Image: EC – Audiovisual Services
The number of patents filed at the world’s five largest patent offices increased by 10.5 per cent from 2011 to 2012, according to preliminary data released jointly by the Five IP Offices group (IP5).
The data were compiled in April by the patent offices in Europe, Japan, Korea, China, and the United States, whose filings together account for 90 per cent of the world total. According to the figures, which were published on the European Patent Office’s website on 22 May, nearly 2 million applications for patents were filed at these offices in 2012.
Of these, more than 257,000 were submitted to the European Patent Office, according to the office’s annual report, and more than 94,000 came from the EPO’s member states. Both numbers were record highs for the European office.
Among the five offices, the largest increase in filings was seen in China, whose office received 24 per cent more applications in 2012 than in 2011. China’s office also saw a 29 per cent increase in patents originating within the country.
The US office had an increase in filings of 8 per cent from 2012 to 2011, while the increases at the Korean and European offices were both around 5 per cent and the change in Japan was less than 1 per cent.
There was also a 16.7 per cent increase in the number of patents granted in 2012 compared to 2011, according to the IP5 figures. Together, the offices granted 924,000 patents in 2012.
The IP5 say they work together with the aim of reducing duplication of work, such as when patents are filed at more than one of the offices. The group says the 2012 data was released in preliminary form and will be followed by a full report later this year.
It published the first report of this type in 2012.