According to the annual World Intellectual Property Indicators (WIPI) report released by WIPO today, the global IP filing while continuing to grow at a remarkable pace has set new records in 2018.
Patent filings across the globe exceeded 3.3 million (33 lakh), representing a 5.2% growth on 2017 figures. Trademark filing activity totaled 14.3 million (143 lakh), up 15.5% on 2017, while the applications for utility models grew by 21.8% to reach 2.1 million (21 lakh) applications and at the same time Plant varieties filings reached 20,210 in 2018.
As per the Press release, China has been the main driver of global growth in IP filings in recent years and in 2018 too again it was the main source of growth in the worldwide IP filings.
In 2018 Asia accounted for more than two-thirds of all patent, trademark and industrial design applications, whereas the United States of America continues to be on top for filing patent applications in export markets.
WIPO Director General Francis Gurry at the press launch of the WIPI stated that, “Asia continues to outpace other regions in filing activity for patents, trademarks, industrial designs and other Intellectual Property Rights that are at the center of the global economy.” He specifically added that, “China alone accounts for almost half of all the world’s patent filings, with India also registering impressive increases. Asia has become a global hub for innovation. ”
Another notable trend f or the year 2018 was the large increases in trademark filing activity in India (+20.9%), France (+10.5%) and Brazil (+9.8%).
India also recorded strong growth in Patent filings (+7.5%) while showing double digit growth in Industrial design filing (+13.6%) as well.
The WIPI complete document can be accessed here.
