China overtakes US as most prolific patent filer: WIPO
China has surpassed the US as the top source of international patent applications filed with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) for the first time in over 40 years, according to newly-released statistics from the UN body.
While the US had held the title as the biggest user of the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) system since the PCT began operations in 1978, it has now been overtaken by China, which filed 58,990 applications in 2019 through the system. The US filed 57,840 applications last year.
“China’s rapid growth to become the top filer of international patent applications via WIPO underlines a long-term shift in the locus of innovation towards the East, with Asia-based applicants now accounting for more than half of all PCT applications,” said WIPO director general Francis Gurry.
In 1999, WIPO received 276 applications from China. By 2019, that number rose to 58,990—a 200-fold increase in only 20 years, added Gurry.
Applicants based in Asia accounted for 52.4% of all PCT applications filed, while Europe (23.2%) and North American (22.8%) accounted for less than a quarter each.
Japan (52,660), Germany (19,353) and South Korea (19,085) followed behind China and the US to account for the top five filers.
And, for the third consecutive year, China-based telecoms company Huawei was the top corporate filer, with 4,411 published PCT applications.
It was followed by Mitsubishi Electric of Japan (2,661), Samsung Electronics of South Korea (2,334), Qualcomm of the US (2,127) and Guang Dong Oppo Mobile Telecommunications of China (1,927).
Of the top ten applicants, four companies were from China, two from South Korea, and one each from Germany, Japan, Sweden and the US.
PCTs: Computer tech leads published applications
Six of the top ten applicants filed mainly in digital communication. However, overall, among fields of technology, computer technology (8.7% of total) accounted for the largest share of published PCT applications, followed by digital communication (7.7%), electrical machinery (7%), medical technology (6.9%) and measurement (4.7%).
In the top ten technologies, semiconductors (+12%) and computer technology (+11.9%) were the fields with the highest rates of growth in 2019.
Overall, international patent applications filed via the PCT grew by 5.2% (265,800 applications) in 2019. In 2009, 155,408 applicants were filed through the system, amounting to 71% of growth in the ten-year period.
WIPO’s two-dozen plus treaties also gained 55 new accessions or ratifications in 2019.
“I welcome the strong commitment to multilateralism by member states evidenced in the high number of accessions to WIPO-administered treaties,” Gurry added.
In November 2019, the European Union acceded to WIPO’s geographical indication system.
Trademarks: India’s Nirsan jumps into top five
On the trademark applications side, US-based applicants (10,087) filed the largest number of international trademark applications using WIPO’s Madrid System in 2019.
The US was followed by those located in Germany (7,700), China (6,339), France (4,437) and Switzerland (3,729). Overall, international trademark applications increased by 5.7% to 64,400.
Topping the list of filers was L’Oréal of France with 189 applications, followed by Novartis of Switzerland (135), Huawei Technologies of China (131), Nirsan Connect of India (124) and Rigo Trading of Luxembourg (103).
Nirsan Connect filed 82 more applications in 2019 than in 2018, jumping from 22nd to the fourth spot. And, for the first time, applicants from China and India are among the top five applicants.
Computers and electronics were the most-specified class in international applications, accounting for 10.1% of the total. Business (8.3%) and technological services (6.7%) followed.
Of the top ten classes, pharmaceuticals and other preparations for medical purposes (+12.4%), and services in the area of education, training, entertainment, sporting and cultural activities (+9.6%) saw the fastest growth.
Designs: increase 10% year-on-year
With 4,487 designs, Germany retained its spot as the largest user of the international design system. South Korea (2,736 designs) surpassed Switzerland (2,178) to become the second-largest users of the Hague System in 2019.
Overall, the number of designs contained in applications filed grew by 10.4% in 2019, reaching a record 21,807 designs.
Samsung Electronics topped the list of corporate filers with 929 designs in published registrations, followed by Fonkel Meubelmarketing of the Netherlands (859), LG Electronics of South Korea (598), Volkswagen of Germany (536) and Procter & Gamble of the US (410).
Disputes: record number of UDRP cases
Trademark owners filed a record 3,693 cases under the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) with WIPO’s Arbitration and Mediation Center.
While cases in .com represented 76.9% of the generic Top-Level Domain caseload, for the first time, WIPO’s caseload also included domain names in the national .cn domain (China).
The cases involved parties from 122 countries, up from 109 in 2018, and the US, with 1,132 cases filed, France (637), and the UK (343) remained the top three filing countries.
Also in 2019, the WIPO Center received 62 mediation, arbitration, and expert determination cases in different areas of IP, up slightly from the previous year. Patent-related disputes remained the most common, followed by information and communications technology, trademark, and copyright disputes.
Gurry added that it was “important to remember that innovation is not a zero-sum game”.
“The net increase in global innovation means new drugs, communications technologies, solutions for global challenges that benefit everyone, wherever they live. I am pleased that WIPO’s IP services are successfully helping foster innovation and spread it worldwide,” said Gurry.
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