany accounted for the largest numbers of applications relating to geothermal and of the USA in wind energy.
WIPO’s experts estimate that the number of patents granted is approaching the one million mark, with 606800 issued to residents and 390000 to non residents. Worldwide grants grew by 9.7 % in 2011. The Japan Patent Office granted with 2338323 the largest number of patents, followed by the U.S. with 224505.
Table 1 b gives an overview on resident IP activities by origin
Overview of resident IP activity by origin, 2011 | ||||||||
Origin | Patents | Marks | Designs | Origin | Patents | Marks | Designs | |
China | 1 | 1 | 1 | Norway (5)(6) | 27 | .. | 58 | |
Germany | 5 | 4 | 2 | Slovakia | 51 | 43 | 38 | |
United States of America | 3 | 2 | 9 | Ireland (3)(5) | 32 | 63 | 40 | |
Japan (5)(7) | 2 | 8 | 6 | Israel (6) | 31 | 59 | .. | |
Republic of Korea | 4 | 9 | 3 | Saudi Arabia (5) | 46 | .. | 44 | |
France (5)(7) | 7 | 3 | 8 | Luxembourg | 45 | 50 | 41 | |
Italy | 9 | 10 | 4 | Greece (1)(3)(5) | 38 | 74 | 26 | |
India | 10 | 5 | 11 | Slovenia (1)(2)(6) | 43 | 49 | 46 | |
Turkey | 17 | 6 | 5 | Croatia | 52 | 51 | 37 | |
United Kingdom (6) | 8 | 11 | 10 | Colombia | 59 | 31 | 50 | |
Russian Federation |