Insights: WIPO Release Global Patent Applications Analytics for 2015

The World Intellectual Property Office (WIPO) has today released its analysis of Intellectual Property filings for 2015. Continued strong growth in global filings was seen, with an increase of almost 8% over the number of patent applications filed in 2014. Much of the growth was driven by China where, for the first time, domestic filings exceeded 1 million, more than all of the domestic US and Japanese filings (the second and third largest filing countries) put together.

The proportion of Chinese applications that are pursued outside of China is still a fraction of the proportion of US, Japanese, South Korean and European applications that are pursued in other countries. However, the proportion of Chinese applications filed abroad continues to rise year on year, reflecting a gradual shift in the focus of Chinese industry towards a more global perspective.

Computer technology, electrical machinery and digital communication continue to dominate the technical fields of published applications, these three fields alone accounting for almost a quarter of all applications filed globally in 2015.

Global Trade Mark filings also saw a very significant rise in 2015 (over 25%), again driven by a significant rise in the number of applications being filed in China.