China No 7 in 2007 world patent filings; India lags

The number of patents filed under the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) rose 4.7 per cent to 156,100 in 2007, according to the WIPO. As usual, the US led the rankings for countries of origin for the patent applications, followed Japan, Germany, Korea, France, the UK, China, Netherlands, Switzerland and Sweden.

The number of patents filed from India dropped from 831 in 2006 to 686 in 2007. That represented a decline of 17.45 per cent. India retained the 20th position it had in 2006.

For the fourth year running, the most notable growth rates came from countries in North East Asia. These countries accounted for over a quarter (25.8 per cent) of all international applications under the PCT.

Says WIPO director general Dr. Kamil Idris, ''The growth in patent filings by a number of countries in north east Asia and their share of overall patenting activity is impressive and confirms shifting patterns of innovation around the world.

Dr. Idris says the growth in patent applications indicates that the PCT remains an attractive option for businesses. The PCT system makes it easier for companies and inventors to obtain patent rights in multiple countries.

Applications from Japan grew 17.8 per cent, taking it a rank ahead of Germany to the second spot. Patent applications from the Republic of Korea grew 18.8 per cent growth in 2007 from their 2006 level, taking the country one rank ahead of France to become the 4th biggest country of origin of PCT filings. Applications from China grew 38.1 per cent, helping it overtake the Netherlands to the 7th position.

The US accounted for more than 52,000 PCT applications (up 2.6 per cent from 2006), or 33.5 per cent of all applications made in 2007. Brazil, Malaysia, Singapore and Turkey registered double-digit growth in 2007. (See table of top 20 countries of origin of patent filings below.)

Top applicants
The year 2007 witnessed some changes in the list of top users of the PCT system. Japan's Matsushita moved to first place with 2,100 applications, overtaking Philips Electronics of the Netherlands (2,041 applications). Germany's Siemens retained 3rd place with 1,644.

The surprise was China's Huawei Technologies, which moved up nine places to become the 4th largest applicant, with 1,365 applications published in 2007. It was followed by Robert Bosch (Germany), Toyota (Japan), Qualcomm (USA), Microsoft (USA), which jumped 38 places to 8th place, Motorola (USA) and Nokia (Finland). 

Among the 20 top filing companies, six were from the USA, six from Japan and three from Germany. (See table of top 20 patent applicants below.)

Fields of technology
The largest proportion of PCT applications published in 2007 related to the telecommunications (10.5 per cent), information technology (10.1 per cent) and pharmaceuticals (9.3 per cent) sectors. The fastest growing technology areas are nuclear engineering (24.5 per cent increase) and telecommunications (15.5 per cent).

Francis Gurry, WIPO's deputy director general in charge of the PCT work in the organisation, says, ''WIPO is continuing to enhance the PCT and its operations to ensure that applicants benefit from access to ever-more efficient, cost-effective quality services of the highest calibre.'' According to him, WIPO receives on average over 400 PCT applications every day.

''We have seen tremendous efficiency gains in the delivery of PCT services over the last four years,'' Gurry adds. ''WIPO is handling an unprecedented volume of applications with lower staff numbers and is effectively responding to increased demands resulting from changing patterns of innovation. We are clearly seeing a maturing of the system as the PCT celebrates 30 years of operations and currently enjoys a membership of 138 countries.''

According to WIPO, applicants are increasingly submitting their international applications electronically. In 2007, as many as 53 per cent of applications received were filed electronically. A further 15 per cent were filed using PCT-EASY software (electronic bibliographic data with the patent specification on paper). The remaining 32 per cent were filed entirely on paper.

PCT advantages
According to WIPO, the Patent Cooperation Treaty 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 centralised 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 would have received important value-added information concerning the likelihood of obtaining patent protection as well as potential commercial interest in that invention.

Growth rates in the filing of PCT applications have been particularly dynamic over 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, and another four to double it again.