All WIPO Filings On The Rise, Serving Mainly Developed Economies; Telecoms Increase

Today, the World Intellectual Property Organization released the 2014 numbers of filings for its systems for patents, trademarks, and industrial designs, which form the basis of the revenue of the UN organisation. Filings under the three systems grew in 2014, with a notable presence of telecom companies in patent filing activity. Except for China, top filers in the three systems are developed countries. Also noted was that so far, the significant increase in internet domain names has only led to a slight rise in new domain dispute cases.

WIPO Director General Francis Gurry, speaking at a press briefing today, said the numbers released are a good indication of intellectual property activity on a global scale. However, he said, the three systems stand at a different stage of maturity, which may influence the degree of accuracy of the indication of global IP activity in the less mature systems.

The Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) has 148 contracting parties, while the Madrid System for the international registration of trademarks counts 92 contracting parties (with the 19 members of the African Intellectual Property Organization counting as one). The Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs has 64 members. The Madrid and Hague systems are considered less mature.

According to Gurry, the statistics issued today indicate that “the digital age is well and truly here.”

Telecoms Rate High In PCT Applications, China Strong

WIPO indicates that the top PCT applicants in 2014 were: Huawei Technologies (China), Qualcomm Inc. (United States), ZTE Corp. (China), all from the telecommunication industry. They are followed by Panasonic Corporation (Japan), Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (Japan), and Intel Corporation (US), Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (Sweden), Microsoft Corporation (US), Siemens Aktiengesellschaft (Germany), and Philips Electronics (Netherlands).

The field of technology with the most PCT applications in 2014 was electrical engineering: Electrical machinery, audio-visual technology, telecommunications, digital communication, basic communication processes, computer technology, IT methods for management, and semi-conductors.

In a press release, WIPO said the PCT applications in 2014 amounted to a record-breaking year, with some 215,000 applications. Gurry underlined the fact that the PCT applications were on the rise for the 5th consecutive year, with a 4.5 percent increase in 2014 over 2013.

WIPO also noted that since 2007, the PCT filings from the pharmaceutical industry have been declining, but still represent the seventh largest field.

The US was the primary country of origin for the PCT applicants in 2014, (61,492 applications), followed by Japan (42,459), which declined slightly (3 percent). China is following closely (25,539) with an 18.7 percent increase. Then come Germany (18,008) and South Korea (13,151). In Europe, France (8,319) and the United Kingdom (5,282) both increased from 2013.

Gurry noted an increased “presence of universities in the world of patents…which indicates that science and technology are coming closer together.” Universities are very important players, he underlined.

The top educational institution filers are all US universities: University of California (which filed 413 applications in 2014), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (234), University of Texas System (154), Harvard University (147), Johns Hopkins University (135), Stanford University (113), Columbia University (112), California Institute of Technology (103), and the University of Pennsylvania (94). The first non-US university is Seoul National University, which ranked 10th.

The 50 applicants listed in the WIPO report are all developed countries, with the exception of China. The 2014 numbers for international applications by origin are estimates.

Other than China, top emerging economies were far behind the leading developed economies, with only India (1,394) increasing. Brazil (581), Russia (890) and South Africa (297) all declined. Some 802 applications came from Turkey, 393 from Saudi Arabia, 144 from Chile, 102 from Colombia, and 175 for Barbados.

The gap remains wide with least-developed countries. Examples for comparison are: Angola (2), Bangladesh (2), Senegal (3), and Uganda (4).

Trademark Applications in 2014 Also Record-Breaking

According to WIPO, some 47,885 trademark applications were received under the Madrid System in 2014, which sets a record-high and represents 2.3 percent growth on 2013.

The top applicants were Novartis (Switzerland), Glaxo Group (United Kingdom), Egis Gyógyszergyár (Hungary), Lidl (Germany), Nestlé (Switzerland) and L’Oréal (France).

WIPO noted that the US accounted for more than half of the total growth in the system, and overtook Germany as the largest user.

China, according to WIPO, is the most designated member country in international registrations, followed by the European Union, the US, Russia, and Japan.

Industrial Designs, Germany Larger User

Some 14,441 designs contained in international industrial design applications were filed under the Hague System, according to WIPO, representing a 9.6 percent growth over 2013.

Top filers were: Swatch (Switzerland), Procter & Gamble (US), Philips Electronics (Netherlands), Daimler (Germany), Volkswagen (Germany), Samsung Electronics (South Korea), and Lenovo (China).

Germany was the largest user of the Hague system, according to WIPO, followed by Switzerland and France. Italy and the Netherlands showed fewer filings than in 2013.

Gurry said Japan and the US both joined the system recently, which may make the system a better indicator of industrial design global activity in the future.

WIPO noted that the total number of designs contained in designations of international applications declined. Several designs can be submitted in each applications, Gurry explained.

Domain Name Disputes, Cybersquatting on the Rise

WIPO also released numbers on its Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP). Total WIPO case filings have passed the 30,000 mark, encompassing over 58,000 domain names, according to WIPO.

In 2014, WIPO said, cybersquatting case filings increased by 2 percent, with 2,634 cases concerning 5,591 domain names. Those cases were filed by trademark owners alleging abuse of their mark.

The recent introduction of new generic top-level domains (gTLDs) by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) triggered new UDRP cases, but at a fairly low level, Gurry noted.