International Patent Filings Set New Record in 2011

Geneva, March 5, 2012
PR/2012/703

Press Conference Video

Despite difficult economic conditions, international patent filings under the WIPO-administered Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) set a new record in 2011 with 181,900 applications – a growth of 10.7% on 2010 and the fastest growth since 2005.¹ China, Japan and the United States of America (US) accounted for 82% of the total growth (annex 1). Chinese telecommunications company ZTE Corporation was the biggest filer of PCT applications in 2011.

(Photo: E. Berrod)

“The recovery in international patent filings that we saw in 2010 gained strength in 2011,” said WIPO Director General Francis Gurry. “This underlines the important role played by the PCT system in a world where innovation is an increasingly important feature of economic strategy. It also shows that companies have been continuing to innovate in 2011 – reassuring news in times of persistent economic uncertainty.”

Attesting to the rapid growth of the PCT system, 2011 also saw the filing of the two millionth PCT application, by US-based mobile technology company Qualcomm.

Among the top filing countries, PCT applications from China (+33.4%), Japan (+21%), Canada (+8.3%), the Republic of Korea (+8%) and the US (+8%) saw the fastest growth in 2011. European countries witnessed a mixed performance, with Switzerland (+7.3%), France (+5.8%), Germany (+5.7%) and Sweden (+4.6%) experiencing growth, and the Netherlands (-14%), Finland (-2.7%), Spain (-2.7%) and the United Kingdom (-1%) seeing declines. The large middle-income economies of the Russian Federation (+20.8%), Brazil (+17.2%) and India (+11.2%) recorded double-digit filing growth.

The US with 48,596 filings remains the largest user of the PCT system, followed by Japan (38,888), Germany (18,568) and China (16,406). However, the US (-0.7%) and Germany (-0.5%) saw drop in their shares of total filings, while China (+1.5) and Japan (+1.8) each increased their share by more than a percentage point.

Top applicants

ZTE Corporation of China with 2,826 published applications overtook Panasonic Corporation of Japan (2,463) as the top PCT applicant in 2011 (annex 2).² Huawei Technologies, Co. of China (1,831) ranks third, followed by Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha (1,755) of Japan and Robert Bosch Corporation (1,518) of Germany. Each of the top five applicants saw double-digit growth in published PCT applications. Five Japanese companies – Panasonic, Sharp, Toyota, NEC, and Mitsubishi – feature in the top 15-list.

The University of California, with 277 applications published in 2011, is the largest filer among educational institutions, followed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (179), the University of Texas System (127), Johns Hopkins University (111) and the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (103). US universities account for 30 of the top-50 educational institutions, followed by Japan and the Republic of Korea with 7 institutions each (annex 3).

PCT filings by fields of technology

Digital communications with 11,574 (or 7.1% of total) published applications remained the field of technology accounting for the largest share of total PCT applications in 2011, followed by electronic machinery (6.9%), medical technology (6.6%) and computer technology (6.4%).³

Most technology fields experienced growth in patenting in 2011. Electronic machinery (23.2%) saw the fastest growth, but 11 other fields also experienced double-digits growth (annex 4). Only 4 fields saw a decline in filings, including basic communication processes (-5.9%), organic fine chemistry (-4.1%), and pharmaceuticals (-1.9%).

Background

The PCT system facilitates the process of seeking patent protection in multiple countries. It simplifies this process by postponing the requirement to file a separate application in each jurisdiction until after a centralized processing and initial patentability evaluation have taken place. Examination of the patentability of the invention in national offices and the related expenses are postponed, in the majority of cases, by up to 18 months – or even longer in some offices – as compared to direct patent filings. The PCT system now has 144 member states. Annex 5 presents total PCT filings from all member states from 2007 to 2011.

Data updates and further analysis

For data updates and additional analysis on the performance of the PCT system in 2011, please consult the PCT Yearly Review: The International Patent System in 2011, which will be published on WIPO Intellectual Property Statistics website in April of 2012.

Annexes

Annex 1 - PCT international applications – Top 15 countries

Annex 2: Published PCT international applications by top applicants

Annex 3: Published PCT international applications by top universities

Annex 4: PCT international application by fields of technology

Annex 5: PCT international applications by country

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1  The data are provisional as WIPO continues to receive PCT applications filed with national offices in 2011.
2  For confidentiality reasons, the ranking of top applicants and the breakdown by field of technology are based on PCT applications published (rather than filed). Statistics based on publication date have a delay of approximately 6 months compared to those based on international filing date.
3  The breakdown of published PCT applications by technology field relies on WIPO's International Patent Classification and Technology concordance table.