China received more patent application than USA and Japan combined- WIPO

Year 2015 report on IP metrics was released by WIPO. Highlights:

•  Around 2.68 million patent applications were filed worldwide in 2014. Indian Patent Office received 42,824 patent applications, 12,040 from India, 9,824 from USA, 5338 from Japan, 3,174 from Germany and only 880 from China. PCT applications not originating from India number 26,340.China tops the list with nearly a million applications, 80% from residents and mostly utility patent applications. India's patent position is higher than Russia, UK, France, Australia and near that of Germany.
•  USPTO tops in patent grants with 3 lakh, India grants 6,153, mostly (5433) from non-residents. There are over 2 lakh patent applications pending in India compared to a million in USPTO.
• Of the top 10 origins in the period 2011-13, Switzerland filed mainly in pharmaceuticals; the Russian Federation in food chemistry; France and Germany in transport; China, Japan and the Republic of Korea in electrical machinery; the Netherlands in medical technology; and the UK and the US in computer technology. Majority of applications in India are in Pharma and Computer technology.
• An estimated 948,900 applications for utility patents were filed worldwide in 2014, of which 868,511 were received by SIPO. Resident applications made up 98% of all applications filed worldwide in 2014, showing that utility model applications are rarely filed abroad. Compared to patents, the Czech Republic, China Hong Kong (SAR), the Philippines, Slovakia and Ukraine are intense users of utility models.

PCT Applications 2015 and India

Some interesting bits from the report.:

• Applications filed in 2014-214,500. National phase entries in 2013-565,500/-
• Two of the top three applicants were located in China. With 3,442 applications published, Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. of China became the top PCT applicant. For the first time, over 10% of the top 50 PCT applicants were from China.
• Computer technology became the field with the highest number of PCT applications published (17,653) in 2014. It was followed by digital communication (16,165) and electrical machinery (15,220). Relative Specialization Index for India is highest in Pharmaceuticals.
• Philips, Netherlands top the list of 50 PCT applicants (1995-2014).
• From India, 1394 PCT applications were filed in 2014,little lower than Israel and higher than Singapore. China filed over 25,000/-
• PCT applications as a share of resident applications for India was 0.13 implying that only 13% of those that filed for patents in India in 2013 filed for PCT in 2014. Israel, Singapore have conversion more than one reflecting numerous PCT applications with no prior residence filing.
• Share of independent innovators is significant for middle income countries with Russia and South Africa leading in this classification.
• Share of PCT applications with foreign co-applicant is relatively higher for India compared to China.
• National Phase entries in India were 27,592 in 2013, higher than Brazil, Russia, South Africa.  Approximately 30% (1,176) of all NPEs originating in India were destined for the USPTO with 452 heading towards Europe.