The World Intellectual Property Organization (the
"WIPO") has released its annual statistics on global IP
filings for 2019. Overall, global trademark filings increased by
5.9%, industrial design filings increased by 1.3% and patent
filings decreased by 3%. However, Canada, the United States, the
Republic of Korea, the European Patent Office and India all had
increased numbers of patent applications filed in 2019. The number
of patents in force worldwide grew to about 15 million (an increase
of 7%).
Since the reported statistics are from 2019, they predate the
COVID-19 pandemic. According to Daren Tang, WIPO Director General,
"[b]ecause IP is so connected to technology, innovation and
digitalization, IP will become even more important to a greater
number of countries in the post-COVID world".
