Patents, trademarks and designs reached record levels in 2021, with Asia driving growth in intellectual property.
According to the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), despite the disruption of the coronavirus pandemic, the 2021 figures bucked previous economic downturn trends.
“Latest data shows continued and sustained growth in intellectual property filings, driven largely by increases from Asia, with other regions also trending mostly upward,” said WIPO Director General Daren Tang.
“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”, he added.
Data published in WIPO’s latest World Intellectual Property Indicators report showed innovators filed 3.4 million patent applications globally last year, which was up 3.6 percent from 2020 – with Asia driving more than two-thirds of requests.
Up by 5.5 percent, China and India showed strong growth in local patent filings along with South Korea, which jumped 2.5 percent.
In the US, patent filing dropped by 1.2 percent, in Japan by 1.7 percent and in Germany by 3.9 percent, last year.
“Most countries registered increases in trademark filing activity in 2021, with 18.1 million trademark class counts worldwide in 2021, up 5.5 percent, on 2020”, the Geneva-based agency said.
WIPO also observed that the growth in registering new brands coincided with a boom in entrepreneurial activity and venture capital deals that was prompted by the Covid-19 disruption.
WIPO Director General, however, cautioned that intellectual property resilience “should not be taken for granted”, amid an uncertain geopolitical outlook and unresolved problems relating to the climate crisis.
“Another economic downturn is looming and geopolitical tensions have increased”, he warned.
Tang insisted that challenges including climate change and ensuring the success of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs) means that “we have to continue supporting innovators and creators to use the IP system to bring their ideas to reality, and create the impact that will change our lives for the better”.
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