(Publ. 15 DEC 2020) Around 11.5 million trademark applications and 1.04 million industrial design applications were filed in 2019, which was an increase by 5.9% and 1.3% respectively. The number of patent applications dipped slightly due to less filed applications in China. Excluding China, global patent application filings rose 2.3% – the highest rate of growth in years. Sweden as a single country has still an outstanding position in the world by retaining its 13th place. This is according to WIPO:s annual World Intellectual Property Indicators report.

The 3% decline in filed patent applications globally compared to previous year, the first decrease in a decade, was due to a drop in filings by Chinese residents. China excluded, global patent filings, on contrary, rose by 2.3% – the highest rate of growth in years.

China’s IP office received 1.4 million patent applications in 2019, more than twice the amount received by the authority in the second-busiest country, the United States with 621,453. The U.S. is followed by Japan with 307,969, the Korean Intellectual Property Office KIPO; 218,975 and the European Patent Office EPO; 181,479. Together, these five offices accounted for 84.7% of the world total. Among the top five offices, the Republic of Korea (+4.3%), the EPO (+4.1%) and the U.S. (+4.1%) recorded a growth in applications, while both China (–9.2%) and Japan (–1.8%) experienced a decline. The amount of applications includes filings from both residents as well as foreign innovators.

An estimated 11.5 million trademark applications covering 15.2 million classes were filed worldwide. The number of classes specified in applications grew by 5.9% in 2019, marking a 10th successive year of growth.

China’s IP office had the highest volume of filing activity with a class count of around 7.8 million; followed by the IP offices of the U.S., 672,681, and Japan, 546,244; the IP office of the Islamic Republic of Iran, 454,925 and the European Union Intellectual Property Office EUIPO; 407,712. Among the top 20 offices, the largest increases between 2018 and 2019 were in the IP offices of Brazil (+22.3%), Viet Nam (+19.3%), the Islamic Republic of Iran (+18.4%), the Russian Federation (+16.5%) and Turkey (+15.5%).

About 1.04 million industrial design applications containing 1.36 million designs were filed worldwide in 2019, representing a 1.3% year-on-year increase. China’s IP office received applications containing 711,617 designs in 2019, corresponding to 52.3% of the world total. It was followed by the EUIPO, 113,319, and the IP offices of the Republic of Korea, 69,360, the U.S., 49,848 and Turkey, 46,202. Among the top 20 offices, the following three offices reported double-digit growth in design counts: the Russian Federation (+22%), the Islamic Republic of Iran (+19.3%) and Australia (+10.3%).

Offices located in Asia accounted for more than two-thirds (68.4%) of all designs in applications filed worldwide in 2019, followed by Europe (24.3%) and North America (4.2%). Note that some IP offices are accepting more than one design in each application.

The World Intellectual Property Indicators report, released in December, pre-dates the coronavirus pandemic.

The full WIPO Indicators Report 2020 (pdf) can be found here>>