The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) announced that 156,100 patent applications were filed in 2007, representing a 4.7% rate of growth over 2006. Telecoms and information technology are the most innovative fields.
The number of filings under WIPO Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) have reached a new record in 2007: 156,100. This figure confirms a nearly exponential growth: WIPO reminds us that it took 18 years from the beginning of PCT operations in 1978 to reach 250,000 total applications, but only four years to double that figure (500,000), and another four to double it again (1,000,000).
The WIPO points out the dynamism of the countries in north east Asia that represent 25.8% of all international applications under the PCT (see the graph). The inventors from the Republic of Korea (4th place) and China (7th) consolidated their top ten position in 2007, along with the United States of America (1st) , Japan (2nd), Germany (3rd), France (5th), United Kingdom (6th), Netherlands (8th), Switzerland (9th) and Sweden (10th).
It is to be noticed that the largest proportion of PCT applications published in 2007 related to the telecommunications (10.5%), information technology (10.1%) and pharmaceuticals (9.3%) sectors. The fastest growing technology areas are nuclear engineering (24.5% increase) and telecommunications (15.5%).
Below, the list of the 50 most intensive users of the PCT system. Among the 20 top filing companies, six were from the USA, six from Japan and three from Germany.
Rank Applicant’s Name (Position Changed)
1. MATSUSHITA ELECTRIC INDUSTRIAL CO., LTD. (+1)
2. KONINKLIJKE PHILIPS ELECTRONICS N.V. (-1)
3. SIEMENS AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT (0)
4. HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CO., LTD. (+9)
5. ROBERT BOSCH GMBH (0)
6. TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA (+2)
7. QUALCOMM INCORPORATED (+5)
8. MICROSOFT CORPORATION (+38)
9. MOTOROLA, INC. (+1)
10. NOKIA CORPORATION (-6)
11. BASF AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT (-4)
12. 3M INNOVATIVE PROPERTIES COMPANY (-6)
13. LG ELECTRONICS INC. (+3)
14. FUJITSU LIMITED (+1)
15. SHARP KABUSHIKI KAISHA (+6)
16. NEC CORPORATION (+12)
17. INTEL CORPORATION (-8)
18. PIONEER CORPORATION (+4)
19. INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION (+10)
20. SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD. (0)
21. TELEFONAKTIEBOLAGET LM ERICSSON (-7)
22. THE PROCTER & GAMBLE COMPANY (+1)
23. HONEYWELL INTERNATIONAL INC. (-4)
24. E.I. DUPONT DE NEMOURS AND COMPANY (-7)
25. GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY (+12)
26. THOMSON LICENSING (+7)
27. HEWLETT-PACKARD DEVELOPMENT COMPANY, L.P. (-9)
28. BSH BOSCH UND SIEMENS HAUSGERÄTE GMBH (+8)
29. FUJIFILM CORPORATION (-)
30. THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA (-4)
31. SONY ERICSSON MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS AB (+52)
32. FREESCALE SEMICONDUCTOR, INC. (+10)
33. BOSTON SCIENTIFIC SCIMED, INC. (-3)
34. NOVARTIS AG (+16)
35. FRANCE TELECOM (-3)
36. LG CHEM, LTD. (+3)
37. EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY (-10)
38. ASTRAZENECA AB (+9)
39. KIMBERLY-CLARK WORLDWIDE, INC. (-4)
40. MEDTRONIC, INC. (+1)
41. ELECTRONICS AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS RESEARCH INSTITUTE (+16)
42. CISCO TECHNOLOGY, INC. (+3)
43. DAIKIN INDUSTRIES, LTD. (+6)
44. MITSUBISHI DENKI KABUSHIKI KAISHA (-33)
45. TOKYO ELECTRON LIMITED (+7)
46. CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA (-8)
47. MURATA MANUFACTURING CO., LTD. (-4)
48. LUCENT TECHNOLOGIES INC. (+300)
49. NIKON CORPORATION (+5)
50. NXP B.V. (0)
