China slows but still dominates global TM filings: report
China has emerged as the world’s busiest IP office, filing the highest number of trademark applications in 2022—but its overall applications are declining, a new report has revealed.
Corsearch released its Industry Trademark Report 2023, featuring comprehensive data on global trademark filings, today, May 16, at the International Trademark Association’s annual meeting in Singapore.
The report shows the US, Brazil, South Korea and Mexico trailing China, while placing the EU and UK in the ninth and tenth spots, respectively.
While filing activity has remained stable in four of the top five regions for all companies, filings in China decreased by 21% in 2022 when compared with the previous year.
This could, in part, be due to the removal of incentives previously offered by the Chinese government, the report says.
Featuring a breakdown of the volume of trademark filing across the globe compiled from trademark applications data recorded by 187 registries worldwide, the report also includes a list of the top 50 filing companies, as well as a sectoral breakdown of key industries.
This “first brush” report from the company compares 2021 and 2022 global filings, explains Corsearch’s Stephen Stolfi, chairman of customer and industry advisory at Corsearch.
Speaking to WIPR at INTA’s event, Stolfi explores how the report potentially reveals some surprising behaviour by companies.
Amazon’s filing activity in transport and logistics, for instance, saw it feature mid-table above car makers Volkswagen, Renault and Volvo. “We see this as an indicator of business activity that companies could be moving into,” adds Stolfi.
In 2021, the top-five filers were unsurprising, with Tencent Technology nabbing the top spot. Technology companies dominated the top five in 2021, with Huawei Technologies, ByteDance, Xiaomi Technology and Baidu completing the list.
The next year heralded a shuffle in the top five, however, with Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessey coming second to Tencent Technologies. Amazon and Johnson & Johnson also made the top five, with Huawei Technologies joining them—albeit dropping two places to number four on the list.
Agricultural products and services (including food and beverages) took pole position in the rankings, emerging as the most active sector for filing.
However, the gaps in filings volume between the top companies in this industry have narrowed since 2018, with some increasing and others decreasing in filing volume.
Leading companies in this sector include Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Gro (China), International Foodstuffs (UAE), PepsiCo (US), Coca-Cola (US) and Grupo Bimbo (Mexico).
Following agriculture, the next four most prolific industries in terms of filings are: management, communications, real estate and financial services; scientific research, information and communication technology; pharmaceuticals; and cosmetics and textiles (clothing and accessories).
Within these industries, the most active product classes in 2022 were: advertising and business, electrical and scientific devices, staple foods, education and entertainment; and clothing.
“Our report provides an in-depth analysis of the global trademark landscape, which is a useful barometer of business activity and illustrates some of the key growth areas,” says Stolfi.
“What is measured can be managed, as the saying goes, and for IP law firms and professionals in the sector, this data on the most active sectors for trademark filing should prove extremely valuable for determining business focus in 2023 and in the future.”
