Huawei Leads in Patent Applications

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Huawei filed the largest number of patent applications among all companies with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), a specialized agency of UN, worldwide in 2018, and industry insiders said that continuous investment in R&D and a focus on new technologies is helping China forge ahead in global patent applications.

The Shenzhen-based company — the world's largest telecoms equipment provider — filed a record 5,405 patents in 2018, the highest among corporate filers, the WIPO said in a report released on Tuesday. Next came Japan-based Mitsubishi Electric Corp, followed by US technology giants Intel and Qualcomm.

Huawei invests about $15-20 billion in R&D annually, ranking in the top five among global companies, company founder Ren Zhengfei said during a group interview in January.

"We have obtained 87,805 licensed patents, of which 11,152 are core technology patents in the US, and we have participated in more than 360 standards organizations and contributed over 54,000 proposals," he said, explaining why Huawei is competitive in the telecom industry.

"China accounts for about 10 percent of all 5G-related patents, which is also in line with the government's ambitions in leading the 5G era," Li Zhen, an industry expert at Beijing-based CCID Consulting, said in explaining why the number of patent filings by Chinese companies surged in 2018.

According to the latest figures intellectual property tracker IPlytics GmbH published in February, Huawei holds 1,529 5G standard essential patents, ahead of Nokia, which holds 1,397. Samsung has 1,296 and Ericsson holds 812, the analyst noted.

- Global Times

IPO Phillipines Appointed as PCT International Search Authority

The Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) was appointed as an International Search Authority at the 57th WIPO General Assembly on 5 Oct 2017.

IPOPHL is the 23rd in the world and 2nd in ASEAN to be appointed as search authority. The appointment is a form of recognition over the patent bureau's capability in examining patent applications.

Josephine Santiago, director general of IPOPHL said that the bureau of patents undertook a number of improvements in the last two years in order to meet the requirements for appointment. These requirements are:

(1) sufficient number of technical and man power competence to carry out search and examination in required technical fields. There are 110 full time patent examiners.

(2) use of comprehensive commercial and publicly accessible databases covering patent and non-patent science and engineering databases.

(3) a comprehensive and multi-tiered quality management system namely, in process quality check, ISO QMS 9001:2008 and internal Patent Quality Review System (PQRS),

(4) recommendation by established international authorities, particularly the Japan Patent Office (JPO) and IP Australia.

Santiago also cited the vibrant Philippine economy and the country’s achievement of having a highly successful network of Innovation and Technology Support Offices or ITSOs. This network of research institutions and universities is a potential source of patent filings. The Philippines has also been identified by WIPO as a “hub for intellectual property creation and commercialization”. The UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) ranked Philippines among the top 15 preferred investment destinations of multinational enterprises.

Philippines is the fifth most active country for patents after Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand.

Each search authority can set their own search fee. IPOPHL have not announced their search fee. Search fee by Offices of Australia, Japan, and Singapore are USD1688, USD1372 and USD1645, respectively.

PPH and PCT-PPH between MyIPO - EPO

The Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) is an initiative which provides a means of significantly accelerating examination of your patent application if examination work has already been conducted at another patent office.

Under the PPH program, if the claims of your application have been found to be acceptable by a first patent office, you may request accelerated examination of a corresponding application at a second office. The PPH is a procedure whereby patent offices can make use of relevant work already conducted by another office when conducting the patent examination.

PCT-PPH allows favorable claims from PCT which nominate EPO for search to be considered under PPH.

With effect from 1 July 2017, MyIPO starts a pilot PPH/PCT-PPH programs with the Ruropean Patent Office (EPO):

i). MyIPO-EPO PPH pilot program

ii). EPO-MyIPO PPH pilot program

The pilot program will run for three years.

Singapore ready as ASEAN's first International Authority in patent search and examination

From 1 September 2015, local and global businesses and inventors may fast track their applications for patent protection in multiple markets via Singapore, as the nation begins operations as ASEAN’s first International Patent Search and Examination Authority under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT).

2.       Administered by the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), the treaty enables innovators and businesses to seek patent protection in 148 countries through a single international patent application. Singapore is the fifth in Asia (after China, India, Japan and Korea) and joins a select group of 19 IP offices worldwide that have been appointed as International Authorities for the PCT.

3.       Patent applicants to Vietnam, Mexico, Brunei, Japan and Laos will be the first to gain access to Singapore’s new service offerings as an International Searching Authority (ISA) and International Preliminary Examining Authority (IPEA) in the coming months. These arrangements were set out under bilateral agreements signed this week at Asia's premier intellectual property event, IP Week @ SG 2015.

4.       Singapore is positioned to be a choice PCT application destination due to its responsiveness, with a first office action turnaround time of around 60 days for most cases. This compares with two to three years of waiting time for similar responses from other IP offices. Patent applicants could also enjoy rebates of up to 75% when making a PCT application through IPOS. Singaporean businesses and inventors, in particular, will benefit from the ease and cost-effectiveness of filing locally to enter the PCT system. This arrangement is expected to immediately benefit some 1,000 PCT applications originating in Singapore yearly that were previously  filed through other IP offices. These applications may now be filed through IPOS. 

5.       Mr Ng Kok Wan, Executive Director of IPOS-International, said, “Singapore has made steady progress since our appointment as an International Authority in patent search and examination last year. Working with IP offices across the world and WIPO, we are able to offer businesses and inventors quicker and more affordable access to the global patent system. This is yet another step towards building a creative and innovative Singapore with IP.”- IPOS

PPH and PCT-PPH between MyIPO - JPO

The Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) is an initiative which provides a means of significantly accelerating examination of your patent application if examination work has already been conducted at another patent office.

Under the PPH program, if the claims of your application have been found to be acceptable by a first patent office, you may request accelerated examination of a corresponding application at a second office. The PPH is a procedure whereby patent offices can make use of relevant work already conducted by another office when conducting the patent examination.

With effect from 1 October 2014, MyIPO starts a pilot PPH/PCT-PPH programs with the Japan Patent Office (JPO):

i). MyIPO-JPO PPH pilot program

ii). JPO-MyIPO PPH pilot program

Warning About Requests for Payment of Fees

It has come to the attention of the International Bureau that PCT applicants and agents are receiving invitations to pay fees that do not come from the International Bureau of WIPO and are unrelated to the processing of international applications under the PCT. Whatever registration services might be offered in such invitations, they bear no connection to WIPO or to any of its official publications.

The invitations often identify a particular PCT application by its international publication number (eg: WO 02 xxxxxx), publication date, title of the invention, international application number, priority information and IPC symbols. A number of new invitations have been identified originating from the following:

IPTG – International Patent and Trademark Guide

WOPD – Worldwide Online Patent Database

UPTS – Universal Patents and Trademarks Service

Commercial Center for Industry and Trade

Euro IP Register

WIPD – World Intellectual Property Database

WPTI – World Patent and Trademark Index

UPTS - Universal Patents and Trademarks Service

IPT PATENTS - Register of International Patents

FOIP - Federated Organization for Intellectual Property

IPTS - International Patent and Trademark Service

IPTR - International Patent and Trademark Register

IP DATA - Register of International Patents

WBIP - World Bureau for Intellectual Property

TPS - Trademark and Patent Service

European Register of Brands and Patents (REGIPAT)

Novislink limited

PCT applicants and agents should note that it is the International Bureau of WIPO alone which publishes all PCT applications promptly after the expiration of 18 months from the priority date (see PCT Article 21(2)(a)); there is no separate fee for such international publication, and the legal effects of international publication are set out in PCT Article 29.

If they have not already done so, PCT applicants and agents are advised to bring this information to the attention of the people responsible for handling payments of fees within their organizations, as well as to the attention of inventors who might also receive such requests. - WIPO

Free kick ‘vanishing spray’ inventor not interested in commercial gain

One of the great World Cup success stories has been the “magic spray” used by referees to keep a defensive wall 9.15 metres (10 yards) from the ball at free kicks but its inventor says he is more concerned with the good of the game than making millions.

Heine Allemagne, 43, who has given FIFA free use of his invention at the finals, says he is driven by a love of the game and helping referees keep discipline rather than becoming a multi-millionaire.

And his invention could hardly be more simple. The referee sprays a line of biodegradable foam derived from vegetable oil in a line on the pitch indicating where the players must stand at a freekick, and that line disappears within a minute or two.

“I had no commercial ambition, I wanted to develop the product. Perhaps there will be some financial side but that can come later, I wanted to get the product perfect for football.

“I wanted to help the referees keep discipline. The time now taken at free-kick has dropped from 48 seconds to around 20 seconds. There are less yellow and red cards and more goals from free-kicks, and the players respect the line.”

Although the spray cans are not yet widely available, Allemagne said the retail price would be around US$5 (RM16). FIFA took delivery of 320 cans for the 64 World Cup matches and Allemagne has absorbed the hypothetical cost of US$1,600 himself.

Sceptical Sepp

One of the more intriguing aspects of his story is the time it took for such a simple concept to become accepted.

Although local football authorities welcomed it in the early stages, he said FIFA president Sepp Blatter and secretary general Jerome Valcke needed some convincing when they reached a more advanced stage.

“Some people needed convincing like them. Blatter was sceptical in the beginning but then realised this solved a football problem.

“Some people did not think it was necessary or would act as enough deterrent to keep people behind the line. But they changed their minds.”

Allemagne, who was born and raised in the state of Minas Gerais where tomorrow’s semi-final between Brazil and Germany is being played in Belo Horizonte’s Mineirao stadium, was working in TV and graphic design when he came up with idea 14 years ago.

A keen amateur footballer, he was increasingly irritated by the time-wasting that surrounded every free kick at every level of the game with players encroaching towards the ball.

The prototype was first used in the minor Copa Belo Horizonte in 2000.

It was gradually used in higher levels and two years later the Brazilian FA (CBF) sanctioned its use after it received a 100 per cent approval rating by the referees who had it.

In 2006 Allemagne joined forces with Argentinian Pablo Silva who was independently working on a similar product and since then they been working together on the spray they called the 9.15 Fair Play spray — the metric distance players need to be from the ball at free kicks.

By 2012 the spray, with many technical modifications along the way, had been tested in 18,000 professional games and was authorised by the International Football Association Board (IFAB) who approved its use at all levels in 2012.

FIFA tested it at the Under-17 and Under-20 world championships in 2013 and it was also used at the Club World Cup before being used for the first time at the World Cup.

“I am just a face in the crowd, someone from Minas Gerais who tackled a century-old problem,” says Allemagne.

Although he holds an international patent for the product and is protective of it and could become a very wealthy man out of it, that does not appear to be his goal.

“There are ethical values involved. Multinational companies absorb the work of others and make their profits, but my journey is not about that,” he says. — Reuters

"Learn the PCT" Video Series

Learn the PCT is a series of 29 short videos (approximately 15 minutes each) presented by Matthias Reischle, Deputy Director, PCT Legal Division, WIPO. The series is designed to provide a basic introduction to important aspects and issues in the international phase and national phase of PCT processing.

This series closely follows material covered during basic PCT training seminars and will be particularly useful for those who have not attended such seminars in person, for small and medium-sized enterprises, and for PCT users and potential users in developing and least-developed countries.

The total running time for the series is six hours and 15 minutes. - WIPO

Infographic: Who filed the most PCT patent applications in 2012?

In 2012, international patent applications filed under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) grew by 6.6% on 2011. Japan and the United States of America (US) accounted for 48.8% of the 194,400 PCT applications filed in 2012. China's 2012 growth (+13.6%) is lower than that of previous two years; this partly reflects the sharp increase in Chinese fillings since 2009, as an enlarged filling base naturally reduces relative growth rates.













Electrical machinery with 13,293 published applications - or 7.5% of the total - overtook digital communications (7.1%) as the field of technology in which the largest number of PCT applications were published in 2012. - WIPO

Impact of America Invents Act on PCT Applications

America Invents act will enter into force on 16 September 2012. PCT applications filed on or after 16 September 2012, will no longer have a requirement that inventors be named as applicants solely for the purposes of the U.S. designation. However, U.S. national law will still require that a U.S. inventor’s oath or declaration be submitted for national phase. To assist PCT applicants/agents in implementing the change of practice that will result from the America Invents Act, some frequently asked questions relating to the change have been published on the PCT website at:

http://www.wipo.int/pct/en/faqs/aia.html

Korea fares Poorly in Timeliness of Preparing Search Report

Each PCT application has to nominate an international search authority to perform international search report. Malaysian PCT applicant has a choice of nominating Australia, European Patent Office, or Republic of Korea to perform the search. The search report contains a list of documents relevant for assessing the patentability of the invention. A written opinion is provided along with the search report to give a detailed analysis of te potential patentability of the invention.

The Republic of Korea is the most popular choice among Malaysians due to PCT schedule of lowest search fees (RM4,259 in May 2012). USA and Canada also nominate Korea to perform the search. According to the PCT Yearly Review 2011, only 16.9% of search report are established by Korea within 17 months of the priority application. The timeliness is important so that the applicant has enough time to come out with proper national phase strategy.

Australia has become an alternative choice for those who are unhappy with the poor timeliness of Republic of Korea. Australia search fee is RM6,347 in May 2012. Singapore and New Zealand also nominate Australia to perform the search. According to PCT Yearly Review 2011, a favorable 89.4% of search report are established by Australia within 17 months of the priority application.

European Patent Office is the least popular choice among Malaysians due to PCT schedule of highest search fees (RM7,834 in May 2012). Germany, France, and even USA placed great dependance on European Patent Office to perform the search. According to PCT Yearly Review 2011, Europe has a fair 61.3% of search report established within 17 months of the priority application.

Our short analysis and recommendation of search authority:

Australia
- high timeliness of preparing search report

Republic of Korea
- lowest search fee
- thorough search of patents in Korean language other than patents in English language

European Patent Office
- widely recognized search report
- thorough search of patents in German and French language other than patents in English language

Of course, the market of the invention shall play an important role as well. If market and patent protection is desired in a particular country, than that country shall be chosen as the search authority.

Mimos Ranked 7th among Government Research Institutions

The PCT Yearly Review provides a list of PCT top applicants among business, universities and government research institutions. Mimos made a surprise entry in government research institution category. According to the report, Mimos, ranked 7th among government research institutions.

The Commissariat à l’Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives (France) filed the largest number of PCT applications in the government and research institutions category. It is the only applicant with more than 300 applications. The Fraunhofer- Gesellschaft zur Förderung der angewandten Forschung e.V. (Germany) ranks in second position and the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) (France) third.

Mimos Berhad is a government research institution set up by the Malaysian government to spear head the country's research in information and communications technology.

New PCT Contracting State: Brunei Darussalam

On 24 April 2012, Brunei Darussalam deposited its instrument of accession to the PCT, thus becoming the 145th Contracting State of the PCT, and on 24 July 2012, will become bound by the PCT. Consequently, any international application filed on or after 24 July 2012 will automatically include the designation of Brunei Darussalam.

Also, because Brunei Darussalam will be bound by Chapter II of the PCT, it will automatically be elected in any demand filed in respect of an international application filed on or after 24 July 2012. Furthermore, nationals and residents of Brunei Darussalam will be entitled, as from 24 July 2012, to file international applications under the PCT. - WIPO

Boon IP welcomes Brunei as PCT member. Currently members of PCT in Southeast Asia includes Brunei, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Phillipines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Cambodia, East Timor and Myanmar are not members of the PCT.

PCT National Phase

The national or regional patent office at which the applicant enters the PCT national phase initiates the granting procedure according to prevailing national law. Statistics associated with PCT national phase entry offer information on international patenting strategies.

Most applicants enter the PCT national phase around 18 months from the international filing date. On average, applicants using the PCT system, enter the national phase in slightly less than three patent offices for every PCT application filed. The average fillings of USA is also less than three. In 2008, applicants from Switzerland had, on average, 4.2 PCT national phase entries for every PCT application. In contrast, the average number of PCT national phase entries by applicants from China and the Republic of Korea was relatively low (below 2), revealing a smaller country coverage in the international patenting strategies of applicants from those countries.

The EPO was the most preferred destination for national phase, reflecting the large number of EPC Member States. It had more than 80,000 PCT national phase entries in 2008, followed by USA, China and Japan. The top 20 national phase entries for 2008:

1. European Patent Office 83,576 (regional patent, 27,692 from USA)
2. USA 61,122 (15,988 from Japan)
3. China 57,641
4. Japan 54,546
5. Canada 31,975
6. Republic of Korea 31,909
7. Australia 20,523
8. Brazil 15,639
9. Mexico 14,160
10. Russian Federation 11,499 (except Eurasion patent)
11. Singapore 7,322
12. Israel 6,288
13. Norway 4,902 (except European patent)
14. Germany 3,662 (except European patent, 1,079 from Japan)
15. Malaysia 3,529
16. New Zealand 3,258
17. Philipines 2,828
18. Ukraine 2,548
19. Eurasion Patent Organization 2,545 (regional patent)
20. United Kingdom 1,921 (except European patent)

USA is the top applicant for most of the national phase entry. Japan is the top applicant for USA and Germany national phase entry.

International Search Authorities in 2009

Each PCT application must undergo an international search carried out by one of the International Searching Authorities (ISA). Receiving Offices have agreements with at least one but sometimes several ISAs for carrying out international searches. Where a Receiving Office has an agreement with multiple ISAs, the PCT applicant must select one of them. Malaysia has nominated European Patent Office, Australia and Korea.

Once the ISA has performed the search, the applicant will receive an International Search Report (ISR) that contains a list of documents relevant for assessing the patentability of the invention. In addition, the ISA establishes a written opinion containing a detailed analysis of the patentability of the invention.

The distribution of Top 10 ISRs in 2009:

1. European Patent Office: 70,232. Language: English, French, German, Dutch
Fee: EUR 1,700

2. Japan: 28,613. Language: English, Japanese
Fee: JPY 97,000

3. Korea: 21,755. Language: English, Korean
Fee: KRW 900,000 (for English), KRW 450,000 (for Korean)

4. USA: 15,514. Language: English
Fee: USD 2,080

5. China: 8,146. Language: English, Chinese
Fee: CNY 2,100

6. Australia: 2,666. Language: English
Fee: AUD 1,600

7. Canada: 2,065. Language: English, French
Fee: CAD 1,600

8. Sweeden: 2,050. Language: Danish, English, Finnish, French, Norwegian, Swedish
Fee: SEK 18,000

9. Austria: 1,544. Language: English, French, German, Hungarian, Russian
Fee: EUR 200

10. Spain 1,358. Language: Spanish
Fee: EUR 1,700

European Patent Office (EPO) is the most popular ISA due to its wide recognition. Note that most of the ISA has revised their fee for 2010.

The Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) is increasingly used notably by applicants from the US and Malaysia. KIPO has a patent prosecution highway agreement with USPTO. By 2009, over 60% of searches carried out by KIPO were done for applicants from the US. In 2009, only 30% of US applicants selected the USPTO as the ISA, with 30% of applicants selecting KIPO and the remaining 40% opting for the EPO.

In practice, since the technical preparation for publishing a PCT application takes approximately one month and should finish 15 days before the publication date, the establishment of the ISR within 16 months from the priority date still allows the IB to publish the ISR with the application document. ISRs received at IB after technical preparation of the PCT applications they relate to are published separately later.

Australia has a good timeliness by preparing 87% of ISR within 17 months, compared to Korea which only manages to prepare 27% of ISR within 17 months. The EPO manages to prepare 56% of ISR within 17 months.

Top PCT Applicants: University Sector 2009

The top 10 PCT applicants in the world from the university sector in 2009:

1. University of California, US, 321 applications
2. MIT, US, 145 applications
3. University of Texas, US, 126 applications
4. Colombia University, US, 110 applications
5. Harvard, US, 109 applications
6. University of Florida, US, 103 applications
7. University of Tokyo, JP, 94 applications
8. John Hopkins University, US, 87 applications
9. University of Pennsylvania, US, 80 applications
10. University of Utah, US, 66 applications

Nine out of ten universities are based in US while the other one is based in JP. Interestingly NUS made it to the top 10 PCT applicants in Asia from the university sector in 2009:

1. University of Tokyo, JP, 94 applications
2. Yonsei University, KR, 50 applications
3. Seoul National University, KR, 49 applications
4. Kyoto University, JP, 45 applications
5. Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology, KR, 43 applications
6. Tohoku University, JP, 39 applications
6. Postech Foundation, KR, 39 applications
8. Osaka University, JP, 38 applications
9. Keio University, JP, 34 applications
10. National University of Singapore, SG, 32 applications

The are 5 JP, 4 KR and 1 SG universities in the top 10 Asian universities.

Muhyiddin urges inventors to file patents early

Inventors and owners of intellectual property should file their patents early to protect their exclusive rights to a product.

Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who said this, also urged patent owners to seek worldwide exclusive rights to their inventions.

“This is to prevent anyone from claiming the rights to intellectual property owned by the locals,” he told reporters after presenting awards at the National Intellectual Property Award 2010 yesterday.

He said patent registration could be filed through the Intellectual Property Corporation of Malaysia (MyIPO), which provides worldwide patent coverage.

Earlier in his speech, Muhyiddin said the people, especially small and medium entrepreneurs, should fully utilise the country’s intellectual property potential in order to be competitive and innovative as well as to enhance market access.

Muhyiddin said Malaysia planned to reduce the patent registration period even further, from 39 months this year to 36 months in 2011 and 32 months by 2012.

Later at the National Chamber of Commerce and Industry forum on China-Malaysia economic and business relations, the Deputy Prime Minister said China’s rapid development and movement to high-level technology meant that Asean countries must move to add value to their products through research. He also told local corporations not to make too much demands to be shielded from competition from China.

“I want to emphasise that protectionism is not the answer. We have seen time and again that industries that do not adjust and adapt to new business realities end up in a never-ending cycle of dependency,” he said. -the Star

Malaysia increased PCT fillings in 2009 by 6.3%

Malaysia increased PCT fillings from 205 applications in 2008 to 218 applications in 2009, an increase of 6.3%. This is despite the global economic down turn and the drop of world PCT filling of 4.5%. The drop is due to the drop of filling of PCT in western countries: USA (-11.4%), Germany (-11.2%), UK (-3.5%).

The top applicants from developng countries identified in the PCT Report are the Republic of Korea (8,066) and China (7,946) followed by India (761), Singapore (594), Brazil (480), South Africa (389), Turkey (371), Malaysia (218), Mexico (185) and Barbados (96).

Top PCT Applicant of 2009 - Panasonic

Panasonic Corporation (Japan) returned to the top spot in the list of PCT applicants, nudging Huawei Technologies, Co., Ltd. (China) into second place. Panasonic Corporation had 1,891 PCT applications published in 2009, China's Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. had 1,847, followed by Robert Bosch GMBH (Germany, 1586 applications), Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (Netherlands, 1,295 applications) and Qualcomm Incorporated (USA, 1280 applications). Four Japanese companies, Panasonic Corporation (ranked 1st), NEC Corporation (ranked 8th), Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (ranked 9th) and Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha (ranked 10th) featured in the list of top 10 largest filers. Ericsson (Sweeden) is ranked 6th and LG (Korea) is ranked 7th.

The University of California accounted for the largest number of applications published in the category of educational institutions. Most top-filing universities, however, experienced declines in the number of international patent filings in 2009. - WIPO

Number of PCT Applications Decline in 2009

International patent filings under WIPO's Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) fell by 4.5% in 2009 with sharper than average declines experienced by some industrialized countries and growth in a number of East Asian countries. Provisional data indicates that 155,900 international patent applications were filed in 2009 as compared to the nearly 164,000 applications filed in 2008.

"The decline in PCT filings is not as sharp as originally anticipated – last year's results bring us back to just under 2007 levels, when 159,886 international applications were filed," said WIPO Director General Francis Gurry. "Interestingly, the rate of decline in international filings is lower than that experienced in some national contexts. This is an indication of a broad recognition that it makes good business sense, whatever the economic conditions, to continue to protect commercially valuable technologies internationally."

International patent filings in a number of East Asian countries continued to enjoy positive growth in spite of the challenging global economic conditions. Japan, the second largest user of the PCT, experienced a 3.6% rate of growth with 29,827 applications; the Republic of Korea (ROK), ranked fourth largest user of the system, experienced 2.1% growth with 8,066 applications; and China became the fifth largest PCT user with a strong growth rate of 29.7%, representing some 7,946 international applications.

International patent filings experienced a sharper than average decline in a number of industrialized countries. For example, the filing rate dropped by 11.4% in the USA and by 11.2% in Germany in 2009. Declines were also experienced in the United Kingdom (-3.5%), Switzerland (-1.6%), Sweden (-11.3%), Italy (-5.8%), Canada (-11.7%), Finland (-2.2%), Australia (-7.5%) and Israel (-17.2%).

The United States of America (USA) maintained its top ranking, filing just under a third of all international applications in 2009 (45,790), followed by Japan (+3.6%, 29,827 applications), Germany (-11.2% or 16,736 applications), ROK (+2.1%, 8,066 applications), China (29.7%, 7,946 applications), France (+1.6%, 7166 applications), United Kingdom (-3.5% or 5,320 applications), the Netherlands (+3.0% or 4,471 applications), Switzerland (-1.6% or 3,688 applications) and Sweden (-11.3% or 3,667 applications). - WIPO