The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) issued statistics on patent, trademark and designs in 2021 on February 10. China remained the largest user of the International patent applications filed via WIPO's Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) in 2021, pacing the world for three consecutive years since 2019, according to a report issued by WIPO.

PCT, a widely used metric for measuring innovative activity, grew by 0.9% in 2021 to reach an all-time high 277,500 applications despite the pandemic of COVID-19. China accounted for more than a quarter of PCT filings with 69,540, followed by the U.S. (59,570) and Japan (50,260).

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., Samsung Electronics of the Republic of Korea, LG Electronics Inc. of the Republic of Korea and Mitsubishi Electric Corp. of Japan.  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, according to WIPO.

Asia also shows its power in the list of top applicants among education institutions in 2021. The top ten list comprises six universities from China, Japan and Singapore, including Zhejiang University, Tsinghua University, South China University of Science and Technology and Suzhou University of China, and Tokyo University of Japan and the National University of Singapore. The rest four universities are from the U.S.

"It doesn't seem to be an accident that what China has done in IP filing, it is the concrete reflection of China's innovation power and is a joint efforts of IP workers and innovative companies in China," said Li Shunde, a senior IP expert with Chinese Academy of Social sciences.

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%).  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. Among fields of technology, computer technology (9.9% of total) accounted for the largest share of published PCT applications, followed by digital communication (9%).

Madrid System trademark filings, which reflect new business starts and creation of brands, declined at the height of the pandemic in 2020 but rebounded in 2021. It surged by 14.4% in 2021 to reach 73,100 filings, the fastest year-on-year growth since 2005, according to WIPO report.

Chinese applicants (5,272) filed the third largest number of international trademark applications using WIPO's Madrid System, tracing only the U.S., and Germany. Huawei surpassed Apple to become the fourth top filer of international trademark applications. In addition, Honor Device Company, which was spun off from Huawei in November 2020, made the list for the first time, ranking 36th, immediately after Samsung.  

It is worth mentioning that on February 5 China deposited its instrument of accession to the WIPO's Hague System for the International Registration of Industry Designs, which will enter into force in China on May 5.,  China's entry into the system will allow Chinese companies and designers to seek protection for their works in 94 contracting parties, and make it easier to promote their creativity, designs and manufacturing overseas.

"Although COVID-19 related restrictions have kept humans and families apart, it cannot stop the worldwide movement of fresh ideas, innovative products and new services. These figures show that human ingenuity and entrepreneurial spirit remain strong despite the disruptions caused by the pandemic." WIPO Director General Daren Tang said.(by Liu Yangzi)

2月10日，世界知识产权组织发布了2021年专利、商标和工业品外观设计国际注册成果。在2021年通过《专利合作条约》（PCT）途径提交的国际专利申请量上，中国再次位居世界第一，这是中国于2019年首次登顶以来，连续第三年蝉联榜首。

PCT国际专利申请量是衡量创新活动时广泛使用的一项世界性指标。根据世界知识产权组织公布的数据，全球创新主体2021年克服新冠肺炎疫情的影响，推动PCT国际专利申请总量逆势增长0.9%，达到27.75万件，并创下历史最高纪录。其中，中国以6.9540万件的申请数量占据了全部申请的四分之一强，也超过美国的5.9570万件和日本的5.0260万件，领跑全球创新。

中国企业华为技术有限公司以6952件已公布的PCT国际专利申请，成为2021年全球排名首位的PCT国际专利申请人。紧随其后的是美国的高通公司、韩国的三星电子、LG电子和日本的三菱电机株式会社。申请量排名前五位的申请人中，有4个来自亚洲。世界知识产权组织表示，2021年，亚洲占据了大部分PCT国际专利申请活动，这反映了过去20年来亚洲作为创新活动引擎而崛起的更大时代动向。

在教育机构的PCT国际专利申请方面，亚洲的创新力量也有所展现。排名申请量前十位的高校中，来自中国、日本和新加坡的高校有6所，包括中国的浙江大学、清华大学、华南理工大学和苏州大学、日本的东京大学和新加坡的新加坡国立大学，美国高校则占据了另外4席。

中国社科院法学研究所博士生导师、教授李顺德在接受本报记者采访时表示，中国连续三年排名世界第一、企业与高校均有不俗表现这一结果并非偶然，而是中国在技术创新综合能力方面的具体体现，也是全国知识产权工作者和创新主体共同努力的结果。

在排名前十位的技术领域中，有6个出现了申请量增长，其中药品和生物技术的增长率最快，分别达到了12.8%和9.5%，体现出在全球疫情的持续影响下，与卫生健康领域相关的技术创新活动程度呈现的大幅增长态势。而计算机技术和数字通信是占比最大的技术领域，分别占申请总量的9.9%和9%，体现了数字技术持续进步的创新状态。

世界知识产权组织还同时公布了其他知识产权服务量数据。在反映新企业创立和品牌创建活动活跃程度的马德里体系国际商标申请量方面，经历了因新冠肺炎疫情影响带来的2020年的下挫，2021年度该申请量出现了强力反弹，激增14.4%，达到7.31万件，这是自2005年来同比增长最快的一年。

中国保持了在马德里体系国际商标申请量排世界第三名的位置，以5272件年申请量排在美国与德国之后。华为技术有限公司是马德里商标体系中申请量最高的中国申请人，排名世界第四位，超过了同属电信行业的美国苹果公司。此外，2020年11月从华为技术有限公司中剥离的荣耀终端有限公司也首次上榜，排名世界第36位，紧随韩国三星电子。

值得一提的是，中国已于2月5日向世界知识产权组织提交了《工业品外观设计国际注册海牙协定》加入书，该协定将于5月5日在中国生效。生效后，中国的公司和设计师可以在海牙体系覆盖的94个国家中快速便捷地寻求对其外观设计的国际保护，这有助于中国申请人拓展国际市场，并推动中国创意、中国设计、中国制造走向世界。

这些数据显示出全球的创新活动正在经过疫情考验而稳步回升。“尽管与2019冠状病毒病有关的限制使人们彼此分隔、家人不能团聚，但却无法阻止新想法、创新产品和新服务的全球流动。”世界知识产权组织总干事邓鸿森表示，“这些数字表明，尽管大流行病造成了干扰，但是人类的聪明才智和创业精神仍很强大。”（刘阳子）