The number of patent applications worldwide reached a new record last year: 3.46 million, an increase of almost 1.8% on the previous year. China is still in the lead, said the Geneva-based World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) on Monday.
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Chinese innovators continue to file almost half the world’s applications, at 1.58 million, compared with almost 506,000 for the United States and more than 405,000 for Japan. But the rate of growth in these applications has fallen for the second year running, from almost 7% to 3.1%.
For its part, Switzerland, in seventh place, was able to report a significant increase of 6.1 percentage points. More than four out of five Swiss applications were launched from other countries.
WIPO Director General Daren Tang once again warned of the effects of political tensions and economic uncertainty. Developing countries are increasingly fuelling intellectual property, he said. But public funding for venture capital is declining in several regions.
Asia leading the way
In terms of trademarks, an estimated 11.8 million applications were filed, down by more than 15%, covering more than 15 million brands. Here again, China leads the way, ahead of the United States.
More than two-thirds of filings took place in Asia. Nearly 83 million trademarks were active in 2021, more than half of them in China.
For industrial designs, around 1.1 million applications for some 1.5 million components were filed last year, down by just over 2%. China is also in the lead. Overall, more than 70% of filings took place in Asia.
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