Tencent held fastest-growing TM portfolio in 2016: TrademarkNow

China-based social media and internet technology firm Tencent held the fastest-growing trademark portfolio in the world during 2016, a report has found.

Tencent filed more than 4,000 trademark applications, according to a report from  TrademarkNow, a web-based trademark management company.

Korea-based electronics company LG claimed second place in portfolio growth, with over 3,600 filings, while media firm Time Warner was third, with over 3,500.

The report, “Trademark Industry Review Q1 2017”, also found that US-based businesses generally dominated the applications rankings, accounting for 17 of the top 50 fastest-growing trademark portfolios in 2016.

Germany took second place with eight of the top 50, while China and Korea placed third, with six each.

According to the report, the top tier of trademark filers includes predominantly very big, multi-national, largely Western companies.

“But the other part of the 2016 trademarks story—and perhaps the more interesting part—is that we are also witnessing the exponential growth of trademarked brands (and, thus according to recent studies, an explosion of innovation) within the newly industrialised economies themselves,” said TrademarkNow.

China continued to top the leaderboard for trademark volume by country.

The State Administration for Industry and Commerce in Beijing accepted 3.7 million trademark applications during the year, a 29% increase over 2015.

This was more than seven times the filing volume of the second-busiest trademark office, the US Patent and Trademark Office.

Newly industrialised countries, such as India, Brazil, Mexico, and Turkey, also featured prominently in the top ten globally, as international companies expanded their businesses in the countries and sought brand protection.

To read the report, click here.

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