WIPO Releases Report on Worldwide IP Rights

    By Donald Zuhn --

Last week, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) released a report on intellectual property trends showing that the number of filed patent, trademark, and industrial design applications increased in 2007 ("World Intellectual Property Indicators 2009").  However, preliminary results for 2008 indicate that application filings dropped last year, a result not altogether surprising given the economic crisis that began in December 2007.  Concerning the preliminary findings showing an IP downturn in 2008, WIPO Director General Dr. Francis Gurry noted that "[h]istory has shown . . . that companies and countries which continue to invest in new products and innovation during times of economic recession will be those that will be best positioned to take advantage of the recovery, when it arrives."

With regard to filed patent applications, the 110-page report indicates that worldwide patent filings increased by 3.7% in 2007, the last year for which complete worldwide statistics were available.  However, the increase in 2007 patent filings was not as high as the 5.2% increase observed in 2006.  While preliminary data indicate that fewer patent applications were filed last year than in 2007, the report states that the depth of the slowdown remains unclear.  Interestingly, despite the drop in worldwide patent applications in 2008, the number of PCT applications filed last year actually increased by 2.3%.

The report also indicates that in 2007, 59.2% of all patent applications were filed in China, Japan, and the U.S., and 74.4% of all issued patents coming from the five largest offices (Japan, U.S., Korea, China, and the EPO).  In addition, the report shows that 43.3% of all patent applications were filed in 2007 by non-residents.  The report further reveals that the backlog of unprocessed worldwide patent applications reached 4.2 million in 2007, with the USPTO accounting for about 28% of the backlog, followed by Japan, the EPO, and Korea.  With regard to patent application filings by field of technology, the report indicates that between 2002 and 2006, organic chemistry filings were down 0.8%, biotechnology filings were down 3.8%, and pharmaceutical filings were up 3.1%.

The report also indicates that 764,700 patents were issued worldwide in 2007, an increase of 1.6% over 2006.  The 2007 increase in issued patents, however, was far below the 19.4% increase observed in 2006.  The report attributes the slowdown in issued patents to a "substantial decrease" in patents granted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the European Patent Office.  In addition, the report notes that the USPTO, which had led all other countries in issued patents since 1998, was overtaken by Japan in 2007.  China also overtook the EPO as the fourth largest office in terms of issued patents, with the Republic of Korea taking the third spot.  The report states that about 6.3 million patents were in force in 2007, with residents of Japan and the USA owning approximately 47% of this total.

The report also provides a listing of the Top 20 PCT applicants in the business sector and the university sector.  Of the twenty companies making the business sector list, the only company having any biotech or pharma ties was DuPont (at #20).  The Top 20 PCT filers for the university sector are indicated in the table below.