Global patent filings increased by 2.7% in 2023, accompanied by a 3.9% growth in applications for utility models – a special form of patent right. Specifically, patent filings worldwide reached 3.6 million, while utility model applications amounted to 3.1 million. Trademark filing totaled 15.2 million, reflecting a 2% decline on 2022, although this decline was much less pronounced than in the year prior. Industrial design filing rebounded from a decrease in 2022, rising by 2.8% to reach 1.5 million in 2023.
Offices in Asia continued to account for close to 70% of total worldwide filing for patents, trademarks and industrial designs, as well as almost all global utility model filing. Over the past decade, Asia’s global share of applications filed for these four IP rights has seen a substantial increase. For instance, Asia’s portion of all patent applications filed globally has grown from 58.4% in 2013 to a remarkable 68.7% in 2023. Within Asia, IP filings are highly concentrated in the offices of China, Japan, and the Republic of Korea. For example, in the case of patents, these three offices alone accounted for a combined share of 91.1% of all Asian filings for this IP right in 2023.
The year 2023 saw a 7.6% increase in the number of patents in force worldwide, bringing the total to approximately 18.6 million. China had the highest number of patents in force at 5 million, followed by the United States of America (US) with 3.5 million and Japan with 2.1 million.
An estimated 88.2 million trademark registrations were active in 2023, which is 6.4% higher compared to 2022. Impressively, the office of China accounted for over half (46.1 million) of all active registrations, followed by the offices of India and the US, which recorded about 3.2 million each.
In 2023, there were about 6.1 million active industrial design registrations estimated worldwide, representing an on-year increase of 10.5%. The office of China had the highest number with 3.2 million active registrations, followed by the offices of the US (424,718) and the Republic of Korea (414,117).
Data received by WIPO from a total of 86 national and regional authorities show there were an estimated 58,600 protected geographical indications (GIs) in existence in 2023. It is important to note that this overall total will inevitably include a degree of double counting, as GIs in force through bilateral, plurilateral or multilateral agreements could potentially be included multiple times. If GIs in force through various international agreements are excluded, then around 23,400 GIs were in force in 2023.