On July 31, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) published its annual World Patent Report.
Among the highlights:
• Worldwide patent activity increased by 4.9% between 2005 and 2006, mostly due to increased filings by applicants from China, the Republic of Korea and the United States of America: The United States Patent and Trademark Office was the largest recipient of patent filings, for the first time since 1963, with a total of 425,966 patent applications filed in 2006. There was a small decrease in the number of patents filed at the Japan Patent Office in 2006 (408,674). The patent offices of China (210,501), the Republic of Korea (166,189), and the European Patent Office (135,231) also received a large number of filings.
• Increasing internationalization of the patent system: There has been a significant increase in the level of internationalization of patent activity as reflected by non-resident patent filings and international filings through the PCT System. The non-resident filings share of total patent filings increased from 35.7% in 1995 to 43.6% in 2006. The level of internationalization varies across countries/economies. The share of non-resident patent filings is very high in the patent offices of Hong Kong (SAR), China, Israel, Mexico and Singapore – where more than 90% of total filings are accounted for by non-resident applicants. In addition, between 2005 and 2006, non-resident patent filings increased by 7.4%, whereas resident filings increased by 3.1%.
• Approximately 6.1 million patents were in force in 2006: The largest number of patents in force were in the United States of America (1.8 million in 2006). However, the majority of patents in force were owned by applicants from Japan. Although patent rights are conferred to the applicant for up to 20 years, available data show that only a minority of patents are maintained for the full 20 year term. More than half of the patents in force in 2006 were filed during the period between 1997 and 2003.
• Increase in patent filings in computer technology, telecommunications and electrical machinery technologies, but a decrease in biotechnology: In 2005, a large number of patent filings were filed across the world in computer technology (144,594), telecommunications (116,770), and electrical machinery (121,350) technologies. Between 2001 and 2005, patent filings in computer technology, optics, and semiconductors grew by 5.3%, 5.0% and 4.9%, a year, respectively. There was a modest increase in pharmaceuticals filings (1.7%) and a decrease in biotechnology filings (-2.7%).
• Large volume of pending applications at some patent offices: There has been an increase in the number of pending patent applications at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). By 2006, the number of patent applications awaiting examination at the USPTO was 1,051,502. There has also been an increase in the application processing time, as reflected by the increase in the number of months for first office action and total pendency time.
The full report