The number of patent applications submitted to the World Intellectual Property Organization’s (WIPO) international patent system returned to modest growth in 2024, after experiencing its first decline in 14 years in 2023.

WIPO reported that it received 273,900 applications under its Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) in 2024, representing a 0.5% increase compared to the previous year when the volume of applications fell by 1.8%. The UN agency had blamed the decrease on economic uncertainty and rising interest rates.

An increase of 1.2% in trademark applications in 2024 under its Madrid system to 65,000 reversed a two-year decline in the volume of filings.

The popularity of designs continued, with the volume of applications rising by 6.8%, the fourth consecutive yearly rise. WIPO's Hague System for the international protection of industrial designs also saw applications reach an all-time high of 27,161 designs.

 WIPO director Daren Tang said: “WIPO is unique amongst UN agencies in providing services directly to the private sector: Our international IP registries help innovative individuals and enterprises around the world move their IP across borders and expand into new markets.

“As demand for our services increases, we will continue to focus on being even more customer-centred and efficient for our clients, so as to continue bringing value to innovators all over the world.”

Patents

China maintained its status as the top source of patent applications submitted to WIPO’s international patent system in 2024, accounting for 70,160 of the 273,900 applications.

Following China were the US (54,087 applications), Japan (48,397), the Republic of Korea (23,851) and Germany (16,721).

Looking at the companies filing patent applications  (see table below), Huawei Technologies was the top PCT filer in 2024, with 6,600 published applications, followed by Samsung Electronics with 4,640 applications and Qualcomm (3,848).

Top 10 Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) applicants by company in 2024 

In the education sector, the University of California retained its top position in 2024 with 519 published PCT applications. The University of Texas System ranked second with 216 applications, followed by China's Tsinghua University (188) and Zhejiang University (175). Seoul National University in the Republic of Korea placed fifth with 170 applications.

In 2024, digital communication became the leading field in published PCT applications, representing 10.5% of the total. This surpassed computer technology, which had held the top spot since 2019.

Trademarks

US-based applicants (11,270 applications) filed the largest number of trademark applications, followed by Germany (6,449), China (5,828), France (4,211) and the UK (3,736).

Looking at the companies filing trademark applications, L’Oréal maintained its leading position for the fourth consecutive year in 2024, with a total of 244 filings. Following L'Oréal, Novartis of Switzerland climbed two spots to become the second-largest filer with 193 applications. Rounding out the top five were Bulgaria’s Euro Games Technology (141 applications), Japan’s Shiseido (124) and Germany’s Boehringer Ingelheim International (106).

Designs

China was the leading filer of designs in 2024, with 4,870 filings, followed by Germany (4,218), the US (3,034), Italy (2,249) and Switzerland (2,109).

Procter & Gamble took the top spot in design filings, with 641 published designs in applications. The consumer goods company displaced Samsung Electronics, last year's top filer, which dropped to sixth place. Other top five filers were Porsche with 506 designs, LG Electronics with 459, Ferrari with 442 and Huawei Technologies with 431.