The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) released a World Intellectual Property Indicators report on December 20, 2011, providing an overall statistical information and analysis on sections on patents, utility models, industrial designs, trademarks and PCT applications from aspects such as numbers of filings, number of valid patents, classifications of technologies, and countries of origin. This report also publishes a preliminary statistical data of applications received by major national and regional patent offices in 2010.
This report shows that against the turmoil world economy in 2010, patent and trademark filings worldwide grew by 7.2% and 11.8%, respectively, in 2010, higher than a 5.1% increase in global domestic product (GDP). As said by WIPO Director General Francis Gurry in the foreword of the report, against the background that Europe’s sovereign debt crisis has brought renewed financial instability threatening prolonged economic weakness, intellectual property filings worldwide rebounded strongly from a trough in 2009. This upturn in IP filings shows that companies across the globe continue to innovate. This bodes well for the world economy, and can help to create new jobs and generate prosperity once macroeconomic stability is restored.
Data shows a high growth of filings of both patent application and trademark registrations in China. During the past 10 years, patent applications accepted by the State Intellectual Property Office of China (SIPO) kept a substantial growth, with an average yearly growth rate of 22.6%. In 2010, while becoming the second largest economy in replace with Japan, China brought its yearly patent applications to 391,177 to emerge as the second largest patent office for the first time, an increase of 24.3% on 2009. Besides, filings of trademark registrations in China show a growth rate of 29.8%, which accounted for three-fifths of worldwide growth. Related statistical data released in this report is as follows.
1. Patents
According to statistical data from 88 national and regional IP offices around the world, patent filings worldwide rebounded strongly with a growth by 7.2% in 2010, after having fallen by 3.6% in 2009. That growth was driven by a steep filing increase in China and the US, which accounted for four-fifths of worldwide growth. An all-time high of 1.98 million applications were filed globally.
In 2010, patent applications received by the top 20 national and regional offices grew to a different extent. Wherein, offices having double-digit growth include SIPO (24.3%), EPO (12.2%), Singapore (11.9%) and Russia (10.2%). The USPTO, having the greatest total number of applications, saw a 7.5% increase in applications in 2010, after two years of almost zero growth.
Patent applications at the offices of middle- and low-income economies having fallen in 2009 due to economic crisis, also rebounded strongly in 2010. Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, the Philippines and Ukraine returned to positive growth in applications in 2010. Most growth in the shares of middle-income countries was due to rapid filing growth in China.
In 2010, 1.98 million applications were filed globally, consisting of 1.23 million resident applications and 0.75 million non-resident applications. Growth in resident applications was the main contributor to overall growth in China and the Republic of Korea. China, with 293,066 resident applications, overtook Japan (with 290,081) to become the top country for resident applications. However, filings abroad constituted only 5% of all Chinese applications. In contrast, non-resident applications accounted for 65% of overall growth at the EPO. The US, with 241,977 resident applications, ranked third, but US residents filed the greatest numbers of applications in foreign countries. Residents in Canada, Israel, the Netherlands and Switzerland filed more than 80% of their total applications abroad.
Despite growth in applications from middle- and low-income economies, patent activity remains concentrated in high-income countries. In particular, high-income countries accounted for 70% of total national patent applications-similar to research and development expenditure share-and 90% of total PCT applications in 2010.
Patents granted have recorded uninterrupted growth since 2000. In 2010, the total number of grants worldwide stood at 909,000, a 12.4% increase on 2009. Patent grants at the top 20 national and regional IP offices all saw a growth. Wherein, resident grants account for two-thirds of the total increase. The Japan Patent Office (JPO) and the USPTO accounted for 80% of total growth. The growth rate of patens granted by the SIPO was 5.2%, considerably lower than the double-digit growth at the USPTO, the JPO, the EPO and the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) and lower than its application growth rates over the past few years.
The 2010 data show that the total number of potentially pending applications across the world amounted to 5.17 million, which represents a 3.3% drop over 2009. The JPO saw a considerable drop (-20%) in pending applications undergoing examination in 2010. The EPO (-6.9%) and the USPTO (-2.3%) also had fewer applications pending in 2010 than in 2009. Medium-sized offices – such as Chile (-11.6%), Israel (-8.8%), Mexico (-3.6%), Poland (-14.6%) and Ukraine (-5.9%) – also saw a considerable drop in pending applications.
Data shows that applications per USD billion GDP and applications per USD million R&D have remained a stable growth over the last 10 years. The ratios mask considerable variation across countries. Patents per USD billion GDP varied from 99.8 for the Republic of Korea, followed by Japan (73.7), China (32.2) and the US (18.4), while patents per USD million R&D varied from 4.1 for the Republic of Korea, followed by Japan (3), China (2.8), Poland (2.6) and Ukraine (2.1), and this ratio just is 0.8 for the US.
2. Utility models
According to statistical data from 46 national and regional IP offices across the world, the total number of utility model applications filed across the world grew by 24% in 2010, driven by substantial growth in applications at the SIPO. An all-time high of 496,000 applications were filed globally, with the SIPO accounting for 83%. The other national and regional IP offices all received fewer applications, wherein, utility model applications received by the patent offices of Germany, the Republic of Korea and Brazil saw a decline of 1.7%, 20.3% and 36%, respectively.
3. Industrial design
According to statistical data from 104 national and regional IP offices across the world, in 2010, industrial design applications rebounded after a slowdown in growth during the preceding two years. The number of applications filed across the world became 723,700, a growth of 13%, mainly due to high growth in China which accounted for 83% of the global growth. The non-resident share of 12% in 2010 was lower than in previous years due to sharp growth in resident designs in China.
The share of China in the world total of industrial design filings increased from 54% in 2009 to 58% in 2010, more than five times greater than the share of the second largest office – OHIM. The JPO, the KIPO and the USPTO accounted for around 16% of the world total.
4. PCT applications
After a fall of 4.8% in 2009, international filings through the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) grew by 5.7% in 2010, following a 4.8% decline in 2009. 164,293 PCT filings were filed in 2010, exceeding the 2008 pre-crisis level. Growth in PCT filings was driven by China, Japan and the Republic of Korea, which together accounted for 94% of total growth in 2010. PCT applications filed by residents of China, the Republic of Korea and Japan grew in 2010 by 55.6%, 20.3% and 7.9%, respectively.
Most PCT applications originated from the US, and Japan and German remained the second and third top origins. China surpassed the Republic of Korea and became the fourth largest origin for PCT applications in 2010. If the current trend continues in the near future, China will soon displace Germany as the third ranked country in PCT applications.
5. Trademarks
According to statistical data from 115 national and regional IP offices across the world, an estimated 3.66 million trademark applications were filed globally, an annual increase of 11.8%. Among these applications, there are 2.78 million resident applications and 0.88 million non-resident applications. Trademark applications in China saw a growth of 29.8% on 2009, accounting for three-fifths of global total growth.
The majority of the worldwide national and regional IP offices saw an increase in trademark applications in 2010. Growth in China is the most remarkable. In 2010, trademark applications filed in China increased by almost 250,000 over 2009, and the application number is more than a total number of applications in France, Germany and the United Kingdom. In addition, a number of offices saw double-digit growth in 2010, most notably China Hong Kong (SAR) (18.3%), Mexico (16%), France (13.1%), OHIM (12.2%,), Brazil (11.5%) and the Russian Federation (11.4%).
Data shows that, in comparison with high-income countries, middle- and low-income countries have a higher trademark application class count-to-GDP ratio. Chile has 218 trademark applications, followed by Bulgaria (166), Ecuador (157) and Vietnam (128) per billion USD GDP. Corresponding number in Germany, Japan and the US is 72, 39 and 22, respectively.
Around 3.16 million trademarks were registered across the world in 2010, a 21.4% increase on 2009. Trademark registration class counts in China grew by 61% in 2010. Growth of registrations in China was the main source of growth in the worldwide total.
