Amid an uneven pace of global economic recovery, filings also increased for industrial designs and utility models in 2013 for the fourth consecutive year, according to the 2014 edition of the World Intellectual Property Indicators, a benchmark report that gathers data on intellectual property rights from more than 100 countries.
Across the world, IP filing activity saw growth of 9% for patents, 6.4% for trademarks, 2.5% for industrial designs, and 6.3% for plant varieties.
Reflecting growth rates of gross domestic product in many regions, IP filing increases are robust in China and the US, while declining in Europe and Japan.
“Global intellectual property filing trends mirror the broader economic picture,” said WIPO Director General Francis Gurry. “The diverging performance of the world economy appears to be leaving its mark on the global innovation landscape.”
In total, innovators filed some 2.57 million patent applications worldwide in 2013, a 9% increase on 2012. Trademark applications, on the other hand, have more than doubled since 1995. 2013 saw as well a modest 2.5 % growth in the number of industrial designs contained in applications (i.e., design counts). Full Press Release.
