Three giant telecommunication companies set a new record of
patent applications filed with the WIPO in 2014. Chinese Huawei
Technologies Co., Ltd led the way with 3,442 published PCT
application followed by U.S.-based Qualcomm Inc. with 2,409
published applications. China's ZTE Corp. took third place with
2,179 applications. These record-breaking numbers denote the
growing importance technology companies place in securing their
innovating systems to the level afforded by patent protection. As
the WIPO Director General Francis Gurry stated, the increasing
importance of intellectual property has now moved from the
periphery to the center of the global economic system. Patent
protection affords a term of 20 years exclusive protection of the
patented subject matter and to the holder of the patent, the right
to prevent third parties from making, copying or using the subject
matter without the owner's authority, or inducing others to do
so. Do patents represent a solution for
