The US dominated international patent and trademark filings in 2015

2015 was another year of growth for worldwide intellectual property filings, according to statistics from WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization). Patent applications, as well as trademark and industrial design applications increased during the year.

During 2015, international patent applications under WIPO’s Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) grew by 1.7% to 218,000, a new annual record. Despite a decrease of 6.7%, applicants from the United States accounted for most of the filings with more than 57,000 applications. The US was followed by Japan and China, which together with the Republic of Korea were the main driving forces behind the growth in filings.

Sizeable growth was also registered in Israel, Switzerland and the Netherlands. In Finland and Canada on the other hand, considerably fewer filings were registered than in the previous year.

Top PCT applicants remained unchanged compared to previous year, with Huawei, Qualcomm and ZTE heading the list. Computer technology, digital communications, electronic machinery and medical technology accounted for the largest share of PCT applications.

Novartis top filer of trademark applications

The US also topped the list of biggest filers of international trademark applications via WIPO’s Madrid System. In total, more than 49,000 trademark applications were filed in 2015, an increase of 2.9%. Strong growth were registered in Australia, the US, China and Japan. In contrast, the UK, the Netherlands and Switzerland all saw declines. Top filers of trademark applications during 2015 were Novartis, LIDL and L’Oreal.

Industrial design applications filed under WIPO’s Hague System grew by 40% in 2015, the fastest rate since 2008. This is partly explained by the recent inclusion of the Republic of Korea, Japan and the US in the Hague System.