Title page
Contents
Foreword 6
Acknowledgements 7
Further information 7
Key numbers 8
Overview of IP filing activity 9
Special section Measuring women's participation in international patenting 11
Patents 21
Highlights 21
Standard figures and tables 30
Trademarks 75
Highlights 75
Standard figures and tables 83
Industrial Designs 111
Highlights 111
Standard figures and tables 117
Plant Varieties 143
Highlights 143
Standard figures and tables 147
Data description 157
IP systems at a glance 159
Glossary 161
List of abbreviations 168
Annex A. IPC-technology concordance table 169
Annex B. Definitions for selected energy-related technology fields 170
Annex C. International Classification of Goods and Services under the Nice Agreement 170
Annex D. International Classification for Industrial Designs (Locarno Classification) 171
Table 1. Rankings of total (resident and abroad) IP filing activity by origin, 2015 9
Table 2. Rankings of resident IP filing activity by origin, 2015 10
Special section Measuring women's participation in international patenting 18
Table 1. Shares of international patent applications with women inventors for top PCT applicants in the business sector 18
Table 2. Shares of international patent applications with women inventors for the top PCT applicants in the academic sector 19
Data description 158
Table 1. IP applications data coverage by IP type 158
Special section Measuring women's participation in international patenting 12
Figure 1. Women inventors in international patent applications 12
Figure 2. Share of international patent applications with women inventors by origin 13
Figure 3. Number of women inventors in international patent applications by origin, 2011-15 13
Figure 4. Share of international patent applications with women inventors by field of technology, 2015 14
Figure 5. Share of international patent applications with women inventors for selected fields of technology 14
Figure 6. Women's participation rates by field of technology and origin 15
Figure 7. Share of international patent applications with women inventors by field of technology and origin, 2011-15 16
Figure 8. Shares of international patent applications with women inventors by institutional sector 16
Figure 9. Share of international patent applications with women inventors by institutional sector and origin, 2011-15 17
Figure 10. Distribution of international patent applications by institutional sector and field of technology, 2015 17
Figure 11. Forecast trend in gender balance 20
Figure 1. Patent applications worldwide 21
Figure 2. Patent applications at the top 10 offices, 2015 21
Figure 3. Patent applications by income group 23
Figure 4. Patent applications by region 24
Figure 5. Patent applications and patent families worldwide 26
Figure 6. Resident patent applications per 100 billion USD GDP for the top 10 origins 27
Figure 7. Patent grants worldwide 28
Figure 8. Trademark applications worldwide 75
Figure 9. Trademark application class counts worldwide 75
Figure 10. Trademark application class counts for the top 10 offices, 2015 76
Figure 11. Trademark application class counts by income group 77
Figure 12. Trademark application class counts by region 77
Figure 13. Share of total non-resident filing activity by origin at selected offices 80
Figure 14. Resident trademark application class count per 100 billion USD GDP for selected origins 81
Figure 15. Industrial design applications worldwide 111
Figure 16. Number of designs in industrial design applications worldwide 111
Figure 17. Application design counts for the top 10 offices, 2015 112
Figure 18. Application design counts by income group 113
Figure 19. Application design counts by region 113
Figure 20. Resident application design counts per 100 billion USD GDP for the top 10 origins 115
Figure 21. Plant variety applications worldwide 143
Figure 22. Plant variety applications for the top 10 offices, 2015 144
Figure 23. Plant variety applications by income group 144
Figure 24. Plant variety applications by region 145
Figure 25. Plant variety titles issued worldwide 146
Maps
Map 1. Equivalent patent applications by origin, 2015 25
Map 2. Equivalent trademark application class counts by origin, 2015 78
Map 3. Equivalent design counts by origin, 2015 114
Map 4. Equivalent plant variety applications by origin, 2015 145
A1. Trend in patent applications worldwide 32
A2. Resident and non-resident patent applications worldwide 32
A3. Trend in patent grants worldwide 33
A4. Resident and non-resident patent grants worldwide 33
A5. Patent applications by income group 34
A6. Patent applications by region 34
A7. Trend in patent applications for the top five offices 34
A8. Patent applications for the top 20 offices, 2015 35
A9. Contribution of resident and non-resident applications to total growth for the top 20 offices, 2014-15 35
A10. Patent applications for offices of selected low-and middle-income countries, 2015 36
A11. Contribution of resident and non-resident applications to total growth for offices of selected low-and middle-income countries, 2014-15 36
A12. Patent grants by income group 37
A13. Patent grants by region 37
A14. Trend in patent grants for the top five offices 37
A15. Patent grants for the top 20 offices, 2015 38
A16. Patent grants for offices of selected low-and middle-income countries, 2015 38
A17. Equivalent patent applications by origin, 2015 39
A18. Equivalent patent applications for the top 20 origins, 2015 39
A19. Patent applications for the top 25 offices and origins, 2015 40
A20. Distribution of patent applications for the top 15 offices and selected non-resident origins, 2015 41
A21. Equivalent patent grants for the top 20 origins, 2015 41
A22. Trend in patent families worldwide 42
A23. Trend in foreign-oriented patent families worldwide 42
A24. Domestic and foreign-oriented patent families for the top origins, 2011-13 43
A25. Patent families by number of offices, 2011-13 43
A26. Top 100 patent applicants worldwide, based on total number of patent families 44
A27. Share of top 100 applicants by origin, based on total number of patent families, 2010-13 46
A28. Top three technology fields for each top 10 applicant, based on total patent families, 2010-13 46
A29. Trend in university and PRO patent families worldwide 47
A30. Top 5 university and PRO patent applicants worldwide for selected origins 47
A31. Top three technology fields for selected universities and PROs, 2010-13 48
A32. Patent applications worldwide by field of technology 49
A33. Trend in patent applications for the top five technology fields 50
A34. Top three technology fields for selected origins, 2012-14 (% of total) 50
A35. Relative specialization index for patent applications for selected fields of technology, 2012-14 51
A36. Trend in patent applications in energy-related technologies 52
A37. Relative specialization index for patent applications for selected energy-related technologies for the top origins, 2012-14 53
A38. Resident patent applications per 100 billion USD GDP for the top 20 origins 54
A39. Resident patent applications per million population for the top 20 origins 54
A40. Trend in patents in force worldwide 55
A41. Patents in force at the top 20 offices, 2015 55
A42. Patents in force in 2015 as a percentage of total applications 56
A43. Average age of patents in force at selected offices 56
A44. Potentially pending applications at the top offices 57
A45. Potentially pending applications at the top 20 offices, 2015 57
A46. Distribution of pendency time at selected offices 58
A47. PCT international applications by origin, 2015 60
A48. Top PCT applicants, 2015 60
A49. Trend in PCT applications 61
A50. PCT applications for the top 20 origins, 2015 61
A51. Non-resident applications by filing route for selected offices, 2015 62
A52. PPH requests by office of first filing, 2015 62
A53. PPH requests between offices of first filing and offices of later examination, 2015 63
A54. Trend in utility model applications worldwide 64
A55. Utility model applications for the top 20 offices, 2015 64
A56. Utility model applications for offices of selected low-and middle-income countries, 2015 65
A57. Resident utility model applications in relation to resident patent applications, 2015 65
A58. Trend in microorganism deposits worldwide 66
A59. Deposits at the top international depositary authorities, 2015 66
A60. Patent applications by office and origin, 2015 67
A61. Patent grants by office and origin, and patents in force, 2015 70
A62. Utility model applications and grants by office and origin, 2015 73
B1. Trend in trademark applications worldwide 84
B2. Trend in trademark application class counts worldwide 84
B3. Resident and non-resident trademark application class counts worldwide 85
B4. Trend in trademark registrations worldwide 85
B5. Trend in trademark registration class counts worldwide 86
B6. Resident and non-resident trademark registration class counts worldwide 86
B7. Trademark application class counts by income group 87
B8. Trademark application class counts by region 87
B9. Trend in trademark applications for the top five offices 87
B10. Trademark application class counts for the top 20 offices, 2015 88
B11. Contribution of resident and non-resident application class counts to total growth for the top 20 offices, 2014-15 88
B12. Trademark application class counts for offices of selected low-and middle-income countries, 2015 89
B13. Contribution of resident and non-resident application class counts to total growth for offices of selected low-and middle-income countries, 2014-15 89
B14. Trademark registration class counts for the top 20 offices, 2015 90
B15. Trademark registration class counts for offices of selected low-and middle-income countries, 2015 90
B16. Equivalent trademark application class counts by origin, 2015 91
B17. Trademark application class counts for the top 20 origins, 2015 91
B18. Trademark application class counts for selected low-and middle-income origins, 2015 92
B19. Trademark application class counts abroad for the top 20 origins, 2015 92
B20. Trademark application class counts for the top 25 offices and origins, 2015 93
B21. Distribution of trademark application class counts for the top 15 offices and selected non-resident origins, 2015 94
B22. Distribution of trademark applications by top Nice classes, 2015 94
B23. Trademark applications by goods and services classes, 2015 95
B24. Trademark applications by industry sector, 2015 95
B25. Trademark applications by top three sectors at the top offices, 2015 96
B26. Distribution of trademark applications by goods and services at the top offices, 2015 96
B27. Trademark applications by top three sectors for the top origins, 2015 97
B28. Distribution of trademark applications by goods and services for selected origins, 2015 97
B29. Resident trademark application class count per 100 billion USD GDP for selected origins 98
B30. Resident trademark application class count per million population for selected origins 98
B31. Trademarks in force at selected offices, 2015 99
B32. Trademarks in force in 2015 as a percentage of total registrations 99
B33. Average age of trademarks in force at selected offices, 2015 100
B34. Madrid international applications by origin, 2015 100
B35. Top Madrid applicants, 2015 101
B36. Trend in Madrid international applications 101
B37. Madrid applications for the top 20 origins, 2015 102
B38. Trend in non-resident filing activity by filing route (direct and Madrid) 102
B39. Madrid share of non-resident filing activity for selected designated Madrid members, 2015 103
B40. Trademark applications by office and origin, 2015 103
B41. Trademark registrations by office and origin, and trademarks in force, 2015 107
C1. Trend in industrial design applications worldwide 118
C2. Trend in application design counts worldwide 118
C3. Resident and non-resident application design counts worldwide 119
C4. Trend in industrial design registrations worldwide 119
C5. Trend in registration design counts worldwide 120
C6. Resident and non-resident registration design counts worldwide 120
C7. Application design counts by income group 121
C8. Application design counts by region 121
C9. Trend in industrial design applications for the top five offices 121
C10. Application design counts for the top 20 offices, 2015 122
C11. Contribution of resident and non-resident application design counts to total growth for the top 20 offices, 2014-15 122
C12. Application design counts for offices of selected low-and middle-income countries, 2015 123
C13. Contribution of resident and non-resident application design counts to total growth for offices of selected low-and middle-income countries, 2014-15 123
C14. Registration design counts for the top 20 offices, 2015 124
C15. Registration design counts for offices of selected low-and middle-income countries, 2015 124
C16. Equivalent application design counts by origin, 2015 125
C17. Application design counts for the top 20 origins, 2015 125
C18. Application design counts for selected low-and middle-income origins, 2015 126
C19. Application design counts abroad for the top 20 origins, 2015 126
C20. Application design counts for the top 25 offices and origins, 2015 127
C21. Distribution of application design counts for the top 20 offices and selected origins 128
C22. Application design counts by Locarno class, 2015 128
C23. Distribution of application design counts by the top three sectors for the top 10 offices, 2015 129
C24. Distribution of application design counts by the top three sectors for the top 15 origins, 2015 129
C25. Resident application design count per 100 billion of USD GDP for the top 20 origins 130
C26. Resident application design count per million population for the top 20 origins 130
C27. Industrial design registrations in force worldwide 131
C28. Industrial design registrations in force for the top 20 offices, 2015 131
C29. Industrial design registrations in force in 2015 as a percentage of total registrations 132
C30. Average age of industrial design registrations in force at selected offices 132
C31. Designs contained in Hague international applications by origin, 2015 133
C32. Top Hague applicants based on number of designs, 2015 133
C33. Trend in designs contained in Hague international applications 134
C34. Designs contained in designations in Hague international applications for the top 20 designated Hague members, 2015 134
C35. Designs contained in Hague international applications for the top 20 origins, 2015 135
C36. Trend in active Hague international registrations 135
C37. Designs contained in non-resident applications by filing route for selected Hague members, 2015 136
C38. Industrial design applications by office and origin, 2015 136
C39. Industrial design registrations by office and origin, and industrial designs in force, 2015 140
D1. Trend in plant variety applications worldwide 148
D2. Trend in plant variety titles issued worldwide 148
D3. Plant variety applications by income group 149
D4. Plant variety applications by region 149
D5. Plant variety applications for the top 20 offices, 2015 149
D6. Contribution of resident and non-resident applications to total growth for the top 20 offices, 2014-15 150
D7. Plant variety applications for offices of selected low-and middle-income countries, 2015 150
D8. Plant variety titles issued for the top 20 offices, 2015 151
D9. Equivalent plant variety applications by origin, 2015 151
D10. Plant variety applications for the top 20 origins, 2015 152
D11. Plant variety applications abroad for the top 20 origins, 2015 152
D12. Plant variety titles issued for the top 20 origins, 2015 153
D13. Plant variety titles issued abroad for the top 20 origins, 2015 153
D14. Trend in plant varieties in force worldwide 154
D15. Plant varieties in force at selected offices, 2015 154
D16. Plant variety applications and titles issued by office and origin, 2015 155