Worldwide, demand for intellectual property (IP) titles reached record levels in 2017, with China leading the rise in filings for patents, trademark registrations, industrial designs, and other IP rights that form the backbone of the global economy.
Innovators around the world filed 3.17 million patent applications in 2017, an increase of 5.8%, in a string of eight consecutive years of increases, according to WIPO's annual World Intellectual Property Indicators report. Filing activity for trademark applications totaled 12.39 million, and for industrial designs 1.24 million.
China saw the highest volume of applications for each of these IP rights, as the country's innovators and creators, as well as foreign entities, seek to protect and promote their work in one of the world's fastest growing economies.
"Demand for IP protection is rising faster than the global rate of economic growth, illustrating that IP-backed innovation is an increasingly important component of competition and commercial activity," said WIPO Director General Francis Gurry. "In just a few decades, China has built an IP system, encouraged local innovation, joined the ranks of IP leaders - and is now leading the global surge in IP filings."
Worldwide, applications for plant variety protection increased from 11.7% to 18,490 applications in 2017, and data received from 82 national and regional administrations highlight the existence of some 59,500 protected geographical indications in 2017.
For the first time, WIPO presents statistics on the creative economy: revenues from the publishing industry in 11 countries covering three sectors totaled US$248 billion in 2017.
Patents
China's IP Office received the highest total number of patent applications in 2017: a record 1,380,000. In 2017, China refined its method of compiling statistics relating to patent applications and industrial design registrations, computing only those in respect of which application fees have been paid. The Chinese IP Office was followed by the Offices of the USA (606,956), Japan (318,479), the Republic of Korea (204,775) and the European Patent Office (EPO) (166,585).
The top five offices accounted for 84.5% of the world total. Among these Offices, the strongest increase in filings was observed in those of China (+14.2%) and the EPO (+4.5%), while in those of Japan (+0.03%) and the USA (+0.2%) the increase was irrelevant. The Republic of Korea (-1.9%) received fewer applications in 2017 than in 2016.
Germany (67,712), India (46,582), the Russian Federation (36,883), Canada (35,022) and Australia (28,906) were also among the top 10 offices. Australia (+1.8%), Canada (+0.8%) and India (+3.4%) saw an increase in filings, while Germany (-0.3%) and the Russian Federation (-11.3%) saw a decrease in the number of filings.
Asia is going strong
Asia strengthened its position as the region with the strongest filing activity. Offices located on that continent received 65.1% of the total number of applications filed worldwide in 2017 - a considerable increase, up 49.7% from 2007 - mainly due to the increase observed in China.
Offices located in North America accounted for 20.3% of the 2017 global total - six percentage points lower than their share in 2007. Europe's share decreased from 18.1% in 2007 to 11.2% in 2017. The combined share of Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Oceania was around 3.4% in 2017.
Patenting activity without borders
In terms of foreign filings, indicating a desire to expand into new markets, U.S. residents continue to lead the way with 230,931 equivalent patent applications filed abroad in 2017. The U.S. was followed by Japan (200,370), Germany (102,890), the Republic of Korea (67,484) and China (60,310).
Among these five origins, China saw a 15% increase in overseas filings, far outpacing Japan (+2.1%) and the U.S. (+2%). Both Germany (-0.6%) and the Republic of Korea (-4.1%) saw a lower volume of foreign filings in 2017 than in 2016.
The number of patents in force worldwide increased by 5.7% to 13.7 million in 2017. Approximately 2.98 million patents were in force in the U.S.; meanwhile, China (2.09 million) and Japan (2.01 million) had close to 2 million patents in force.
Trademarks
In 2017, about 9.11 million trademark applications were filed covering 12.39 million classes. The number of classes specified in the applications increased from 26.8% in 2017, marking the eighth consecutive year of increase.
The IP Office of China saw the highest volume of filing activity, with a class count of approximately 5.7 million; it was followed by those of the U.S. (613,921) and Japan (560,269), the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) (371,508) and the Islamic Republic of Iran (358,353). Among the top 20 Offices, the Offices of the Islamic Republic of Iran (+87.9%) and China (+55.2%) showed a high annual increase. In both Offices, strong increases in resident filings boosted the overall increase. Japan (+24.2%), the United Kingdom (+24.1%) and Canada (+19.5%) also saw significant increases.
Asia leads the way in trademark filings
Offices located in Asia accounted for 66.6% of total trademark filing activity in 2017, up from 36.1% in 2007. Europe's share fell, from 38.9% in 2007 to 17.7% in 2017. North America accounted for 6.4% of the world total in 2017, while the combined share of Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Oceania amounted to 9.2% in 2017 - five percentage points below their combined share in 2007.
Trademarks associated with advertising and commercial business management accounted for 11% of total global filing activity in 2017, followed by apparel (7%), computer hardware, software and instruments (6.9%) and education and entertainment services (5.8%).
The estimated number of active trademark registrations in 2017 is 43.2 million worldwide-an increase of 9.7% over 2016, with 14.9 million in China alone, which was followed by 2.2 million in the U.S., 1,900,000 in Japan and 1,600,000 in India.
Industrial designs
An estimated 945,100 industrial design applications containing 1,240,000 designs were filed worldwide in 2017.
In 2017, the China Office received applications containing 628,658 designs, corresponding to 50.6% of the world total. It was followed by the EUIPO (111,021), the KIPO (67,357), Turkey (46,875) and the USA (45,881). Among the top 20 offices, the fastest increase in industrial design counts occurred in the UK (+92.1%), Spain (+23.5%) and Switzerland (+17.9%).
Asia shows strongest design activity
Offices located in Asia accounted for more than two-thirds (67.9%) of all design applications filed worldwide in 2017; they were followed by Europe (24.4%), North America (4.2%), Africa (1.5%), Latin America and the Caribbean (1.2%) and Oceania (0.7%).
Furniture-related designs accounted for 10% of total filings, followed by clothing (8.5%) and containers (7.2%).
The total number of industrial design registrations in force worldwide increased by 5% to 3.75 million. Approximately 1.46 million were in force in China, followed by the Republic of Korea (339,350), the USA (321,314), Japan (254,060) and the EUIPO (210,605).
Plant varieties
China became the leading filing office in 2017, receiving 4,465 applications for plant variety protection, followed by the Community Plant Variety Office (CPVO) of the European Union (3,422), the USA (1,557), Ukraine (1,345) and Japan (1,019). In China, an increase of 52.8% was observed in 2017. Also in Ukraine (+5.6%), Japan (+4.3%) and CPVO (+3.7%) an increase was observed, while in the USA filings dropped from 2.9%.
Geographical indications
In 2017, there were 59,500 geographical indications in force worldwide. Geographical indications are signs used on products that have a specific geographical origin and possess qualities or a reputation derived specifically from their place of origin, e.g. Gruyère for a type of cheese or Tequila for a spirit.
Germany (14,073) had the highest number of geographical indications in force, followed by Austria (8,749), China (8,507), Hungary (6,646) and the Czech Republic (6,191). In each of the EU Member States there were 4,932 EU geographical indications in force.
Geographical indications in force relating to "wines and spirits" made up approximately 57% of the world total in 2017; they were followed by agricultural products and foodstuffs (28.2%) and handicraft products (2.7%).
Creative Economy
Revenues generated by three sectors (commercial, educational and scientific, technical and medical) of the publishing industry in 11 countries amounted to US$248 billion. China had the largest net revenue (US$202.4 billion); it was followed by the US (US$25.9 billion), Germany (US$5.8 billion) and the UK (US$4.7 billion).
Digital editions generated 28.3% of total commercial sector revenues in China, 23.5% in Japan, 18.4% in Sweden, 13.2% in Finland and 12.9% in the USA.
The U.S. sold 2,693 million copies of published titles in 2017; it was followed by the U.K. (647 million), Brazil (617 million) and France (430 million).
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Source: WIPO
