(19 March 2019) Asia-based innovators filed more than half of all international patent applications via WIPO for the first time in 2018 on significant growth from China, India and the Republic of Korea, capping another record-setting year for WIPO’s global intellectual property (IP) services.
WIPO’s Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) passed a record-breaking quarter-million (253,000) filing mark in 2018, a 3.9% increase over 2017, while WIPO’s Madrid System saw 61,200 international trademark applications, a 6.4% increase. WIPO’s Hague System for industrial designs saw 3.7% growth in 2018, reaching 5,404 applications.
U.S.-based inventors filed the greatest number of PCT patent applications in 2018, trailed closely by China, which is expected to surpass the U.S. within the next two years on current trends.
“Asia is now the majority filer of international patent applications via WIPO, which is an important milestone for that economically dynamic region and underscores the historical geographical shift of innovative activity from West to East,” said WIPO Director General Francis Gurry. “Intellectual property is a critical competitive element in the modern global economy, with everyone ultimately benefiting from this race to create and innovate that results in new products that transform our world and the way people live everywhere.”
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