The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) held a press conference in Geneva, Switzerland, on April 7, 2020, announcing the registration data of year 2019 for patents, trademarks and industrial designs.  As the data shown in 2019, China has submitted 58,990 patent applications through Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) of WIPO, which surpassed the United States of America (U.S.) (57,840 patent applications in 2019) and became the top source of international patent applications filed with WIPO.

　　“China’s rapid growth to become the top filer of international patent applications via WIPO underlines a long-term shift in the locus of innovation towards the East, with Asia-based applicants now accounting for more than half of all PCT applications,” said WIPO Director General Francis Gurry.

　　According to the data shown, international patent applications filed via the PCT grew by 5.2% (265,800 applications) in 2019, while international trademark applications via the Madrid System for the International Registration of Marks increased by 5.7% (64,400 applications).  Protection for industrial designs via the Hague System for the International Registration of Industrial Designs saw a 10.4% growth (21,807 designs), capping another record-setting year for WIPO’s global IP services.

　　Besides, in 2019, the top five users of the PCT were:  China (58,990 PCT applications), the U.S (57,840), Japan (52,660), Germany (19,353) and the Republic of Korea (19,085) (Annex 1) .  The top 15 origins consist of 12 high-income countries and three middle-income countries, namely China,  Turkey (2,058) and India (2,053). Applicants based in Asia accounted for 52.4% of all PCT applications filed in 2019, while Europe (23.2%) and North America (22.8%) accounted for less than a quarter each.

　　In addition, as the data shown that depends on the classification of PCT international patent applicants, the performance of Chinese enterprises and universities as the applicant, are very eye-catching.

　　For the third consecutive year, China-based telecoms giant Huawei Technologies, with 4,411 published PCT applications, was the top corporate filer in 2019. It was followed by:  Mitsubishi Electric Corp. of Japan (2,661);  Samsung Electronics of the Republic of Korea (2,334); Qualcomm Inc. of the U.S. (2,127);  and Guang Dong Oppo Mobile Telecommunications of China (1,927). The top 10 applicant list comprises four companies from China.  Among educational institutions,  the University of California maintained its top rank with 470 published applications in 2019.  Tsinghua University (265) ranked second, followed by Shenzhen University (247), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (230) and South China University of Technology (164).  The top 10-university list comprises five universities from the U.S., four from China and one from the Republic of Korea.

　　“IP is increasingly at the heart of global competition”,  said WIPO Director General Francis Gurry.  A net increase in global innovation means new drugs, communications technologies, solutions for global challenges that benefit everyone, wherever they live.

　　It is reported that in recent years, China has vigorously implemented innovation-driven development strategies and intellectual property strategies, continuously increased investment in innovation and research, paid highly attention to intellectual property protection, and created a health business environment. The international influence of intellectual property is further enhanced with perfect performance of both quantitative and qualitative improvements.

　　News sources:  World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO);

　　National Intellectual Property Administration, PRC