Total patent applications : Patents and utility models.
Just five IP offices account for more than four-fifths of all patent filings.
Total patent applications
About 2.9 million patent applications were filed worldwide in 2015, up 7.8% from 2014. Driving that strong growth were filings in China, which received about 174,000 of the nearly 208,000 additional filings in 2015 and accounted for 84% of total growth. For more information on patents and utility models,
China received more than a million patent applications
In 2015, China became the first office to receive over a million patent applications in a single year. It received almost as many applications as Japan, the Republic of Korea and the U.S. combined.
Malaysia and South Africa each received more than 7,000 applications
Patent applications for offices of selected low- and middle-income countries.
This figure shows the numbers of patent applications filed at IP offices of selected low- and middle-income countries in 2015. Malaysia and South Africa were noteworthy among this group for each receiving more than 7,000 applications.
Which countries specialize in which technologies?
China dominates filling activity for utility models..
A utility model is special form of patent right which has less stringent requirements than a patent, but gives a shorter term of protection. Utility models are not available in all jurisdictions.
The IP office of China received by far the largest number of utility model applications in 2015, accounting for over 90% of the world total.
