PCT Yearly Review - WIPO

Section A
use of the pct system
A.2.5 PCT applications by subregion of origin
Table A.2.5 shows PCT applications filed from 2008 to
2012 according to the subregion of origin of the applicant.
With 78,800 filings, Asia was the region filing the largest
number of PCT applications in 2012. It was also the region
experiencing the highest annual growth, with an increase
of 12% on 2011. Of all Asian filings, 94% originated in East
Asia, primarily in China, Japan and the Republic of Korea.
East Asia accounted for 38.1% of PCT applications filed
globally in 2012.
Europe was the second region in terms of PCT filings. It
accounted for 57,904 applications in 2012, of which 88%
originated in Northern and Western Europe combined.
North America was close behind with 53,955 filings, or
27.8% of total PCT filings.
The filings from Africa, LAC and Oceania combined accounted
for only 1.9% of the 194,400 PCT applications
filed worldwide. Among them, LAC is the only region
that experienced an increase in filings on 2011, with 7.1%
growth. This significant growth mainly originated in South
America (+65 filings) and the Caribbean (+50 filings), both
compensating for the decrease in filings observed in
Central America (-30 filings).
Table A.2.5: PCT applications by subregion of origin
International Filing Year 2012 Change
Region Subregion Share compared
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 (%) to 2011 (%)
Africa Eastern Africa 23 19 17 25 19 0.01 -24.0
Middle Africa 5 10 6 8 3 0.00 -62.5
Northern Africa 75 75 81 66 81 0.04 22.7
Southern Africa 392 379 326 340 314 0.16 -7.6
Western Africa 5 2 6 13 16 0.01 23.1
Total 500 485 436 452 433 0.22 -4.2
Asia East Asia 42,789 45,740 54,119 65,728 74,138 38.14 12.8
South-central Asia 1,091 1,007 1,329 1,369 1,243 0.64 -9.2
South-eastern Asia 841 870 1,109 1,048 1,115 0.57 6.4
Western Asia 2,450 2,118 2,153 2,235 2,304 1.19 3.1
Total 47,171 49,735 58,710 70,380 78,800 40.53 12.0
Europe Eastern Europe 1,412 1,386 1,528 1,789 1,747 0.90 -2.3
Northern Europe 14,423 13,326 12,807 12,936 13,476 6.93 4.2
Southern Europe 4,730 4,735 4,886 4,834 4,960 2.55 2.6
Western Europe 36,793 34,497 35,143 36,696 37,721 19.40 2.8
Total 57,358 53,944 54,364 56,255 57,904 29.79 2.9
Latin America and the Caribbean Caribbean 302 147 118 147 197 0.10 34.0
Central America 244 216 203 246 216 0.11 -12.2
South America 577 643 684 811 876 0.45 8.0
Total 1,123 1,006 1,005 1,204 1,289 0.66 7.1
North America Northern America 54,619 48,155 47,727 52,005 53,955 27.75 3.7
Total 54,619 48,155 47,727 52,005 53,955 27.75 3.7
Oceania Australia/New Zealand 2,296 2,041 2,081 2,067 1,990 1.02 -3.7
Melanesia 1 0.00
Micronesia 1 1 0.00
Polynesia 5 6 5 2 1 0.00 -50.0
Total 2,301 2,048 2,087 2,069 1,992 1.02 -3.7
Unknown 168 33 9 12 27 0.01
Total 163,240 155,406 164,338 182,377 194,400 100 6.6
Note: 2012 data are WIPO estimates.
Source: WIPO Statistics Database, March 2013
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