World Intellectual Property Indicators 2021

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4 WIPO, 2021 World Intellectual Property Organization 34, chemin des Colombettes, Box 18 CH-1211 Geneva 20, SwitzerlandDOI: : 978-92-805-3329-3 ISSN: 2709-5207 (online)ISSN: 2709-5193 (print)Attribution International (CC BY )Printed in Switzerland3 Table of contentsPatentsTrademarksIndustrial designsPlant varietiesGeographical indicationsCreative economyAdditional informationForeword 5 Acknowledgements 6 Further information 6 Key numbers 7 Overview of IP filing activity 8Pa t e n t s 11 Highlights 12 Patent statistics 23 Trademarks 75 Highlights 76 Trademark statistics 86 Industrial designs 129 Highlights

5 130 Industrial design statistics 137 Plant varieties 171 Highlights 172 Plant variety statistics 176 Geographical indications 187 Creative economy 195 Highlights 196 Creative economy statistics 201 Additional information 215 Data description 216IP systems at a glance 218 Glossary 222 Abbreviations 229 Annexes 2304 ForewordAs the World responded to an unexpected and unpre-dictable global crisis, 2020 was a year like no other.

6 In this uncertain environment, innovation and creativity quickly proved indispensable to fighting the COVID-19 pandemic and to mitigating its worst excesses. It was thanks to the development and quick rollout of new ideas and technologies that we have ensured better health outcomes, helped people and businesses to stay connected and smoothed out some of the disruption caused by the pandemic. This year s benchmark World Intellectual Property Indicators report confirms that Intellectual Property (IP) filings patents, trademarks, designs and oth-ers have proven highly resilient, despite the deepest economic shock of modern times. Patent filings increased by per cent in 2020 to just under million applications around the World .

7 Designs contained in applications grew by 2 per cent and trademark classes specified in applications rose by per cent. This countercyclical growth underlines the increasingly important role IP, innovation and creativity will play in the global economy and the contribution each will make in driving the post-pandemic recovery forward. This year s report also illustrates that IP s center of gravity continues to shift. This is best evidenced by the ever increasing number of applications in Asia. While a decade ago, 5 out of 10 IP applications were filed in Asia, last year this number was close to 7 out of 10 IP continued globalization of IP is a highly significant development and one which reinforces WIPO s newly developed Medium-Term Strategic Plan.

8 5 Our mission is to develop a balanced and effective IP ecosystem and to ensure that IP, innovation and creativity act as powerful catalysts for jobs, invest-ments, economic development and social vibrancy for everyone, everywhere. As we cast forward and towards what we hope will be a robust, sustainable and truly global economic and social recovery, the rich dataset of the World Intellectual Property Indicators report can help to guide policymakers and practitioners around the World . Inside, you will find key insights on the future direction of the global economy, as well as evidence of the increasingly important role that IP, innovation and creativity are playing in supporting economic, social and cultural development.

9 I would like to thank our Member States and national and regional IP Offices for their continued support of this report and for engaging with our work at WIPO. Despite the considerable challenges we continue to face, the report s findings reveal a strong base from which to build back better. As we embark on this journey, WIPO looks forward to working with our full range of partners to foster a World where innovation and creativity from anywhere is supported by IP for the good of everyone. Daren TANG Director General6 AcknowledgementsWorld Intellectual Property Indicators 2021 was prepared under the direction of Daren Tang (Director General) in the IP and Innovation Ecosystems Sector led by Marco Aleman (Assistant Director General), and supervised by Carsten Fink (Chief Economist).

10 The report was prepared by Kyle Bergquist, Mosahid Khan, Ryan Lamb, Bruno Le Feuvre and Hao Zhou, all from the Department for Economics and Data Analytics. Peter Button and Ariane Besse of the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) provided comments and suggestions for the plant varieties section. Alexandra Grazioli and Matteo Gragnani of the Brands and Designs Sector provided comments and suggestions for the geographical indications section. Gratitude is also due to Enrico Turrin of the Federation of the European Publishers for sharing some of the creative economy Do Carmo Figueiredo, Judith Davila Monzon and Jovana Stojanovi pro-vided administrative support.