China accounted for 43.1% of worldwide ID applications

At 15.3%, the growth rate of industrial design applications (some 621,000) in 2007 outpaced growth rates recorded for other IP rights. Since 2005, industrial design applications worldwide have experienced double-digit growth thanks largely to increased activity in China which accounted for 43.1% of worldwide applications.

In 2007, the share of total industrial design registrations by non-residents amounted to just 19.8%, which is below the equivalent shares for patents and trademarks. Industrial design protection is sought less frequently in foreign markets, because the products in question are geared mainly toward domestic commercialization.

Of the 2.7 million industrial design rights in force in 2007, residents of France accounted for the largest number (406,225). More than 250,000 such rights were also in force in China, Germany and Japan, respectively. -WIPO