IP applications reached new highs in 2021, according to WIPO’s World Intellectual Property Indicators (WIPI) report published yesterday (21 November).

Trade marks ...

The report found that most countries saw an increase in trade mark filings during the year. The total trade mark class count worldwide was 18.1 million, up 5.5% on 2020. This comprised 13.9 million trade mark applications.

Trade mark filing activity grew in 18 of the top 20 offices. The UK led the growth, with an increase of 61.8%, while China’s IP office had the highest total volume of filing activity with a class count of 9.5 million.

In total, offices in Asia accounted for 69.7% of all trade mark filing activity, up from 44.7% in 2011. Europe’s share has declined from 31.6% in 2011 to 15.7% in 2021.

There were an estimated 73.7 million active trade mark registrations at 149 IP offices in 2021, an increase of 14.3% on 2020. Of these, 37.2 million (just over 50%) are in China.

 ... designs ...

Industrial design filing rose by 9.2% to 1.5 million designs in 2021 (with 1.2 million design applications).

China’s IP office received applications covering 805,710 designs during the year, or 53.2% of the world total.

The UK received 2.3 times more designs in applications in 2021 compared to 2020, due to Brexit. India also saw a significant increase of 67.6%, as did Mexico (38.4%) and Türkiye (38.3%).

As with trade marks, there is a trend toward Asia and away from Europe: offices located in Asia accounted for 69.3% of all designs in applications filed worldwide in 2021, up from 64.1% in 2011 while Europe’s share fell from 28.9% in 2011 to 23.3% in 2021.

... and more

The report also includes data on patents, plant varieties and geographical indications. You can read more about it and download the full data on WIPO’s website here.

In a statement, WIPO Director general Daren Tang said: “IP filing strength during the pandemic showed that people across the world continued to innovate and create despite the economic and social disruptions caused by the pandemic.” But he added: “This resilience should not be taken for granted. Another economic downturn is looming and geopolitical tensions have increased.”