Patents, trademarks and designs reached record levels in 2021, with Asia driving growth in intellectual property, the UN agency dedicated to those types of assets said on Monday.
According to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), despite the disruption of the coronavirus pandemic, this bucked previous economic downturn trends.
Global intellectual property filings reached new all-time highs in 2021 with Asia driving growth, WIPO’s World Intellectual Property Indicators đ report shows: https://t.co/VRLhwhvWtI
Flip through the slides to explore the highlights of the Report⤾ď¸
#WIPI22
WIPO
Latest data shows âcontinued and sustained growthâ in intellectual property filings, âdriven largely by increases from Asia, with other regions also trending mostly upwardâ, said WIPO Director General Daren Tang.
âIP 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 pandemicâ, he added.
Asia major
Data published in WIPOâs latest World Intellectual Property Indicators report indicates that innovators filed 3.4 million patent applications globally last year, which was up 3.6 per cent from 2020 â with Asia driving more than two-thirds of requests.
Up by 5.5 per cent, China and India showed strong growth in local patent filings along with South Korea, which jumped 2.5 per cent.
In the United States, patent filing dropped by 1.2 per cent, in Japan by 1.7 per cent and in Germany by 3.9 per cent, last year.
âMost countries registered increases in trademark filing activity in 2021, with 18.1 million trademark class counts worldwide in 2021, up 5.5 per cent, on 2020â, the Geneva-based agency explained.
Post-pandemic boom
WIPO also noted 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.
âIndustrial design filing activity rose by 9.2 per cent,â WIPOâs report said, with the largest growth in designs also from Asia.
Amid an uncertain geopolitical outlook and unresolved problems relating to the climate crisis, the WIPO Director General argued that intellectual property resilience âshould not be taken for grantedâ.
âAnother economic downturn is looming and geopolitical tensions have increasedâ, he warned.
Mr. Tang insisted that challenges including climate change and ensuring the success of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs) means that âwe 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 betterâ.
As an independent media platform, we do not take advertisements from governments and corporate houses. It is you, our readers, who have supported us on our journey to do honest and unbiased journalism. Please contribute, so that we can continue to do the same in future.
