Global Demand for Intellectual Property Tools Soars, China Driving Growth: Report

2018/12/07

Global demand for intellectual property (IP) tools hit new record in 2017, with China leading the growth in filings at the heart of the global economy, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) said on November 3. Across the globe, innovators filed 3.17 million patent applications in 2017, up 5.8 percent on 2016 figures and representing an eighth straight yearly increase, according to WIPO's annual World Intellectual Property Indicators (WIPI) report. China recorded the highest application volume for each IP right as innovators and creators inside the country, as well as foreign entities, seek to protect and promote their work in one of the world's fastest growing major economies, the report said. The number of China's trademark applications increased by about 55 percent, representing 46 percent of all trademark applications filed worldwide. The IP office of China had the highest volume of filing activity with a class count of around 5.7 million, followed by the U.S. (613,921), Japan (560,269), the European Union Intellectual Property Office (371,508), and Iran (358,353). China's IP office also received the highest number of patent applications in 2017, a record total of 1.38 million. Trailing China's IP office were the IP offices of the United States (606,956), Japan (318,479), South Korea (204,775), and the European Patent Office (166,585).

Source: xinhua