24 January 2023
The world’s five largest IP offices (IP5)
have published the IP5 Statistics Report 2021 on the IP5 website.
According to the report, in 2021, the IP5 granted 1.5 million patents, an
increase of 10% on the previous year, and received 2.9 million
patent applications (+3.7%).
The report is an annual compilation of patent statistics published
by the European Patent Office (EPO) the Japan Patent Office (JPO), the Korean
Intellectual Property Office (KIPO), the China National Intellectual Property
Administration (CNIPA) and the United States Patent and Trademark Office
(USPTO). The publication includes
developments at all five offices, detailed coverage of similarities and
differences in their patent grant procedures, as well as comprehensive
worldwide data from WIPO and patent offices around the globe.
The IP5 Statistics Report 2021
confirms that demand for
patents grew markedly in 2021 at the EPO, which received 188 600 European
patent applications, up 4.5% on 2020. Rising
to the multiple challenges resulting from the pandemic, the EPO continued to
perform strongly in 2021, achieving steady improvements in timeliness. It
reduced pendency in examination to 23 months while maintaining pendency in
search below 5 months.
The EPO granted some 108 800 European
patents last year.
The IP5 offices have been co-operating
since 2007 to improve the efficiency and quality of the global patent system by
delivering joint products and services.
Detailed statistics on patenting
activity specifically at the EPO for the year 2022 will also be published this
coming March.