On 7 April 2020, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) released the statistics on international patent, trademark, and industrial design applications in 2019. The statistics showed that 2019 was another record-setting year for international IP filings, with international patent applications via the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) growing by 5.2% to 265,800, international trademark applications via the Madrid system increasing by 5.7% to 64,400, and international industrial designs via the Hague system seeing a 10.4% growth to 21,807.

 

The 2019 also saw China, with 58,990 applications, first surpassing the US as the top source of international patent filings since the PCT began operations in 1978. Following China was the US (57,840), Japan (52,660), Germany (19,353), and Korea (19,085). As for corporate PCT filers, the top five were Huawei Technologies of China (4,411 applications), Mitsubishi Electric Corp. of Japan (2,661), Samsung Electronics of Korea (2,334), Qualcomm Inc. of the US (2,127), and Guang Dong Oppo Mobile Telecommunications of China (1,927).

 

As pointed out by WIPO director general Mr. Francis Gurry in a statement, "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."

 

In terms of international trademark applications, the top five by country of origin in 2019 were the US (10,087 applications), Germany (7,700), China (6,339), France (4,437), and Switzerland (3,729). As for international design applications, the top five of the year were Germany (4,487 designs), Korea (2,736), Switzerland (2,178), Italy (1,994), and the Netherlands (1,376).