Five Million PCT Applications Published
The PCT, now in its 47th year of operations, published the 5 millionth PCT application on 28 November 2024, marking a major milestone in the history of the Treaty and of WIPO.
The 5 millionth application published was filed by Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. The company, based in the Republic of Korea, was the second largest filer under the PCT in 2024, filing almost 4000 international applications. The invention, for an “Image Processing Device and Image Processing Method” (PCT/KR2024/095488, WO/2024/242518), is designed to stabilize photographic images and result in clearer mobile phone pictures. The application can be found at:
https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=WO2024242518
“In nearly five decades of operations, WIPO’s PCT has helped spread across borders the great inventions of our times: from Bluetooth to robots to the underlying architecture of the Internet and mobile phones as well as CRISPR, life-saving vaccines and today’s electric vehicles,” said WIPO Director General Daren Tang. He added: “The PCT is any innovator’s go-to option to secure patent protection in multiple countries. WIPO is vigorously pursuing its PCT mission of supporting applicants and potential new users the world over in the realization of the most precious of natural resources, human inventiveness.”
“It’s notable that the PCT’s 5 millionth patent application is from a company based in the Republic of Korea, which has harnessed innovation, technology, and ingenuity to transform its economy in roughly the same time span as the PCT’s operations. Intellectual property-driven innovation is a key driver of human progress, as the Republic of Korea has shown,” said Mr. Tang.
Further information was published in WIPO Press Release PR/2024/930, dated 2 December 2024, at:
https://www.wipo.int/pressroom/en/articles/2024/article_0018.html