No. Of Int’L Patent Applications Hits Record High in 2006

By Kyodo News International, Tokyo

Feb. 8–GENEVA — The number of international patent applications reached a record 145,300 in 2006, with Japan keeping second place for a fourth year in a row, the World Intellectual Property Organization said Wednesday.

The United States kept its position as the world’s No. 1 country under WIPO’s Patent Cooperation Treaty with 49,555 applications, followed by Japan with 26,906 applications, an increase of 8.3 percent.

Total applications by the treaty’s 136 signatory nations rose 6.4 percent from the previous year, WIPO said.

The year 2006 marked the third consecutive year in which applications from Japan, South Korea and China increased, WIPO said, adding that the Far East region was becoming the center of technological innovation.

South Korea moved up to the fourth place from sixth with 5,935 applications, up 26.6 percent. China advanced to eighth place from 10th with 3,910 applications, marking a surge of 56.8 percent.

By company, Royal Philips Electronics N.V. of the Netherlands ranked first with 2,495 applications, while Japan’s Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. was second with 2,344.

A total of 14 Japanese companies entered the top 50, including Toyota Motor Corp., with 704 applications at eighth place and Mitsubishi Electric Corp. with 616 applications at 11th place.

Patents filed under the treaty are considered international and applicants are offered protection from all signatory states without filing multiple applications.

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