Swiss perspectives in 10 languages

Switzerland remains eighth in international patent applications

Switzerland still eighth in international patent applications
Switzerland still eighth in international patent applications Keystone-SDA

International patent applications rose by 0.5% last year, according to the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO). China retains the lead with more than a quarter of applications, while Switzerland is eighth.

+ Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox

In total, more than 273,000 applications were received, the Geneva-based institution said on Monday. Last year, digital messages led patent applications, accounting for 10.5% of the total.

Behind Beijing, with more than 70,000, comes the United States and Japan. Of the major countries, only China and South Korea recorded growth last year.

The US recorded a fall in applications for the third year running. Switzerland also saw a decline, from almost 5,400 to just over 5,300.

No Swiss company is among the top 50 in terms of innovation, adds WIPO. However, the Ecole polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) is ranked 41st among academic institutions.

Better for Novartis

On the trademark front, the total number of applications is estimated to have risen again, by 1.2%, after two consecutive years of decline. With more than 11,000 applications, the US is ahead of Germany and China.

Switzerland, which remains in 6th place, saw an increase. With 193 applications, Novartis moved up two places to second place among companies.

For industrial designs, a record of more than 27,000 applications was reached, an increase for the fourth year running, this time of almost 7%. China is ahead of Germany and the US, while Switzerland has dropped one place to fifth, with a decline in the number of applications.

Four Swiss companies appear between 37th and 50th place on the list, according to WIPO.

Translated from French with DeepL/mga

This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles.

If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, if you want to learn more about how we use technology, click here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.

Popular Stories

Most Discussed

News

Most forecasters believe the SNB will deliver a quarter-point interest rate reduction.

More

SNB interest rate cliffhanger keeps economists guessing

This content was published on Switzerland’s central bank is about to take another cliffhanger decision as officials weigh whether to use up one of their last interest-rate cuts before reaching zero.

Read more: SNB interest rate cliffhanger keeps economists guessing

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!

If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR