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WIPO News
World Patent Information 30 (2008) 81–82 www.elsevier.com/locate/worpatin
WIPO News A selection of material from ‘‘Press Releases’’ and ‘‘Updates’’ etc chosen from the WIPO website.
1. WIPO financial situation strong: options for use of excess reserves A combination of strong demand for WIPO’s services to the private sector and strict budgetary discipline means that the financial situation of WIPO is strong and has led to a situation where available reserve funds have exceeded a target level established by member states, the excess amounting to 55.5 million Swiss francs. As a result, member states are now considering a number of options for the utilization of the reserves that exceed the target level fixed in the year 2000. WIPO is a largely self-funding agency, drawing 95% of its income from services to the private sector. These services facilitate the process of obtaining international protection for patents, trademarks and designs. Member states are considering five options for using reserve funds that are in excess of the target level. These are: 1. Financing of activities relating to the WIPO Development Agenda. 2. Upfront partial payment for the construction of a new administrative building for WIPO (to be financed by a bank loan). 3. Development of an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) project for WIPO. 4. Establishment of a new information technology platform for the Madrid System for the International Registration of Marks. 5. Upgrading the security standards of the Organization. Another way to look at the surplus is eroding reserves through lower income. In this connection, the USA has proposed a 15% reduction in the fees paid by users of the PCT which would be effective from January 2008. 2. WIPO Report Reveals Changing Geography of Innovation with Highest Patenting Growth Rates in North East Asia The 2007 edition of the Patent Report of WIPO (http:// www.wipo.int/ipstats/en/statistics/patents/patent_report_ doi:10.1016/j.wpi.2007.10.003
2007.html) shows that worldwide filings of patent applications have grown at an average annual rate of 4.7% with the highest growth rates experienced in North East Asian countries, particularly the Republic of Korea (ROK) and China. The report is based on 2005 figures. It showed that patents granted worldwide have increased at an average annual rate of 3.6% with some 600,000 patents granted in 2005 alone. By the end of 2005, approximately 5.6 million patents were in force worldwide. The largest recipients of patent filings are the patent offices of Japan, the United States of America (USA), China, the ROK and the European Patent Office (EPO). These five offices account for 77% of all patents filed in 2005, (a 2% increase over 2004), representing 74% of all patents granted. With an increase of almost 33% over 2004, the patent office of China became the third largest recipient of patent filings in 2005. 2.1 North East Asia: Significant Growth The report reaffirms that the North East Asian region has significantly increased its share of worldwide patenting, both as a source of patent applications and as a target of non-resident patent applications from outside the region. Patent filings by residents doubled in the ROK and increased by more than eight fold in China between 1995 and 2005. The patent office of China has the highest growth rate for resident (+42.1%) and nonresident (+23.6%) filings. 2.2 The Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) The report shows an increase in the use of the PCT. The number of PCT international applications increased by 7.9% from 2005 to 2006 to reach 147,500. At present, 137 countries have signed up to the PCT. Applicants from the United States of America are the largest filers of PCT international applications, followed by applicants from Japan and Germany. The number of PCT filings from North East Asian countries is increasing rapidly. 2.3 Increasing Workloads The report evokes the question of the incremental workload at certain patent offices which, in some cases, has
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WIPO News / World Patent Information 30 (2008) 81–82
increased faster than their capacity to examine patent applications. The USA had more than 900,000 patents pending in 2005. The Japanese Patent Office also had more than 800,000 patents pending in 2005. 2.4 Patent Filing by Residents Patent filings by residents increased by 6.6% in the period 2004 to 2005. The patent office of China experienced the highest growth rate in resident patent filings, increasing by 42.1% in 2005. This reflects the country’s commitment to becoming a hub of innovation. In the ROK resident patent filings grew by 16.1% in 2005, in the USA such filings grew by 9.7% and in the EPO a growth rate of 4% was witnessed. 2.5 Patent Filing by Non-Residents The number of patent filings by non-residents – individuals who are requesting patents in foreign countries – in 2005 was 7.6% higher than in 2004. This points to the greater internationalization of commercial activity linked to technology, as well as increasing international competition in innovation. Significant increases in non-resident patent filings were seen in China, India, Mexico, the ROK and the Russian Federation. Patent applicants from the USA, Japan and Germany were the largest filers of patent applications in other countries. 2.6 Patents Granted in 2005 Some 600,000 patents were granted in 2005. The largest number of patents was granted by the patent office of the USA, followed by the offices of Japan, the ROK (up 2 places from 2004), China (up 1 place from 2004) and the EPO. Of the 5.6 million patents in force, 90% are accounted for by ten offices – USA, Japan, Germany, the ROK, United Kingdom, France, Spain, China, Canada and Russian Federation. 2.7 Growth Sectors In its analysis of patent trends around the world, the report reveals an increase in filings in the electricity and electronics sectors. The three fastest growing technical fields from 2000 to 2004 were medical technology (+32.2%), audio-visual technology (+28.3%) and information technology (+27.7%). In 2006, 23% of published PCT international applications were classified in three technical fields, namely telecommunications, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics, and information technology.
It shows that companies of Switzerland, the Netherlands, Belgium and Sweden have an above average number of foreign inventors and that researchers from Belgium, Austria, Great Britain, Canada, Israel and India constituted the largest percentage of inventors working in foreign companies. 3. Health research institutes in developing countries A three year project funded by the Geneva International Academic Network (GIAN) and coordinated by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has developed a model to enhance the capacity of health research institutes in developing countries to leverage the value of their research results through strategic management of their intellectual property (IP) assets. It has already led to the filing of patents for cancer-related treatments in participating countries. A pilot project was launched in September 2004, in seven countries, on two continents - Cameroon, Chad, Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Republic of Congo and Colombia - to help address the many IP-related infrastructural and resource challenges faced by health research institutes in developing countries. This has resulted in the creation of two networks of health research institutions whose IP-related support needs are each provided by an ‘‘IP Hub’’, which offers shared IP services as a strategy to develop local expertise to protect, own and commercialize research results through the use of patents and other types of IP. The ‘‘IP Hubs’’ are designed to serve a vital function in supporting and strengthening research in developing countries by providing common services that include: drafting patent applications; legal protection of research results; managing and licensing IP owned by the research institutions; encouraging public-private partnerships; marketing the R&D network and its IP assets; and looking for and negotiating funding. The results of the project will shortly be published by WIPO as an Evaluation Study and will be available in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish. 4. EC accedes to the Hague Agreement The Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Dr. Kamil Idris, welcomed the accession by the European Community (EC) to the Geneva Act of the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs. The EC’s accession will become effective as from January 1, 2008.
2.8 Inventors The report also examines the percentage and composition of foreign inventors in PCT international applications.
Editor-in-Chief Michael Blackman E-mail address: [email protected]
WIPO News A selection of material from ‘‘Press Releases’’ and ‘‘Updates’’ etc chosen from the WIPO website.
1. WIPO financial situation strong: options for use of excess reserves A combination of strong demand for WIPO’s services to the private sector and strict budgetary discipline means that the financial situation of WIPO is strong and has led to a situation where available reserve funds have exceeded a target level established by member states, the excess amounting to 55.5 million Swiss francs. As a result, member states are now considering a number of options for the utilization of the reserves that exceed the target level fixed in the year 2000. WIPO is a largely self-funding agency, drawing 95% of its income from services to the private sector. These services facilitate the process of obtaining international protection for patents, trademarks and designs. Member states are considering five options for using reserve funds that are in excess of the target level. These are: 1. Financing of activities relating to the WIPO Development Agenda. 2. Upfront partial payment for the construction of a new administrative building for WIPO (to be financed by a bank loan). 3. Development of an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) project for WIPO. 4. Establishment of a new information technology platform for the Madrid System for the International Registration of Marks. 5. Upgrading the security standards of the Organization. Another way to look at the surplus is eroding reserves through lower income. In this connection, the USA has proposed a 15% reduction in the fees paid by users of the PCT which would be effective from January 2008. 2. WIPO Report Reveals Changing Geography of Innovation with Highest Patenting Growth Rates in North East Asia The 2007 edition of the Patent Report of WIPO (http:// www.wipo.int/ipstats/en/statistics/patents/patent_report_ doi:10.1016/j.wpi.2007.10.003
2007.html) shows that worldwide filings of patent applications have grown at an average annual rate of 4.7% with the highest growth rates experienced in North East Asian countries, particularly the Republic of Korea (ROK) and China. The report is based on 2005 figures. It showed that patents granted worldwide have increased at an average annual rate of 3.6% with some 600,000 patents granted in 2005 alone. By the end of 2005, approximately 5.6 million patents were in force worldwide. The largest recipients of patent filings are the patent offices of Japan, the United States of America (USA), China, the ROK and the European Patent Office (EPO). These five offices account for 77% of all patents filed in 2005, (a 2% increase over 2004), representing 74% of all patents granted. With an increase of almost 33% over 2004, the patent office of China became the third largest recipient of patent filings in 2005. 2.1 North East Asia: Significant Growth The report reaffirms that the North East Asian region has significantly increased its share of worldwide patenting, both as a source of patent applications and as a target of non-resident patent applications from outside the region. Patent filings by residents doubled in the ROK and increased by more than eight fold in China between 1995 and 2005. The patent office of China has the highest growth rate for resident (+42.1%) and nonresident (+23.6%) filings. 2.2 The Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) The report shows an increase in the use of the PCT. The number of PCT international applications increased by 7.9% from 2005 to 2006 to reach 147,500. At present, 137 countries have signed up to the PCT. Applicants from the United States of America are the largest filers of PCT international applications, followed by applicants from Japan and Germany. The number of PCT filings from North East Asian countries is increasing rapidly. 2.3 Increasing Workloads The report evokes the question of the incremental workload at certain patent offices which, in some cases, has
82
WIPO News / World Patent Information 30 (2008) 81–82
increased faster than their capacity to examine patent applications. The USA had more than 900,000 patents pending in 2005. The Japanese Patent Office also had more than 800,000 patents pending in 2005. 2.4 Patent Filing by Residents Patent filings by residents increased by 6.6% in the period 2004 to 2005. The patent office of China experienced the highest growth rate in resident patent filings, increasing by 42.1% in 2005. This reflects the country’s commitment to becoming a hub of innovation. In the ROK resident patent filings grew by 16.1% in 2005, in the USA such filings grew by 9.7% and in the EPO a growth rate of 4% was witnessed. 2.5 Patent Filing by Non-Residents The number of patent filings by non-residents – individuals who are requesting patents in foreign countries – in 2005 was 7.6% higher than in 2004. This points to the greater internationalization of commercial activity linked to technology, as well as increasing international competition in innovation. Significant increases in non-resident patent filings were seen in China, India, Mexico, the ROK and the Russian Federation. Patent applicants from the USA, Japan and Germany were the largest filers of patent applications in other countries. 2.6 Patents Granted in 2005 Some 600,000 patents were granted in 2005. The largest number of patents was granted by the patent office of the USA, followed by the offices of Japan, the ROK (up 2 places from 2004), China (up 1 place from 2004) and the EPO. Of the 5.6 million patents in force, 90% are accounted for by ten offices – USA, Japan, Germany, the ROK, United Kingdom, France, Spain, China, Canada and Russian Federation. 2.7 Growth Sectors In its analysis of patent trends around the world, the report reveals an increase in filings in the electricity and electronics sectors. The three fastest growing technical fields from 2000 to 2004 were medical technology (+32.2%), audio-visual technology (+28.3%) and information technology (+27.7%). In 2006, 23% of published PCT international applications were classified in three technical fields, namely telecommunications, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics, and information technology.
It shows that companies of Switzerland, the Netherlands, Belgium and Sweden have an above average number of foreign inventors and that researchers from Belgium, Austria, Great Britain, Canada, Israel and India constituted the largest percentage of inventors working in foreign companies. 3. Health research institutes in developing countries A three year project funded by the Geneva International Academic Network (GIAN) and coordinated by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has developed a model to enhance the capacity of health research institutes in developing countries to leverage the value of their research results through strategic management of their intellectual property (IP) assets. It has already led to the filing of patents for cancer-related treatments in participating countries. A pilot project was launched in September 2004, in seven countries, on two continents - Cameroon, Chad, Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Republic of Congo and Colombia - to help address the many IP-related infrastructural and resource challenges faced by health research institutes in developing countries. This has resulted in the creation of two networks of health research institutions whose IP-related support needs are each provided by an ‘‘IP Hub’’, which offers shared IP services as a strategy to develop local expertise to protect, own and commercialize research results through the use of patents and other types of IP. The ‘‘IP Hubs’’ are designed to serve a vital function in supporting and strengthening research in developing countries by providing common services that include: drafting patent applications; legal protection of research results; managing and licensing IP owned by the research institutions; encouraging public-private partnerships; marketing the R&D network and its IP assets; and looking for and negotiating funding. The results of the project will shortly be published by WIPO as an Evaluation Study and will be available in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish. 4. EC accedes to the Hague Agreement The Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Dr. Kamil Idris, welcomed the accession by the European Community (EC) to the Geneva Act of the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs. The EC’s accession will become effective as from January 1, 2008.
2.8 Inventors The report also examines the percentage and composition of foreign inventors in PCT international applications.
Editor-in-Chief Michael Blackman E-mail address: [email protected]