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International Patent Filings Set New Record in 2011

Geneva, March 5, 2012
PR/2012/703

Press Conference Video, Press Conference Video

Despite difficult economic conditions, international patent filings under the WIPO-administered Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) set a new record in 2011 with 181,900 applications – a growth of 10.7% on 2010 and the fastest growth since 2005.1 China, Japan and the United States of America (US) accounted for 82% of the total growth (annex 1). Chinese telecommunications company ZTE Corporation was the biggest filer of PCT applications in 2011.


(Photo: E. Berrod)

“The recovery in international patent filings that we saw in 2010 gained strength in 2011,” said WIPO Director General Francis Gurry. “This underlines the important role played by the PCT system in a world where innovation is an increasingly important feature of economic strategy. It also shows that companies have been continuing to innovate in 2011 – reassuring news in times of persistent economic uncertainty.”

Attesting to the rapid growth of the PCT system, 2011 also saw the filing of the two millionth PCT application, by US-based mobile technology company Qualcomm.

Among the top filing countries, PCT applications from China (+33.4%), Japan (+21%), Canada (+8.3%), the Republic of Korea (+8%) and the US (+8%) saw the fastest growth in 2011. European countries witnessed a mixed performance, with Switzerland (+7.3%), France (+5.8%), Germany (+5.7%) and Sweden (+4.6%) experiencing growth, and the Netherlands (-14%), Finland (-2.7%), Spain (-2.7%) and the United Kingdom (-1%) seeing declines. The large middle-income economies of the Russian Federation (+20.8%), Brazil (+17.2%) and India (+11.2%) recorded double-digit filing growth.

The US with 48,596 filings remains the largest user of the PCT system, followed by Japan (38,888), Germany (18,568) and China (16,406). However, the US (-0.7%) and Germany (-0.5%) saw drop in their shares of total filings, while China (+1.5) and Japan (+1.8) each increased their share by more than a percentage point.

Top applicants

ZTE Corporation of China with 2,826 published applications overtook Panasonic Corporation of Japan (2,463) as the top PCT applicant in 2011 (annex 2).2 Huawei Technologies, Co. of China (1,831) ranks third, followed by Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha (1,755) of Japan and Robert Bosch Corporation (1,518) of Germany. Each of the top five applicants saw double-digit growth in published PCT applications. Five Japanese companies – Panasonic, Sharp, Toyota, NEC, and Mitsubishi – feature in the top 15-list.

The University of California, with 277 applications published in 2011, is the largest filer among educational institutions, followed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (179), the University of Texas System (127), Johns Hopkins University (111) and the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (103). US universities account for 30 of the top-50 educational institutions, followed by Japan and the Republic of Korea with 7 institutions each (annex 3).

PCT filings by fields of technology

Digital communications with 11,574 (or 7.1% of total) published applications remained the field of technology accounting for the largest share of total PCT applications in 2011, followed by electronic machinery (6.9%), medical technology (6.6%) and computer technology (6.4%).3

Most technology fields experienced growth in patenting in 2011. Electronic machinery (23.2%) saw the fastest growth, but 11 other fields also experienced double-digits growth (annex 4). Only 4 fields saw a decline in filings, including basic communication processes (-5.9%), organic fine chemistry (-4.1%), and pharmaceuticals (-1.9%).

Background

The PCT system facilitates the process of seeking patent protection in multiple countries. It simplifies this process by postponing the requirement to file a separate application in each jurisdiction until after a centralized processing and initial patentability evaluation have taken place. Examination of the patentability of the invention in national offices and the related expenses are postponed, in the majority of cases, by up to 18 months – or even longer in some offices – as compared to direct patent filings. The PCT system now has 144 member states. Annex 5 presents total PCT filings from all member states from 2007 to 2011.

Data updates and further analysis

For data updates and additional analysis on the performance of the PCT system in 2011, please consult the PCT Yearly Review: The International Patent System in 2011, which will be published on WIPO Intellectual Property Statistics website in April of 2012.

 

Annexes

Annex 1 - PCT international applications – Top 15 countries

Ranking Country 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 estimate 2011 share 2011 growth
1 United States of America 54'042 51'642 45'627 45'008 48'596 26.7% 8.0%
2 Japan 27'743 28'760 29'802 32'150 38'888 21.4% 21.0%
3 Germany 17'821 18'855 16'797 17'568 18'568 10.2% 5.7%
4 China 5'455 6'120 7'900 12'296 16'406 9.0% 33.4%
5 Republic of Korea 7'064 7'899 8'035 9'669 10'447 5.7% 8.0%
6 France 6'560 7'072 7'237 7'245 7'664 4.2% 5.8%
7 United Kingdom 5'542 5'467 5'044 4'891 4'844 2.7% -1.0%
8 Switzerland 3'833 3'799 3'672 3'728 3'999 2.2% 7.3%
9 Netherlands 4'433 4'363 4'462 4'063 3'494 1.9% -14.0%
10 Sweden 3'655 4'136 3'568 3'314 3'466 1.9% 4.6%
11 Canada 2'879 2'976 2'527 2'698 2'923 1.6% 8.3%
12 Italy 2'946 2'883 2'652 2'658 2'671 1.5% 0.5%
13 Finland 2'009 2'214 2'123 2'138 2'080 1.1% -2.7%
14 Australia 2'052 1'938 1'740 1'772 1'740 1.0% -1.8%
15 Spain 1'297 1'390 1'564 1'772 1'725 0.9% -2.7%
  All Others 12'595 13'726 12'656 13'346 14'389 7.9% 7.8%
  Total 159'926 163'240 155'406 164'316 181'900   10.7%

 

Annex 2: Published PCT international applications by top applicants

2011 Ranking Position Changed Applicant's Name Country of Origin PCT application published in 2011 Change on 2010
1 1 ZTE CORPORATION China 2'826 958
2 -1 PANASONIC CORPORATION Japan 2'463 310
3 1 HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CO.' LTD. China 1'831 304
4 4 SHARP KABUSHIKI KAISHA Japan 1'755 469
5 1 ROBERT BOSCH CORPORATION Germany 1'518 217
6 -3 QUALCOMM INCORPORATED United States of America 1'494 -181
7 4 TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA Japan 1'417 322
8 -1 LG ELECTRONICS INC. Republic of Korea 1'336 39
9 -4 KONINKLIJKE PHILIPS ELECTRONICS N.V. Netherlands 1'148 -285
10 -1 TELEFONAKTIEBOLAGET LM ERICSSON (PUBL) Sweden 1'116 -31
11 -1 NEC CORPORATION Japan 1'056 -50
12 0 SIEMENS AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT Germany 1'039 209
13 1 MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC CORPORATION Japan 834 108
14 -1 BASF SE Germany 773 -44
15 2 SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO.' LTD. Republic of Korea 757 183
16 -1 NOKIA CORPORATION Finland 698 66
17 5 INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION United States of America 661 245
18 0 HEWLETT-PACKARD DEVELOPMENT COMPANY' L.P. United States of America 591 27
19 -3 3M INNOVATIVE PROPERTIES COMPANY United States of America 563 -23
20 5 HITACHI' LTD. Japan 547 175
21 11 KABUSHIKI KAISHA TOSHIBA Japan 517 198
22 2 CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA Japan 499 120
23 -4 FUJITSU LIMITED Japan 494 19
24 3 PROCTER & GAMBLE COMPANY United States of America 488 129
25 -2 MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES' LTD. Japan 480 89
26 2 SONY CORPORATION Japan 471 124
27 -7 MICROSOFT CORPORATION United States of America 446 -24
27 3 SUMITOMO CHEMICAL COMPANY' LIMITED Japan 446 123
29 -8 E.I. DUPONT DE NEMOURS AND COMPANY United States of America 424 -28
30 57 SCHAEFFLER TECHNOLOGIES GMBH & CO. KG Germany 422 255
31 -5 BOSCH-SIEMENS HAUSGERATE GMBH Germany 421 50
32 3 HONDA MOTOR CO.' LTD. Japan 418 109
33 16 FUJIFILM CORPORATION Japan 414 139
34 12 DOW GLOBAL TECHNOLOGIES INC. United States of America 399 111
35 177 SEMICONDUCTOR ENERGY LABORATORY CO.' LTD. Japan 382 306
36 0 COMMISSARIAT A L'ENERGIE ATOMIQUE ET AUX ENERGIES ALTERNATIVES France 371 63
37 11 KYOCERA CORPORATION Japan 356 77
38 21 PANASONIC ELECTRIC WORKS CO.' LTD. Japan 353 147
39 -2 BAKER HUGHES INCORPORATED United States of America 336 29
40 -11 NOKIA SIEMENS NETWORKS OY Finland 332 -13
41 48 HUAWEI DEVICE CO.' LTD. China 327 163
42 -2 NTT DOCOMO' INC. Japan 323 25
43 -5 MURATA MANUFACTURING CO.' LTD. Japan 318 13
44 18 INTEL CORPORATION United States of America 309 108
45 -12 APPLIED MATERIALS' INC. United States of America 308 -5
46 -12 THOMSON LICENSING France 303 -8
47 -6 FRAUNHOFER-GESELLSCHAFT ZUR FORDERUNG DER ANGEWANDTEN FORSCHUNG E.V. Germany 294 -3
48 4 GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY United States of America 291 17
48 25 ASAHI GLASS COMPANY' LIMITED Japan 291 111
50 -1 ALCATEL LUCENT France 287 12
51 65 SANYO ELECTRIC CO.' LTD. Japan 285 156
52 -13 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA United States of America 277 -27
53 18 APPLE COMPUTER' INC. United States of America 269 87
54 45 PEUGEOT CITROEN AUTOMOBILES SA France 268 121
55 37 SUMITOMO ELECTRIC INDUSTRIES' LTD. Japan 264 103
56 -9 EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY United States of America 261 -23
57 8 L'OREAL France 260 62
58 -3 KONICA MINOLTA OPTO' INC. Japan 256 4
59 31 HALLIBURTON ENERGY SERVICES' INC. United States of America 252 90
60 -7 CORNING INCORPORATED United States of America 243 -25
61 1 ILLINOIS TOOL WORKS INC. United States of America 237 36
62 -13 HENKEL KOMMANDITGESELLSCHAFT AUF AKTIEN Germany 232 -43
63 -6 RESEARCH IN MOTION LIMITED Canada 226 9
64 16 GOOGLE' INC. United States of America 224 53
65 -22 MEDTRONIC' INC. United States of America 215 -74
66 -6 LG CHEM' LTD. Republic of Korea 214 11
66 7 HITACHI HIGH-TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION Japan 214 34
68 144 YAZAKI CORPORATION Japan 205 129
69 -5 SCHLUMBERGER CANADA LIMITED Canada 204 4
69 35 DAIMLER AG Germany 204 61
71 -5 NOVARTIS AG Switzerland 200 10
72 -14 CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE (CNRS) France 196 -11
73 46 NITTO DENKO CORPORATION Japan 195 67
74 -18 BRIDGESTONE CORPORATION Japan 194 -53
75 -14 F. HOFFMANN-LA ROCHE AG Switzerland 189 -13
76 23 UNI-CHARM CORPORATION Japan 187 40
77 -9 NESTEC S.A. Switzerland 186 -2
77 5 CONTINENTAL AUTOMOTIVE GMBH Germany 186 16
79 -11 NIPPON STEEL CORPORATION Japan 185 -3
80 21 SOCIETE DE TECHNOLOGIE MICHELIN France 184 38
81 12 AGENCY OF SCIENCE' TECHNOLOGY AND RESEARCH Singapore 180 26
81 30 BAYER MATERIALSCIENCE AG Germany 180 47
83 -1 EVONIK DEGUSSA GMBH Germany 179 9
83 18 MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY United States of America 179 33
85 -12 DSM IP ASSETS B.V. Netherlands 178 -2
86 39 ALCATEL-LUCENT USA INC. United States of America 177 53
87 -17 FRANCE TELECOM France 176 -7
87 -10 ZF FRIEDRICHSHAFEN AG Germany 176 0
87 61 ALCATEL SHANGHAI BELL CO.' LTD. China 176 72
90 -36 DAIKIN INDUSTRIES' LTD. Japan 175 -81
90 72 MITSUBISHI CHEMICAL CORPORATION Japan 175 80
92 41 NISSAN MOTOR CO.' LTD. Japan 174 61
93 -8 OSRAM GESELLSCHAFT MIT BESCHRANKTER HAFTUNG Germany 173 4
94 -51 SONY ERICSSON MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS AB Sweden 171 -118
94 -4 MERCK PATENT GMBH Germany 171 9
96 23 SOCIETE NATIONALE D'ETUDE ET DE CONSTRUCTION DE MOTEURS D'AVIATION France 170 42
96 49 SANOFI-AVENTIS DEUTSCHLAND GMBH Germany 170 65
98 -26 KONICA MINOLTA HOLDINGS' INC. Japan 167 -14
99 2 TOKYO ELECTRON LIMITED Japan 166 20
99 5 BAYER CROPSCIENCE AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT Germany 166 23

 

Annex 3: Published PCT international applications by top universities

2011 Ranking Position Changed Applicant's Name Country of Origin PCT application published in 2011 Change on 2010
52 -13 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA United States of America 277 -27
83 18 MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY United States of America 179 33
119 -3 UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS SYSTEM United States of America 127 -2
140 37 JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY United States of America 111 22
159 184 KOREA ADVANCED INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY Republic of Korea 103 52
168 -11 SEOUL NATIONAL UNIVERSITY Republic of Korea 99 2
171 -26 UNIVERSITY OF TOKYO Japan 98 -7
174 32 UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN United States of America 96 17
193 -25 HARVARD UNIVERSITY United States of America 88 -3
193 6 CORNELL UNIVERSITY United States of America 88 7
204 -60 UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA United States of America 84 -23
208 -40 COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY United States of America 82 -9
217 110 LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY United States of America 79 25
240 134 KYOTO UNIVERSITY Japan 70 23
263 -51 UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA United States of America 64 -12
272 111 ISIS INNOVATION LIMITED United Kingdom 62 16
282 364 KOREA UNIVERSITY Republic of Korea 60 33
285 2 OSAKA UNIVERSITY Japan   59 -1
285 63 CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY United States of America 59 9
316 -45 ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY United States of America 55 -9
341 472 GWANGJU INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY Republic of Korea 52 31
345 20 DUKE UNIVERSITY United States of America 51 3
345 67 HEBREW UNIVERSITY OF JERUSALEM Israel 51 8
345 83 TOHOKU UNIVERSITY Japan 51 10
351 -60 UNIVERSITY OF UTAH United States of America 50 -9
351 32 HANYANG UNIVERSITY Republic of Korea 50 4
351 363 NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE Singapore 50 26
371 -80 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS United States of America 47 -12
371 153 UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO United States of America 47 13
381 -7 WISCONSIN ALUMNI RESEARCH FOUNDATION United States of America 46 -1
381 78 NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY United States of America 46 8
408 12 UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA United States of America 43 1
408 38 TEL AVIV UNIVERSITY Israel 43 4
408 51 YONSEI UNIVERSITY Republic of Korea 43 5
408 254 TOKYO INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY Japan 43 17
434 -86 PURDUE UNIVERSITY United States of America 41 -9
434 25 HOKKAIDO UNIVERSITY Japan 41 3
434 212 KYUSHU UNIVERSITY Japan 41 14
442 71 CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY United Kingdom 40 5
442 117 STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK United States of America 40 8
467 -93 UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA United States of America 38 -9
467 473 VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY United States of America 38 20
480 234 YALE UNIVERSITY United States of America 37 13
493 84 POSTECH FOUNDATION Republic of Korea 36 5
493 169 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH United States of America 36 10
493 221 DANMARKS TEKNISKE UNIVERSITET Denmark 36 12
493 221 TSINGHUA UNIVERSITY China 36 12
512 202 UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY Australia 35 11
530 -48 UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON United States of America 34 -3
530 -48 INDIANA UNIVERSITY United States of America 34 -3
530 132 NEW YORK UNIVERSITY United States of America 34 8
530 132 UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER United States of America 34 8

 

Annex 4: PCT international application by fields of technology

 

Annex 5: PCT international applications by country

Country 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 Estimate
Afghanistan 0 0 0 0 0
Albania 0 0 0 1 0
Algeria 12 10 8 3 4
Andorra 3 7 2 12 3
Angola 0 0 0 1 0
Antigua and Barbuda 0 0 5 1 1
Argentina 32 24 10 16 24
Armenia 4 7 5 5 6
Australia 2,052 1,938 1,740 1,772 1,740
Austria 1,009 953 1,024 1,141 1,344
Azerbaijan 7 4 8 2 4
Bahamas 39 30 26 20 9
Bahrain 0 3 1 1 0
Bangladesh 0 0 1 1 0
Barbados 366 251 96 84 111
Belarus 9 10 19 15 14
Belgium 1,124 1,135 1,008 1,056 1,191
Belize 2 4 2 1 5
Benin 0 1 0 0 0
Bhutan 0 0 0 0 0
Bolivia (Plurinational State of) 1 0 0 0 0
Bosnia and Herzegovina 13 9 11 13 6
Botswana 0 1 0 1 0
Brazil 398 472 492 488 572
Brunei Darussalam 0 0 0 0 0
Bulgaria 29 28 25 33 28
Burkina Faso 0 1 0 0 0
Burundi 1 0 1 0 3
Cambodia 0 0 0 0 0
Cameroon 1 1 9 2 3
Canada 2,879 2,976 2,527 2,698 2,923
Cape Verde 0 0 0 0 0
Central African Republic 0 0 0 0 0
Chad 0 0 0 1 0
Chile 17 27 54 88 118
China 5,455 6,120 7,900 12,296 16,406
Colombia 44 37 63 46 57
Comoros 0 0 0 0 0
Congo 0 1 0 0 1
Costa Rica 3 8 4 3 3
Côte d'Ivoire 0 0 0 1 2
Croatia 79 56 38 50 48
Cuba 22 11 9 5 10
Cyprus 65 38 41 44 26
Czech Republic 132 155 178 137 150
Democratic People's Republic of Korea 2 7 1 4 4
Democratic Republic of the Congo 0 2 0 0 1
Denmark 1,151 1,357 1,344 1,174 1,313
Djibouti 0 0 0 0 0
Dominica 0 0 1 0 2
Dominican Republic 2 5 1 3 6
Ecuador 2 4 4 33 27
Egypt 40 42 33 48 33
El Salvador 0 3 3 0 1
Equatorial Guinea 0 0 0 0 0
Eritrea 0 0 0 0 0
Estonia 29 36 30 45 35
Ethiopia 0 0 0 0 0
Fiji 1 0 0 0 0
Finland 2,009 2,214 2,123 2,138 2,080
France 6,560 7,072 7,237 7,245 7,664
Gabon 0 1 1 2 3
Gambia 0 0 0 0 0
Georgia 8 8 4 5 6
Germany 17,821 18,855 16,797 17,568 18,568
Ghana 0 3 0 0 2
Greece 87 106 100 91 94
Grenada 0 1 0 0 0
Guatemala 1 14 2 2 0
Guinea 0 0 0 1 0
Guinea-Bissau 0 0 0 0 0
Guyana 0 0 0 0 0
Haiti 0 0 0 0 0
Honduras 0 3 1 0 0
Hungary 166 173 142 172 142
Iceland 51 66 57 57 44
India 902 1,072 961 1,286 1,430
Indonesia 9 10 7 16 13
Iran (Islamic Republic of) 3 2 7 6 1
Iraq 1 0 0 0 0
Ireland 422 481 482 443 421
Israel 1,737 1,899 1,555 1,476 1,452
Italy 2,946 2,883 2,652 2,658 2,671
Jamaica 1 0 2 0 3
Japan 27,743 28,760 29,802 32,150 38,888
Jordan 22 7 1 0 1
Kazakhstan 16 4 21 20 19
Kenya 3 1 5 4 9
Kiribati 0 0 0 0 0
Kuwait 2 2 1 0 4
Kyrgyzstan 2 0 1 1 1
Lao People's Democratic Republic 0 0 0 7 5
Latvia 21 18 24 26 17
Lebanon 2 1 2 4 1
Lesotho 0 0 0 0 0
Liberia 0 0 0 0 1
Libya 0 1 4 1 0
Liechtenstein 68 371 55 73 87
Lithuania 13 18 23 11 25
Luxembourg 166 228 229 251 246
Madagascar 0 1 0 0 2
Malawi 0 0 0 0 0
Malaysia 110 208 224 350 265
Maldives 0 0 0 0 0
Mali 0 0 0 0 0
Malta 16 25 32 21 18
Marshall Islands 1 0 0 1 0
Mauritania 0 0 0 0 0
Mauritius 10 3 2 2 4
Mexico 186 203 194 191 227
Micronesia (Federated States of) 0 0 0 0 0
Monaco 5 17 13 17 25
Mongolia 0 3 2 0 1
Montenegro 0 0 0 0 2
Morocco 18 15 24 20 17
Mozambique 0 0 0 0 0
Myanmar 0 1 0 0 0
Namibia 2 0 4 29 18
Nauru 0 0 0 0 0
Nepal 0 0 0 0 0
Netherlands 4,433 4,363 4,462 4,063 3,494
New Zealand 400 358 301 309 323
Nicaragua 0 0 0 1 1
Niger 0 0 1 0 0
Nigeria 1 0 1 2 5
Norway 595 630 630 708 706
Oman 0 0 2 4 0
Pakistan 4 0 0 1 1
Palau 0 0 0 0 0
Panama 14 9 10 5 9
Papua New Guinea 0 0 0 0 0
Paraguay 0 0 0 0 1
Peru 1 2 10 7 6
Philippines 17 13 21 14 18
Poland 107 128 173 199 238
Portugal 93 98 163 116 96
Qatar 0 0 1 7 0
Republic of Korea 7,064 7,899 8,035 9,669 10,447
Republic of Moldova 4 6 2 1 2
Romania 31 14 24 20 20
Russian Federation 689 763 711 798 964
Rwanda 0 0 0 0 0
Saint Kitts and Nevis 3 1 2 2 1
Saint Lucia 0 0 0 0 0
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 0 3 3 2 4
Samoa 0 5 6 5 2
San Marino 18 9 8 5 1
Sao Tome and Principe 0 0 0 0 0
Saudi Arabia 45 60 70 81 147
Senegal 1 0 0 0 2
Serbia 23 37 26 19 19
Seychelles 6 17 9 10 3
Sierra Leone 0 0 0 2 1
Singapore 519 586 593 641 671
Slovakia 38 41 33 44 60
Slovenia 87 108 137 126 126
Solomon Islands 0 0 0 0 0
Somalia 0 0 0 0 0
South Africa 406 392 374 295 308
Spain 1,297 1,390 1,564 1,772 1,725
Sri Lanka 7 10 16 10 12
Sudan 4 3 0 0 2
Suriname 0 0 0 0 0
Swaziland 0 0 0 0 2
Sweden 3,655 4,136 3,568 3,314 3,466
Switzerland 3,833 3,799 3,672 3,728 3,999
Syrian Arab Republic 2 5 9 12 5
T F Y R of Macedonia 5 2 2 2 0
Tajikistan 0 0 0 0 0
Thailand 6 17 20 72 66
Timor-Leste 0 0 0 0 0
Togo 0 0 0 0 0
Tonga 0 0 0 0 0
Trinidad and Tobago 3 0 2 1 0
Tunisia 8 4 6 9 8
Turkey 359 392 389 480 541
Turkmenistan 0 1 0 0 0
Tuvalu 0 0 0 0 0
Uganda 0 0 0 0 2
Ukraine 90 94 79 109 138
United Arab Emirates 20 24 28 30 39
United Kingdom 5,542 5,467 5,044 4,891 4,844
United Republic of Tanzania 0 1 0 0 0
United States of America 54,042 51,642 45,627 45,008 48,596
Unknown 284 168 36 9 39
Uruguay 4 8 9 5 5
Uzbekistan 0 2 0 4 1
Vanuatu 0 0 1 0 0
Venezuela 5 3 1 1 2
Viet Nam 6 6 5 9 18
Yemen 0 0 1 3 1
Zambia 0 0 1 1 0
Zimbabwe 0 0 1 0 2

__________________
1  The data are provisional as WIPO continues to receive PCT applications filed with national offices in 2011.
2  For confidentiality reasons, the ranking of top applicants and the breakdown by field of technology are based on PCT applications published (rather than filed). Statistics based on publication date have a delay of approximately 6 months compared to those based on international filing date.
3  The breakdown of published PCT applications by technology field relies on WIPO's International Patent Classification and Technology concordance table.

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