The intellectual property (IP) supports our drive to build a better future. It is the very basis to provide innovators an environment that protects their rights
This year, World Intellectual Property Day focused on the theme, 'Women and IP: Accelerating Innovation and Creativity,' celebrating the determination of women inventors, creators, and entrepreneurs around the world. Intellectual property is a major driving force behind global economic growth. This is the reason why experts spend a lot of time gathering intellectual property facts and figures. By doing this, experts can measure intellectual property’s efficacy in promoting creativity and development. Indeed, Intellectual property is a safeguard mechanism through which creators and innovators are assured that their work would be credited to them and not by someone else. The fact remains that countries that have robust IP ecosystems are at the forefront of innovations and creativity thrives in such places.
According to the report published by Statista Research Department, on March 10, 2023, the leading country for the best intellectual property environment was the United States with an overall score of 95.48 points. The International Property Index consists of five key sets of indicators to map the national intellectual property environment of 55 surveyed countries. The United Kingdom and France followed behind.
In 2021, China had the most patent grants worldwide with 695,946 patents granted to resident and non-resident companies or organizations. The United States followed with 327,307 granted patents the same year. In 2021, China led the ranking with a total of 70,015 international (PCT) patent applications filed in that year. The United States and Japan followed behind with nearly 60,000 and over 50,000 applications respectively. The leading 10 countries accounted for more than 88 percent of all applications filed in 2022.
In 2021, the University of California filed the most international patent applications worldwide, with 551 applications. Zhejiang University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology were ranked second and third. The 2021 ranking of universities with the most international patent applications was dominated by the U.S. and Chinese universities. As of 2021, the number of patent applications worldwide amounted to about 3.4 million. That was a big increase compared to the previous year when the number reached around 3.28 million applications. It was also the highest number of patent applications worldwide in the last 30 years. In 2021, the national patent office of China received the most patent applications worldwide with about 1.6 million patent applications from resident and non-resident companies or organizations. The United States followed with around 591 thousand patent applications.
In 2021, the number of trademark applications worldwide stood at about 13.9 million. That was an increase compared to the previous year when the number of applications amounted to around 13.3 million. It was also the highest number of trademark applications worldwide recorded during the time under consideration.
In 2021, China led the ranking of the 20 national property offices with the most trademark applications with about 9.45 million applications from resident and non-resident companies or organizations that year. Second on that ranking was the United States with around 900 thousand applications in 2021.
In 2021, the number of industrial design applications worldwide stood at about 1.18 million. That was an increase compared to the previous year when the number amounted to roughly 1.1 million applications.
In 2021, the national intellectual property office of China had the most industrial design applications with about 805,710 industrial design applications from resident and non-resident companies or organizations. The European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) followed with around 117,049 applications.
All these intellectual property facts are essential because intellectual property is one of the significant economic growth factors. However, the question remains if these figures related to patents and trademarks are sufficient to understand intellectual property complexities thoroughly.
(Prof. Sunil Goyal is the Dean and Chairman of – the Board of Studies, Dr BR. Ambedkar University of Social Sciences, Dr Ambedkar Nagar and Dimple Khokhar is a PhD Research Scholar)