[Random-bits] WIPO press release on PCT patent filings
James Love
james.love@cptech.org
Fri Feb 3 09:12:01 2006
The following is a press release from WIPO on 2005 PCT patent filings.
Note that apparently 14 countries (2 in North America, 8 in Europe, 3 in
Asia and Australia) were responsible for 94.6 percent of all PCT patent
filings.
The WIPO Secretariat makes much of the fact that there was a 20 percent
increasing in filings from developing countries. This is based upon the
big surge of patents from just two countries -- China (43.7 percent
increase) and Korea (33.6 percent increase), which together filed 5.4
percent of all PCT patents, and 1,364 more patents than all of the 112
countries with the fewest patent filings (out of a total PCT membership of
128) combined.
Jamie
http://www.wipo.int/edocs/prdocs/en/2006/wipo_pr_2006_436.html
Press Release 436
Geneva, February 3, 2006
EXCEPTIONAL GROWTH FROM NORTH EAST ASIA IN RECORD YEAR FOR INTERNATIONAL
PATENT FILINGS
In a year that saw a record number of international patent filings, the
Republic of Korea overtook the Netherlands as the 6th biggest user of the
World Intellectual Property Organization=92s (WIPO) Patent Cooperation
Treaty (PCT) and China dislodged Canada, Italy and Australia to take the
position of 10th largest PCT user. In 2005, over 134,000 PCT applications
were filed, representing a 9.4% increase over the previous year. The five
top users of the international patent system remained unchanged, namely:
United States of America, Japan, Germany, France and the United Kingdom.
And, for the second year running, the most impressive rates of growth came
from north east Asia =96 namely, Japan, the Republic of Korea and China,
which between them accounted for 24.1% of all international applications,
compared to 34.6% from the countries party to the European Patent
Convention and 33.6% from the United States of America. The PCT is the
cornerstone of the international patent system and offers a rapid,
flexible and cost-effective way to obtain patent protection in the 128
countries that have signed up to the system.
"The rate of growth from Japan, Republic of Korea and China continues to
be exceptional, reflecting the rapidly expanding technological strength of
those countries. Since 2000, the number of applications from Japan,
Republic of Korea, and China, has risen by 162%, 200% and 212%,
respectively," said Mr. Francis Gurry, WIPO Deputy Director General who
oversees the work of the PCT.
Inventors and industry from the United States of America represented 33.6%
(a 3.8% increase over 2004) of all applications in 2005. Applicants from
Japan, who unseated their German counterparts in 2003 for the number two
spot, maintained their second place position with 18.8% of the total
number of applications, representing a 24.3% increase. Germany held third
position with 11.8% of all applications in 2005, representing a 4%
increase, followed by France (4.1% of all applications and a 6.6%
increase) and the United Kingdom (3.8% of all applications and a 1.5%
increase). Among the fifteen top filing countries, others to achieve
double-digit rates of growth were Australia (13th highest filer, with a
rate of growth of 10.1% in 2005) and Finland (14th highest filer, with a
rate of growth of 11.6% in 2005).
Improved Services and Productivity
The considerable overall growth in the number of international
applications resulted, Mr. Gurry said, not only from better economic
conditions, but also from improved services and productivity within the
PCT system, resulting particularly from the use of information technology.
The number of applications filed electronically increased by 106.9% and
filing on electronic media now exceeded paper filings. Information
technology had also been successfully deployed in the movement of
applications and associated data between WIPO and the various national and
regional offices within the system. In addition, the deployment of full
electronic processing of applications by WIPO had been successfully
managed.
Mr. Gurry praised the commitment of the staff of the PCT, which processed
an average of 536 international applications per working day. He said
"there had been tremendous productivity gains in the past year within the
PCT." Productivity improved by 18% using the measure of the number of
international applications processed per employee, which had gone up from
213 per employee, to 253.
"The deployment of full electronic processing within WIPO for PCT
applications not only resulted in major productivity gains at WIPO, but
also assisted in making the world's technology available online for
free-of-charge consultation," Mr. Gurry added. The WIPO website
"PatentScope" now made available over 1.2 million international
applications, representing the most important technological advances of
the past twenty years, in fully searchable form for free consultation by
all (http://www.wipo.int/patentscope/).
The WIPO PCT receiving office also experienced significant growth in its
activities in 2005, recording a 9.5% increase in the number of
international applications filed directly with them. This represents 5.7%
of all PCT applications received in 2005. The PCT receiving office
provides applicants with an option to file their international
applications directly with WIPO, rather than through the intermediary of a
national or regional office.
Top Filers
The 134,073 applications filed in 2005 (provisional estimate - WIPO
continues to receive PCT applications filed with national offices in 2005
throughout the first half of the year), represents a 9.4% increase on the
number filed in 2004. The Dutch multinational Philips Electronics N.V. was
again the largest filer (an estimated 2,492 applications), followed by
Matsushita (Japan) (2,021), Siemens (Germany) (1,402) , Nokia (Finland)
(898), Bosch (Germany) (843), Intel (USA) (691), BASF (Germany) (656), 3M
(USA) (603), Motorola (United States) (580), and DaimlerChrysler (Germany)
(567). Among the 20 top filing companies, seven were from the United
States of America, four from Germany and four from Japan.
Developing Countries
International patent applications received from developing countries in
2005 saw a 20% increase as compared to 2004, representing 6.7% of all
international patent applications filed. The list was topped by
applications from the Republic of Korea with 4,747 applications, followed
by China (2,452), India (648), South Africa (336), Singapore (438), Brazil
(283) and Mexico (136). Several developing countries saw double-digit
increases in their use of the PCT, notably the Republic of Korea, China
and Mexico. Developing countries make up 79% of the membership of the PCT,
representing 101 of the 128 countries that have signed up to the treaty to
date.
The top ten users of the PCT from developing countries include: Samsung
Electronics, (Republic of Korea), LG Electronics (Republic of Korea),
Huawei Technologies (China), Council of Scientific and Industrial Research
(India), Ranbaxy Laboratories (India), LG Chem (Republic of Korea),
Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (Republic of Korea),
Agency for Science, Technology and Research (Singapore), ZTE Corporation
(China) and NHN Corporation (Republic of Korea).
The main fields of technology in which PCT applications were published in
2005 are broken down according to the main technical fields of the
International Patent Classification (IPC) - a system designed to
facilitate the retrieval of technical information found in patent
documents - and are outlined in Annex I. Applications can be filed in any
language and are published in one of the following seven languages:
Chinese, English, French, German, Japanese, Russian, and Spanish (for
further information on IPC codes, please consult:
http://www.wipo.int/classifications/ipc/).
Background
The PCT offers inventors and industry an advantageous route for obtaining
patent protection internationally. By filing one "international" patent
application under the PCT, protection of an invention can be sought
simultaneously in each of a large number of countries. Both applicants and
patent offices of PCT member states benefit from the uniform formality
requirements, the international search and preliminary examination
reports, and the centralized international publication provided by the PCT
system. The national patent granting procedure and the related expenses
are postponed, in the majority of cases, by up to 18 months (or even
longer in the case of some offices) as compared with the traditional
patent system. By this time, the applicant will have received important
value-added information concerning the likelihood of obtaining patent
protection as well as potential commercial interest in that invention.
The growth rate in the filing of PCT applications has been especially
significant during the last nine years. It took 18 years from the
beginning of PCT operations in 1978 to reach 250,000 total applications,
but only four years to double that figure (500,000), and another four to
double it again (1,000,000).
For further information, please contact the Media Relations and Public
Affairs Section at WIPO:
Tel: (+41 22) - 338 81 61 or 338 95 47
Fax: (+41 22) - 338 82 80
Email: publicinf@wipo.int
Annex I
PCT International Applications
Top Countries/Regions of Origin
EPC Member States 46,446, 34.6%
United States of America, 45,111, 33.6%
Japan 25,145, 18.8%
Germany 15,870, 11.8%
France 5,522, 4.1%
UK 5,115, 3.8%
Korea 4,747, 3.5%
Netherlands 4,435, 3.3%
Switerland 3,096, 2.3%
Sweeden 2,784, 2.1%
China 2,452, 1.8%
Canada 2,315, 1.7%
Italy 2,309, 1.7%
Australia 2,022, 1.5%
Finland 1,866, 1.4%
EVERYONE ELSE: 5,835, 4.4%
TOTAL: 134,073, 100.0%
-----------
SELECTED COUNTRIES:
Brazil: 283
Egypt: 48
Ethiopia 0
India 648
Indonesia 12
Jordan 1
Liechtenstein 62
Mali 0
Mexico 136
Malaysia 33
Nigeria 2
Philippines 34
Poland 91
Russia 500
Sudan 9
Singapore 438
Senegal 0
Thailand 10
Viet Nam 1
South Africa 336
SNIP
Top 50 PCT Applicants in 2004 (provisional ranking)
NL
KONINKLIJKE PHILIPS ELECTRONICS N.V.
2492
JP
MATSUSHITA ELECTRIC INDUSTRIAL CO., LTD.
2021
DE
SIEMENS AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT
1402
FI
NOKIA CORPORATION
898
DE
ROBERT BOSCH GMBH
843
US
INTEL CORPORATION
691
DE
BASF AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT
656
US
3M INNOVATIVE PROPERTIES COMPANY
603
US
MOTOROLA, INC.
580
DE
DAIMLERCHRYSLER AG
567
US
EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY
531
US
HONEYWELL INTERNATIONAL INC.
518
SE
TELEFONAKTIEBOLAGET LM ERICSSON (publ)
510
KR
SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.
483
US
THE PROCTER & GAMBLE COMPANY
461
JP
SONY CORPORATION
449
JP
MITSUBISHI DENKI KABUSHIKI KAISHA
436
US
E.I. DUPONT DE NEMOURS AND COMPANY
423
JP
TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
399
FR
THOMSON LICENSING S.A.
390
US
QUALCOMM INCORPORATED
379
US
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
374
JP
FUJITSU LIMITED
358
US
HEWLETT-PACKARD DEVELOPMENT COMPANY, L.P.
358
JP
NEC CORPORATION
353
DE
INFINEON TECHNOLOGIES AG
345
US
THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA
343
US
KIMBERLY-CLARK WORLDWIDE, INC.
336
KR
LG ELECTRONICS INC.
332
US
GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY
321
DE
PHILIPS INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY & STANDARDS GMBH
319
32
BAYER HEALTHCARE AG
310
JP
JAPAN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AGENCY
304
JP
OLYMPUS CORPORATION
295
JP
CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
269
JP
SHARP KABUSHIKI KAISHA
269
CN
HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CO., LTD.
249
US
MEDTRONIC, INC.
245
JP
PIONEER CORPORATION
240
CH
NOVARTIS AG
227
JP
HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.
224
SE
ASTRAZENECA AB
216
DE
BSH BOSCH UND SIEMENS HAUSGER=C4TE GMBH
215
US
CISCO TECHNOLOGY, INC.
212
JP
TOKYO ELECTRON LIMITED
205
FR
COMMISSARIAT A L'ENERGIE ATOMIQUE
202
US
HALLIBURTON ENERGY SERVICES, INC.
200
JP
SHOWA DENKO K.K.
194
JP
DAIKIN INDUSTRIES, LTD.
194
US
MERCK & CO., INC.
189
SNIP
--
James Love
http://www.cptech.org mailto:james.love@cptech.org
mobile +1.202.361.3040