2017世界知识产权指标（英文版）-36mb

Summary of World Intellectual Property Indicators 2017

Core Content

The World Intellectual Property Indicators 2017 report provides an overview of global intellectual property (IP) filing activity in 2016, highlighting trends in patent, trademark, industrial design, utility model, and plant variety applications. It also introduces a new special section focusing on the operational performance of IP offices, including examination capacity, application processing times, and examination outcomes.

Main Viewpoints

• Global IP Filings Reached New Highs: With the global economy recovering, IP filings saw significant growth over seven years. Global patent filings increased by 8.3%, trademark filings by 13.5%, and industrial design filings by 8.3% in 2016.
• China as the Main Driver: China continued to be the largest contributor to global IP filings, with patent applications up by 21.5%, trademark filings by 30.8%, and industrial design filings by 14.3%.
• United States and Other Countries Showed Growth: The U.S. saw increases in patent applications (2.7%), trademark filings (5.5%), and industrial design filings (12.1%). Other countries like Japan, Russia, and India also experienced notable growth in trademark filings, while the Russian Federation and EUIPO showed strong growth in industrial design filings.
• Republic of Korea Experiences Decline: For the first time, the Republic of Korea saw declines in all three IP categories: patents (-2.3%), trademarks (-1.7%), and industrial designs (-4.6%).
• New Focus on Geographical Indications (GIs): This edition introduces GI statistics, with data collected from 54 national and regional authorities. The data is acknowledged as incomplete due to the varied ways GIs are protected across jurisdictions.
• Challenges in Comparing IP Filing Data: Differences in procedures across IP offices make direct comparisons difficult, but the report emphasizes the importance of monitoring trends over time.
• Patent Office Operations: The report includes data on patent office procedures, such as examination processes, application pendency times, and examination outcomes. It highlights that some offices, like South Africa, only perform formal examination, while others, like Japan, conduct both formal and substantive examination.

Key Information

IP Filing Activity by Origin (2016)

Total IP Filings (Resident and Abroad)

Resident IP Filings (2016)

Key Statistics

Trends in Patent Office Workloads

• The number of patent applications globally increased from 1 million in 1995 to 3.1 million in 2016, with an average growth rate of 5% for the EPO, Republic of Korea, and U.S.
• China's patent applications grew from 18,700 in 1995 to 1.3 million in 2016, with an average annual growth of 23%.
• Offices in middle-income countries, such as Brazil and India, also experienced significant increases in patent applications.
• The number of potentially pending applications increased in most offices, with notable growth in Australia, Brazil, and India, while Japan saw a decline due to fewer applications.

Challenges and Considerations

• Examination Capacity: Offices need to adapt their processing capacity to manage the growing number of applications, particularly in examination.
• Pendency Times: The report highlights the importance of reducing pendency times and managing backlogs, which can affect the efficiency of patent granting.
• Data Limitations: Due to varying procedures, comparing operational data across offices is challenging. The report encourages focusing on internal trends rather than direct comparisons.
• Procedural Differences: Different patent offices have varying procedures, such as the requirement for a request for examination, the type of examination (formal vs. substantive), and the management of workload, which affects the overall process.

Additional Notes

• The report includes a special section on patent office operations, covering application processing times, examination capacity, and examination outcomes.
• Annex S1 and Annex S2 provide detailed data on the evolution of patent applications and the number of patent examiners at selected offices.
• The WIPO Statistics Database is recommended for further exploration of the data.
• The report thanks Member States and national IP authorities for their cooperation in providing the annual statistics.