WIPO: India and Korea see sharp growth in PCT filings
Latest figures reveal mixed picture for international patents | 2022’s small overall patent growth hides ‘interesting’ results from countries and corporations | See full list including the world’s most active patenting companies.
Last year saw the highest ever number of patent applications filed, according to the latest data from the World Intellectual Property Organization ( WIPO).
A record total of 278,100 patents were filed under WIPO’s Patent Cooperation Treaty ( PCT) in 2022, which is intended to simplify the process of seeking patent protection in multiple countries.
While this represents a modest overall rise of 0.3% since 2021—attributed to challenging economic conditions during 2022—“that, in a sense, is growth,” Carsten Fink, chief economist at WIPO, told WIPR.
The challenging conditions behind the modest rise were “when parts of the world were still under COVID restrictions, especially China,” explained Fink. “And also central banks [were] raising interest rates in response to inflationary pressures. We have lots of data on the drying up of risk finance.
“All of that, in a sense, was not very conducive, let’s say, to achieve high growth in international patent applications.”
However, he added: “We have now seen 13 years of consecutive growth under the PCT system, which I think is noteworthy.”
India in particular saw sharp growth at 25.4%, while the Republic of Korea grew by 6.2%—a figure that seems modest on the face of it.
“Korea, in terms of IP, is a much more mature economy compared to India,” explains Fink. adding that it is the fourth largest user of the PCT system.
“India’s story is particularly interesting,” Fink said.
While overall filing volumes from India are still relatively low, at 2,500 PCT applications, the country has a strong patenting dynamic, added Fink. “In fact, they've had this over the last 10 years, but especially the last three years, not only internationally, but also domestically.
“If you look at patent filings at the Indian patent office, they have grown quite rapidly. And essentially what we saw in 2022 here at WIPO is a confirmation of all of that. So India in terms of absolute volumes is much smaller [than, for example, the Republic of Korea], but the growth is very significant.”
Asia retained the lion’s share of international patent applications, accounting for 54.7% of the 2022 total, up from 40.3% in 2012. This growth is part of a long-term trend for Asia, said Fink. “China has been the biggest driver of that,” he explained, “but also the Republic of Korea.”
China dominated the top five filers by country and was responsible for more than 70,000 patent applications. The US came in second, having filed almost 60,000 and Japan third with more than 50,000. The Republic of Korea and Germany followed, filing 22,012 and 17,530 applications respectively.
Patents breakdown
The most active patent filers by company were led by Chinese telecoms giant Huawei, with 7,689 published PCT applications in 2022. Korean firm Samsung submitted 4,387 applications, followed by the US’s Qualcomm (3,855), Japan’s Mitsubishi (2,320) and Ericsson of Sweden (2,158).
In the education sector, the University of California remained the top applicant with 552 published PCT applications in 2022. Zhejiang University came in second (309 applications) followed by Suzhou University (303), Leland Stanford Junior University (217) and the University of Texas System (187).
In terms of technology, computing topped the list for patent applications, with a 10.4% share. Digital communication (9.4%), electrical machinery (7.1%), medical technology (7%) and measurement (4.6%) followed in its wake.
Eight out of the top 10 fields of technology witnessed growth in 2022, with digital communication (8.7%) and computer technology (8.1%) seeing the fastest rates.
These were followed by semiconductors (6.8%), biotechnology (6.7%) and electrical machinery (6.1%). With health-related technologies seeing particularly strong growth in 2021, digital technology returned as the fastest growing field among PCT applications in 2022.
Despite an overall decrease in the number of applications filed in 2022 and the total number of classes specified in them, classes among the top 15, such as the class covering financial, banking, insurance and real estate services and the class that includes services for education, training, entertainment, sporting and cultural activities saw considerable growth, at 13.9% and 8.3% respectively.
In contrast, the goods classes recording large declines included pharmaceuticals (–12.2%), cosmetics (–12.0%) and surgical, medical, dental and veterinary apparatus and instruments (–14.0%), despite each having posted sizeable increases between 2020 and 2021.
However, this is not so surprising, said Fink, as these markets were “essentially getting back to normal” since the disruptions of the COVID pandemic. Although lower than in 2021, the total number of applications under WIPO’s Madrid System in 2022 was still 8% higher than in 2020.
Designs and trademarks
International design applications grew by 11.2% to 25,028, fuelled by China’s accession to WIPO’s international design registration system (the Hague System), according to WIPO.
Germany topped this segment, with an increase of 11.6% to 4,909 designs. China entered the system with 2,558 designs; Italy overtook the US to rank third with 2,414 designs; the US saw a decline of 8.9% to 2,412 designs; and Switzerland secured fifth place with 2,178 designs.
Fink said that China’s accession to the Hague System is of “systemic importance”. “The Hague system has been the smallest international filing system here at WIPO,” he explained. “But now with China acceding, it's really growing.”
Expectedly, this has led to fast growth in terms of filings from China, but WIPO also saw significant increases from other countries, especially European countries, added Fink.
“Now, a German or French or a UK applicant can designate China in an international application,” he explained. “So that has essentially increased the appeal of the international industrial design system. I think that's a significant development.”
Madrid System drop
Meanwhile, international trademark applications using WIPO’s Madrid System fell by 6.1% to 69,000, the largest decline since 2009. This stands in contrast with “exceptional” growth in 2021 of 15%, due to firms introducing new goods and services following the economic disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Madrid System applications were dominated by US-based applicants (12,495), followed by those located in Germany (7,695), China (4,991), France (4,403) and the UK (4,227).
L’Oréal of France, with 160 applications, held its position as top filer for the second year running. This was followed by Switzerland’s Novartis AG (131); the UK’s Glaxo Group (128); Bulgaria’s Euro Games Technology (120); and Korea’s Hyundai Motor Company (108).
Daren Tang, WIPO director general, said of the results: “International IP filings largely held up in 2022. Despite difficult economic conditions and a decline in risk finance, businesses continued to invest in innovation. China’s entry into the Hague System…fuelled design applications from China and the rest of the world, showing that multilateral approaches to international cooperation can deliver benefits for everyone.”
US Index
Separately, the US Chamber of Commerce published its latest International Intellectual Property (IP) index this month. The 11th edition saw the US, UK, France, Germany and Sweden holding the top five positions.
However, 28 economies’ scores remain unchanged, suggesting that efforts to improve global IP protection may be stagnating.
Other key findings include the fact that “economies are threatening to weaken the framework for IP-driven innovation through discussions at the multilateral organisations and in capitals”; while many economies continued to take steps to address online copyright infringement in 2022.
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