World Intellectual Property Indicators - 2012 Edition - SIPO

ForewordAgainst the background of a world economy in turmoil,last year’s World Intellectual Property Indicators reporteda strong rebound, in 2010, in intellectual property (IP) filingsworldwide. This year’s Report paints a remarkablysimilar picture: while the global economy continued tounderperform, IP filing growth persisted in 2011.Patent filings worldwide passed the 2 million mark in2011, showing significant growth of 7.8 percent over2010 and exceeding 7 percent growth for the secondyear in a row. Similarly, trademark filings increased by13.3 percent, the very same growth rate as in 2010. As Ipointed out last year, this performance bodes well for thefuture of the world economy, as it signals that companiescontinue to innovate.World Intellectual Property Indicators 2012 also containsimportant news. For the first time in 2011, more patentswere filed at the patent office of China than at any otheroffice in the world. In the 100 years before 2011, onlythree patent offices had occupied this position – thoseof Germany, Japan and the United States. China hadalready become the top recipient of trademark filings (in2001) and design filings (in 1999). Even though cautionis required in directly comparing IP filing figures acrosscountries, these trends nevertheless reflect how thegeography of innovation has shifted.As in the past, we provide statistical information andanalysis on many other important IP trends. This year’sspecial theme focuses on industrial designs – a formof IP that has recently featured prominently in disputesamong information technology (IT) companies. Afterdiscussing the growing importance of design in innovation,we describe how different countries and industriesmake use of the industrial design system.In addition, World Intellectual Property Indicators 2012includes – for the first time – statistics on the use of plantvariety protection systems.I would like to thank our Member States and national andregional IP offices for sharing their annual statistics withWIPO, and look forward to our continued cooperation.Francis GURRYDirector General3