WIPO Reports China Leads Global Patent Application Growth

World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) released 215,000 patent applications were filed in 2014, a 4.5% increase over the previous year and particularly with 25,539 applications, China saw the biggest year over year increase of 18.7% among the top 10 PCT filing countries.

As revealed by Francis Gurry (pictured), Director General of WIPO, 87% of the total growth in filings under WIPO’s Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) come from two countries, namely the US and China. The U.K. recorded the second fastest growth rate (+9%), followed by the US (+7.1%) with 61,492 applications. Japan followed with 42,459 applications, representing a 3% decline on 2013. In addition to Japan, Switzerland (-5.9%) and Sweden (-0.5%) are the two other countries among the top ten with fewer PCT applications in 2014 than in 2013. International trademark (WIPO-administered Madrid System) applications grew to a record of 47,885 in 2014, representing 2.3% growth on 2013. The U.S. accounted for more than half of the total growth, overtaking Germany as the largest user of the System. Among the top origins, Australia (+23.3%) and the U.K. (+19.3%) saw double-digit growth in 2014, while France (-9.9%), China (-5.5%), Germany (-4.8%) and the Netherlands (-4.2%) saw declines.

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