Global Patent, Plant Varieties and Trademarks filings rise in 2014. Industrial Designs drop

Innovators filed some 2.7 million patent applications in 2014 to mark a 4.5% worldwide annual rise. Application activity in China outstripped the combined total in its next-closest followers, the United States and Japan.

Trademark and plant variety filings also showed strong growth last year, while industrial design applications declined for the first time in two decades, according to the 2015 edition of the World Intellectual Property Indicators - WIPO’s annual report on the latest trends in intellectual property (IP) activity worldwide.

“Demand for IP rights continued to grow around the globe in 2014,” said WIPO Director General Francis Gurry. “This underscores the central role that new technology and brand recognition play in determining success in today’s marketplace. It also highlights the important task that falls to IP offices in maintaining quality when examining IP applications.”

Patent offices receiving the highest number of applications in 2014 were China, with 928,177 filings, followed by the US (578,802), Japan (325,989), the Republic of Korea (210,292) and the European Patent Office (EPO, 152,662).

US applicants filed the most applications abroad (224,400), followed by those from Japan (200,000) and Germany (105,600).

Computer technology (7.8% of total) saw most applications worldwide, followed by electrical machinery (7.4%), measurement (4.8%) and digital communication (4.6%).

An estimated 1.18 million patents were granted worldwide in 2014.

The total number of trademark registrations issued worldwide in 2014 increased markedly by 16.3% to reach 3.49 million.

For the first time in more than 20 years, the total number of designs contained in all industrial design applications filed worldwide in 2014 dropped by 8.1% to about 1.14 million in 2014.

Plant variety applications reached a new record in 2014 with around 15,600 filings worldwide. The 3.3% increase in 2014 marks the fourth consecutive year of growth.

WIPO-ARIPO Regional Workshop on Intellectual Property and Product Branding For Business Development in Africa

The World Intellectual Property Organisation, (WIPO), in association with African Regional Intellectual PropertyOrganisation, (ARIPO), hosted the Regional Workshop on Intellectual Property and Product Branding for Business Development in Africa in Lusaka, Zambia, between 26th – 27th November. The workshop, which attracted participants from all 19 ARIPO member states was opened the Acting Secretary for Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs of the Republic of Zimbabwe, F. Gabi.

In his opening speech, quoted by ARIPO website, F. Gabi appreciated WIPO and ARIPO for committing time to share knowledge and understanding about the benefits of using branding to market African IP in Africa and beyond. 

Gabi is quoted saying the African continent is rich in resources of any kind, including genetic resources, traditional knowledge, cultural expressions and many more, all of which needs IP protection and a proper business strategy on how to market the goods and services.

The Director, Industrial Property, Christopher Kiige, welcomed the participants to Harare and thanked the Director General of WIPO for facilitating not only this workshop but also other programmes in Africa including the MIP, IP Offices Infrastructure Development Programme through IPAS and others.

Kiige also thanked the very knowledgeable and high calibre resources persons for making time to come and share their knowledge and experiences. He hoped that the MIP students will use the knowledge obtained during the workshop in their daily work for the benefit of the ARIPO Member States and Africa at large.

The representative of WIPO, Joyce Banya said in the knowledge based economy of the world today the importance of IP and innovation is globally acknowledged. African leaders in the AU Agenda 2063 identified Science, Technology and Innovation as crucial elements for the transformation of African Economies.