Geneva, December 3, 2018

　　Worldwide demand for intellectual property (IP) tools reached record heights in 2017, with China driving the growth in filings for patents, trademarks, industrial designs and other IP rights that are at the heart of the global economy.

　　Innovators across the globe filed 3.17 million patent applications in 2017, up 5.8% for an eighth straight yearly increase, according to WIPO’s annual World Intellectual Property Indicators (WIPI) report. Global trademark filing activity totaled 12.39 million, while that for industrial designs reached 1.24 million.

　　China recorded the highest application volume for each of these IP rights 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.

　　“Demand for IP protection is rising faster than the rate of global economic growth, illustrating that IP-backed innovation is an increasingly critical component of competition and commercial activity,” said WIPO Director General Francis Gurry. “In just a few decades, China has constructed an IP system, encouraged homegrown innovation, joined the ranks of the world’s IP leaders - and is now driving worldwide growth in IP filings.”

　　Worldwide plant varieties applications grew by 11.7% to reach 18,490 applications in 2017, while data received from 82 national and regional authorities show the existence of around 59,500 protected geographical indications (GIs) in 2017.