WIPO: International Patent Applications Continued to Grow Despite the COVID-19 Pandemic
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russian intellectual property market is growing. In 2020, the key indicators of the Federal Service for Intellectual Property (Rospatent) demonstrated a positive trend. For instance, the number of trademark applications filed in Russia increased by 7.3% last year compared to 2019 (93,926 applications filed in 2020 and 87,509 in 2019). Applications for industrial designs increased by 11.8%, with 7,740 applications filed in 2020. Moreover, 1,106 applications were filed with Rospatent under the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Deposit of Industrial Designs.
2020 showed a 9.2% decrease in international applications for inventions and utility models filed under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), compared to 2019 (1,000 applications filed in 2020 and 1,096 in 2019). The number of international trademark applications filed with Rospatent under the international trademark system (Madrid System) was 17,092 in 2020, compared to 18,804 applications filed in 2019.
World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) prepared a 2020 statistical report on global trends in intellectual property and filings for international protection of intellectual property rights under the WIPO-administered treaties. International patent applications via WIPO in 2020 continued to grow, with leading users in China and the U.S. each marking annual growth in filings.
International patent applications filed under PCT, which is one of the widely used metrics for measuring innovative activity, grew by 4% in 2020 to reach 275,900 applications – the highest number ever, despite an estimated drop in global GDP of 3.5%.
Use of the international trademark system dipped, but only slightly. This was expected given that trademarks tend to represent the introduction of new goods and services – both of which slowed as a result of the global pandemic. International trademark applications via WIPO’s Madrid System for the International Registration of Marks decreased by 0.6% to 63,800 in 2020 – the first decline since the global financial crisis of 2008-2009.
The economic fallout from the pandemic hit demand for the protection of industrial designs via the Hague System for the International Registration of Industrial Designs. Demand fell by 15% in 2020 to 18,580 designs – the first decline since 2006.
See the WIPO press release for more detailed information on the world ranking of Russia in terms of international applications filed under PCT, Madrid and Hague Systems, as well as the information about the countries that are the largest users of WIPO’s registration systems.
