(Publ. 30 OCT 2014) The number of applications for trademarks and patents continues to increase at a steady pace in Sweden. This is according to new statistics from the Association of Intellectual Property Law Firms in Sweden, SEPAF. In September 2014, Swedish companies applied for a total of 1022 patents, 128 designs and 155 trademarks in Sweden and abroad.

The number of trademark applications has increased by 26 percent over the last three months compared with the numbers during the same period last year.

Trademarks tend to follow the economic developments, and therefor tend to indicate trends more clearly than, for example, patents. In many cases, the number of patent applications may be countercyclical and may instead increase during recessions. In light of this, an increase of trademark applications is to be seen as something positive, and it is hopefully a signal of general economic recovery, says Mats Lundberg, spokesperson for SEPAF, and Managing Partner at Groth & Co.

The number of applications for design protection, however, continues to decrease for the sixth consecutive month. During the last three months, the number of applications has decreased by 60 percent.