China (69,540 applications, +0.9% year-on-year growth) remained the largest user of the PCT in 2021. This was followed by the U.S. (59,570 applications, +1.9%), Japan (50,260 applications, –0.6%), the Republic of Korea (20,678 applications, +3.2%) and Germany (17,322 applications, –6.4%) (Annex 1 PDF, Annex 1).
Beyond the top 10, Singapore (1,617 applications, +23%), Finland (1,907 applications, +13.8%) and Turkey (1,829 applications, +13.2%) each saw strong growth in PCT filings in 2021. Asia in 2021 accounted for the majority of all PCT filing activity, as part of a larger trajectory over the past two decades of the rise of Asia as an engine of innovative activity.
China-based telecoms giant Huawei Technologies, with 6,952 published PCT applications, was the top filer in 2021. It was followed by Qualcomm Inc. of the U.S. (3,931), Samsung Electronics of the Republic of Korea (3,041), LG Electronics Inc. of the Republic of Korea (2,885) and Mitsubishi Electric Corp. of Japan (2,673) (Annex 2 PDF, Annex 2).
Among the top 10 filers, Qualcomm Inc. reported the fastest growth (+80.9%) in the number of published applications in 2021 and as a result it moved up from fifth position in 2020 to second spot in 2021. Filings related to digital communication by Qualcomm almost doubled – from 1,486 in 2020 to 2,951 in 2021 – helping drive the strong overall growth.
The University of California with 551 published applications continues to head the list of top applicants among educational institutions in 2021. Zhejiang University (306) ranked second, followed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (227), Tsinghua University (201) and Stanford University (194) (Annex 3 PDF, Annex 3). The top 10 university list comprises four universities each from China and the U.S., and one each from Japan and Singapore. For the first time, the National University of Singapore is among the top 10.
International patent system (Patent Cooperation Treaty – PCT)
Top technologies
Among fields of technology, computer technology (9.9% of total) accounted for the largest share of published PCT applications, followed by digital communication (9%), medical technology (7.1%), electrical machinery (6.9%), and measurement (4.6%) (Annex 4 PDF, Annex 4).
Six of the top 10 technology fields recorded growth in 2021, with pharmaceuticals (+12.8%) reporting the fastest rate of growth, followed by biotechnology (+9.5%), computer technology (7.2%) and digital communication (+6.9%). The growth in these fields attests to the dynamism of health-related technologies as the pandemic unfolded and continued opportunities for progress in digital technologies.
Source: www.wipo.int