China heads international IP applications chart as EU leaders lose steam

China remains the leading user of the World Intellectual Property Organization’s (WIPO) services, with almost 70,000 application filed in 2021, as EU leaders France and Germany fall further behind.

Despite the pandemic, last year WIPO received a record 277,500 applications, with activity growing by 0.9%. This continues the upward trend in applications observed since 2010, with Asia continuing to lead the charge and accounting for 54.1% of all applications in 2021, up from 38.5% in 2011.

The US remained at second place, recording a 1.9% growth in applications, while top two EU countries saw a decrease in activity. Germany recorded 6.4% fewer applications than last year, France – 5.4%.

The number of applications for patents, trademarks and designs filed in each country to WIPO is widely used as a metric for measuring innovative activity. In 2021, the top ten countries accounted for 88.1% of total applications.