…this report explores recent activities at each of the world’s major patenting authorities (USA, Europe, Japan, China and India).
Key findings from the 2009 Patent Focus Report include:
• For the first time a Chinese company, Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, topped the list of Patent Co-operation Treaty applications.
• The European Patent Office received 140,700 applications in 2007, up over 3% from the year before. In contrast, the number of patents granted fell from 62,800 in 2006 to 54,700 in 2008.
• The number of patent examiners in India has remained relatively static – raising questions about the quality of patents coming out of the Indian IP Office. In response, at the end of 2008 India announced 414 new examiner posts to be created by 2012.
• For the second year in a row, the Japan Patent Office reported the lowest level of approved patent applications since the mid-1990s.
• Patent approval rates at the US Patent and Trademark Office continue to fall to below 50% of applications examined.
Source: Thomson Reuters
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