Exceptional Growth from North East Asia in Record Year for International Patent Filings

Geneva, February 3, 2006
Press Releases PR/2006/436

In a year that saw a record number of international patent filings, the Republic of Korea overtook the Netherlands as the 6^th biggest user of the World Intellectual Property Organization's (WIPO) Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) and China dislodged Canada, Italy and Australia to take the position of 10^th largest PCT user. In 2005, over 134,000 PCT applications were filed, representing a 9.4% increase over the previous year. The five top users of the international patent system remained unchanged, namely: United States of America, Japan, Germany, France and the United Kingdom. And, for the second year running, the most impressive rates of growth came from north east Asia – namely, Japan, the Republic of Korea and China, which between them accounted for 24.1% of all international applications, compared to 34.6% from the countries party to the European Patent Convention and 33.6% from the United States of America. The PCT is the cornerstone of the international patent system and offers a rapid, flexible and cost-effective way to obtain patent protection in the 128 countries that have signed up to the system.

“The rate of growth from Japan, Republic of Korea and China continues to be exceptional, reflecting the rapidly expanding technological strength of those countries. Since 2000, the number of applications from Japan, Republic of Korea, and China, has risen by 162%, 200% and 212%, respectively,” said Mr. Francis Gurry, WIPO Deputy Director General who oversees the work of the PCT.

Inventors and industry from the United States of America represented 33.6% (a 3.8% increase over 2004) of all applications in 2005. Applicants from Japan, who unseated their German counterparts in 2003 for the number two spot, maintained their second place position with 18.8% of the total number of applications, representing a 24.3% increase. Germany held third position with 11.8% of all applications in 2005, representing a 4% increase, followed by France (4.1% of all applications and a 6.6% increase) and the United Kingdom (3.8% of all applications and a 1.5% increase). Among the fifteen top filing countries, others to achieve double-digit rates of growth were Australia (13^th highest filer, with a rate of growth of 10.1% in 2005) and Finland (14^th highest filer, with a rate of growth of 11.6% in 2005).

Improved Services and Productivity

The considerable overall growth in the number of international applications resulted, Mr. Gurry said, not only from better economic conditions, but also from improved services and productivity within the PCT system, resulting particularly from the use of information technology. The number of applications filed electronically increased by 106.9% and filing on electronic media now exceeded paper filings. Information technology had also been successfully deployed in the movement of applications and associated data between WIPO and the various national and regional offices within the system. In addition, the deployment of full electronic processing of applications by WIPO had been successfully managed.

Mr. Gurry praised the commitment of the staff of the PCT, which processed an average of 536 international applications per working day. He said “there had been tremendous productivity gains in the past year within the PCT.” Productivity improved by 18% using the measure of the number of international applications processed per employee, which had gone up from 213 per employee, to 253.

“The deployment of full electronic processing within WIPO for PCT applications not only resulted in major productivity gains at WIPO, but also assisted in making the world's technology available online for free-of-charge consultation,” Mr. Gurry added. The WIPO website “PatentScope” now made available over 1.2 million international applications, representing the most important technological advances of the past twenty years, in fully searchable form for free consultation by all ( https://www.wipo.int/patentscope/).

The WIPO PCT receiving office also experienced significant growth in its activities in 2005, recording a 9.5% increase in the number of international applications filed directly with them. This represents 5.7% of all PCT applications received in 2005. The PCT receiving office provides applicants with an option to file their international applications directly with WIPO, rather than through the intermediary of a national or regional office.

Top Filers

The 134,073 applications filed in 2005 (provisional estimate - WIPO continues to receive PCT applications filed with national offices in 2005 throughout the first half of the year), represents a 9.4% increase on the number filed in 2004. The Dutch multinational Philips Electronics N.V. was again the largest filer (an estimated 2,492 applications), followed by Matsushita (Japan) (2,021), Siemens (Germany) (1,402) , Nokia (Finland) (898), Bosch (Germany) (843), Intel (USA) (691), BASF (Germany) (656), 3M (USA) (603), Motorola (United States) (580), and DaimlerChrysler (Germany) (567). Among the 20 top filing companies, seven were from the United States of America, four from Germany and four from Japan.

Developing Countries

International patent applications received from developing countries in 2005 saw a 20% increase as compared to 2004, representing 6.7% of all international patent applications filed. The list was topped by applications from the Republic of Korea with 4,747 applications, followed by China (2,452), India (648), South Africa (336), Singapore (438), Brazil (283) and Mexico (136). Several developing countries saw double-digit increases in their use of the PCT, notably the Republic of Korea, China and Mexico. Developing countries make up 79% of the membership of the PCT, representing 101 of the 128 countries that have signed up to the treaty to date.

The top ten users of the PCT from developing countries include: Samsung Electronics, (Republic of Korea), LG Electronics (Republic of Korea), Huawei Technologies (China), Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (India), Ranbaxy Laboratories (India), LG Chem (Republic of Korea), Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (Republic of Korea), Agency for Science, Technology and Research (Singapore), ZTE Corporation (China) and NHN Corporation (Republic of Korea).

The main fields of technology in which PCT applications were published in 2005 are broken down according to the main technical fields of the International Patent Classification (IPC) - a system designed to facilitate the retrieval of technical information found in patent documents - and are outlined in Annex I. Applications can be filed in any language and are published in one of the following eight languages: Arabic (from April 1, 2006), Chinese, English, French, German, Japanese, Russian, and Spanish (for further information on IPC codes, please consult: https://www.wipo.int/classifications/ipc/).

Background

The PCT offers inventors and industry an advantageous route for obtaining patent protection internationally. By filing one “international” patent application under the PCT, protection of an invention can be sought simultaneously in each of a large number of countries. Both applicants and patent offices of PCT member states benefit from the uniform formality requirements, the international search and preliminary examination reports, and the centralized international publication provided by the PCT system. The national patent granting procedure and the related expenses are postponed, in the majority of cases, by up to 18 months (or even longer in the case of some offices) as compared with the traditional patent system. By this time, the applicant will have received important value-added information concerning the likelihood of obtaining patent protection as well as potential commercial interest in that invention.

The growth rate in the filing of PCT applications has been especially significant during the last nine years. It took 18 years from the beginning of PCT operations in 1978 to reach 250,000 total applications, but only four years to double that figure (500,000), and another four to double it again (1,000,000).

For further information, please contact the Media Relations and Public Affairs Section at WIPO:

Tel: (+41 22) - 338 81 61 or 338 95 47
Fax: (+41 22) - 338 82 80
Email: publicinf@wipo.int.

Annex I


PCT International Applications Top Countries/Regions of Origin
	*2000*	*2001*	*2002*	*2003*	*2004*	*2005 estimate*	*2005 percent*	*2005 growth*
EPC Member States	36,031	40,681	42,506	43,299	44,032	46,446	34.6%	5.5%
United States of America	38,007	43,055	41,292	41,023	43,464	45,111	33.6%	3.8%
Japan	9,567	11,904	14,063	17,393	20,223	25,145	18.8%	24.3%
Germany	12,582	14,031	14,326	14,682	15,255	15,870	11.8%	4.0%
France	4,138	4,707	5,089	5,172	5,181	5,522	4.1%	6.6%
United Kingdom	4,795	5,482	5,376	5,205	5,041	5,115	3.8%	1.5%
Republic of Korea	1,580	2,324	2,520	2,949	3,554	4,747	3.5%	33.6%
Netherlands	2,928	3,410	3,977	4,480	4,236	4,435	3.3%	4.7%
Switzerland	1,989	2,349	2,755	2,860	2,881	3,096	2.3%	7.5%
Sweden	3,091	3,421	2,990	2,612	2,844	2,784	2.1%	-2.1%
China	784	1,731	1,018	1,295	1,706	2,452	1.8%	43.7%
Canada	1,801	2,114	2,260	2,270	2,109	2,315	1.7%	9.8%
Italy	1,394	1,623	1,982	2,163	2,196	2,309	1.7%	5.1%
Australia	1,576	1,664	1,759	1,680	1,837	2,022	1.5%	10.1%
Finland	1,578	1,696	1,762	1,557	1,672	1,866	1.4%	11.6%
All Others	3,894	4,758	4,972	5,289	5,682	5,835	4.4%	2.7%

Total	93,240	108,231	110,390	115,198	122,607	134,073	100.0%	9.4%

Main fields of technology in which PCT applications were published in 2005
according to the International Patent Classification

*IPC Sub-Class*	*Description*	*2001*	*2002*	*2003*	*2004*	*2005 estimate*	*2005 percent*	*2005 growth*
A61K	PREPARATIONS FOR MEDICAL, DENTAL, OR TOILET PURPOSES	5284	6081	7062	6713	7229	5.8%	7.7%
G06F	ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING	8017	7994	6949	6353	6267	5.0%	-1.4%
H04L	TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION	2646	3078	2958	3077	3640	2.9%	18.3%
C07D	HETEROCYCLIC COMPOUNDS	2479	2563	2611	3106	3349	2.7%	7.8%
H01L	SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES	2129	2651	2921	3089	3309	2.6%	7.1%
G01N	INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIR CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES	2359	2746	2913	2835	3122	2.5%	10.1%
A61B	DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION	1960	2089	2391	2537	2657	2.1%	4.7%
C12N	MICRO-ORGANISMS OR ENZYMES; COMPOSITIONS THEREOF	3964	3494	2536	2170	2073	1.7%	-4.5%
H04N	PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION	1771	1783	2030	1864	2037	1.6%	9.3%
A61F	FILTERS IMPLANTABLE INTO BLOOD VESSELS; PROSTHESES, etc	1326	1263	1511	1509	1694	1.4%	12.3%
C07C	ACYCLIC OR CARBOCYCLIC COMPOUNDS	1508	1412	1501	1472	1538	1.2%	4.5%
H04B	TRANSMISSION SYSTEMS	1457	1516	1545	1488	1536	1.2%	3.2%
H04Q	SELECTING (switches, relays, etc)	1479	1447	1406	1392	1530	1.2%	9.9%
G02B	OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS, OR APPARATUS	1170	1606	1583	1448	1529	1.2%	5.6%
G11B	INFORMATION STORAGE	846	892	1206	1415	1444	1.2%	2.0%
Others		61209	63555	68874	72087	82360	65.7%	14.3%
Total		99604	104170	109997	112555	125314

Top 50 PCT Applicants in 2005 (provisional ranking)

Ranking	Origin	Applicant	Total
1	NL	KONINKLIJKE PHILIPS ELECTRONICS N.V.	2492
2	JP	MATSUSHITA ELECTRIC INDUSTRIAL CO., LTD.	2021
3	DE	SIEMENS AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT	1402
4	FI	NOKIA CORPORATION	898
5	DE	ROBERT BOSCH GMBH	843
6	US	INTEL CORPORATION	691
7	DE	BASF AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT	656
8	US	3M INNOVATIVE PROPERTIES COMPANY	603
9	US	MOTOROLA, INC.	580
10	DE	DAIMLERCHRYSLER AG	567
11	US	EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY	531
12	US	HONEYWELL INTERNATIONAL INC.	518
13	SE	TELEFONAKTIEBOLAGET LM ERICSSON (publ)	510
14	KR	SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.	483
15	US	THE PROCTER & GAMBLE COMPANY	461
16	JP	SONY CORPORATION	449
17	JP	MITSUBISHI DENKI KABUSHIKI KAISHA	436
18	US	E.I. DUPONT DE NEMOURS AND COMPANY	423
19	JP	TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA	399
20	FR	THOMSON LICENSING S.A.	390
21	US	QUALCOMM INCORPORATED	379
22	US	INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION	374
23	JP	FUJITSU LIMITED	358
24	US	HEWLETT-PACKARD DEVELOPMENT COMPANY, L.P.	358
25	JP	NEC CORPORATION	353
26	DE	INFINEON TECHNOLOGIES AG	345
27	US	THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA	343
28	US	KIMBERLY-CLARK WORLDWIDE, INC.	336
29	KR	LG ELECTRONICS INC.	332
30	US	GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY	321
31	DE	PHILIPS INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY & STANDARDS GMBH	319
32	DE	BAYER HEALTHCARE AG	310
33	JP	JAPAN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AGENCY	304
34	JP	OLYMPUS CORPORATION	295
35	JP	CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA	269
36	JP	SHARP KABUSHIKI KAISHA	269
37	CN	HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CO., LTD.	249
38	US	MEDTRONIC, INC.	245
39	JP	PIONEER CORPORATION	240
40	CH	NOVARTIS AG	227
41	JP	HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.	224
42	SE	ASTRAZENECA AB	216
43	DE	BSH BOSCH UND SIEMENS HAUSGERÄTE GMBH	215
44	US	CISCO TECHNOLOGY, INC.	212
45	JP	TOKYO ELECTRON LIMITED	205
46	FR	COMMISSARIAT A L'ENERGIE ATOMIQUE	202
47	US	HALLIBURTON ENERGY SERVICES, INC.	200
48	JP	SHOWA DENKO K.K.	194
49	JP	DAIKIN INDUSTRIES, LTD.	194
50	US	MERCK & CO., INC.	189

PCT International Applications by Nationality of First Applicant

All Other Countries of Origin


*Code*	*Country of Origin*	*2000*	*2001*	*2002*	*2003*	*2004*	*2005* *estimate*
AD	Andorra	1	1	3	4	2	3
AE	United Arab Emirates	7	9	6	5	17	31
AG	Antigua and Barbuda	-	1	-	1	1	1
AI	Anguilla		-	-	-	1	-
AL	Albania	-	8	-	-	1	-
AM	Armenia	5	15	5	2	2	3
AN	Netherlands Antilles	-	1	1	-	2	6
AR	Argentina	9	9	9	15	10	22
AT	Austria	484	620	552	644	706	889
AU	Australia	1,576	1,664	1,759	1,680	1,837	2,022
AZ	Azerbaijan	2	-	1	6	5	1
BA	Bosnia and Herzegovina	4	7	5	7	3	8
BB	Barbados	81	109	123	192	169	52
BD	Bangladesh	-	1	-	2	-	-
BE	Belgium	581	690	696	775	831	1,023
BG	Bulgaria	35	20	31	45	24	19
BH	Bahrain	2	1	-	2	-	-
BI	Burundi	-	2	-	-	1	3
BJ	Benin	-	-	1	-	-	-
BM	Bermuda	-	1	1	3	10	3
BN	Brunei Darussalam	-	-	1	-	-	13
BO	Bolivia		-	-	-	3	-
BR	Brazil	178	173	201	219	281	283
BS	Bahamas	13	22	17	15	21	21
BW	Botswana	1	1	1	1	-	-
BY	Belarus	9	23	11	16	26	12
BZ	Belize	1	3	2	3	7	3
CA	Canada	1,801	2,114	2,260	2,270	2,109	2,315
CH	Switzerland	1,989	2,349	2,755	2,860	2,881	3,096
CI	Côte d'Ivoire	1	1	1	1	-	1
CK	Cook Islands	1	1	4	6	1	-
CL	Chile	1	3	6	9	6	13
CM	Cameroon	2	-	-	2	2	2
CN	China	784	1,731	1,018	1,295	1,706	2,452
CO	Colombia	4	17	36	24	22	27
CR	Costa Rica	7	7	4	6	6	2
CU	Cuba	4	14	11	20	18	14
CY	Cyprus	19	38	23	28	41	23
CZ	Czech Republic	94	82	73	83	95	99
DE	Germany	12,582	14,031	14,326	14,682	15,255	15,870
DK	Denmark	795	919	979	1,035	1,046	1,071
DM	Dominica	-	1	-	-	-	-
DZ	Algeria	3	6	3	5	6	7
EC	Ecuador	-	-	2	5	9	3
EE	Estonia	6	11	11	8	11	11
EG	Egypt	1	1	1	22	53	48
ES	Spain	555	616	719	785	822	1,109
ET	Ethiopia		-	-	1	-	-
FI	Finland	1,578	1,696	1,762	1,557	1,672	1,866
FJ	Fiji	-	-	1	-	-	-
FR	France	4,138	4,707	5,089	5,172	5,181	5,522
GB	United Kingdom	4,795	5,482	5,376	5,205	5,041	5,115
GD	Grenada	-	-	1	-	-	-
GE	Georgia	5	5	9	3	4	3
GN	Guinea	-	1	-	-	-	-
GQ	Equatorial Guinea		-	-	-	-	1
GR	Greece	49	55	75	67	78	58
GT	Guatemala	-	1	-	-	-	1
HN	Honduras		-	-	-	-	1
HR	Croatia	43	56	69	72	77	67
HU	Hungary	135	127	185	114	138	165
ID	Indonesia	9	6	16	2	6	12
IE	Ireland	245	243	308	311	313	330
IL	Israel	964	1,314	1,174	1,130	1,227	1,481
IN	India	190	295	525	764	723	648
IR	Iran (Islamic Republic of)	1	-	-	2	-	2
IS	Iceland	24	37	39	58	42	40
IT	Italy	1,394	1,623	1,982	2,163	2,196	2,309
JM	Jamaica		-	-	2	-	-
JO	Jordan	-	1	2	-	-	1
JP	Japan	9,567	11,904	14,063	17,393	20,223	25,145
KE	Kenya	-	-	1	2	7	9
KG	Kyrgyzstan		-	-	2	1	1
KI	Kiribati		-	-	-	-	3
KN	Saint Kitts and Nevis	1	1	-	-	-	1
KP	Democratic People's Republic of Korea				3	3
KR	Republic of Korea	1,580	2,324	2,520	2,949	3,554	4,747
KW	Kuwait	-	-	1	1	3	7
KY	Cayman Islands		-	-	2	12	3
KZ	Kazakhstan	5	9	16	7	7	5
LB	Lebanon	2	1	-	5	1	-
LC	Saint Lucia		-	-	1	-	-
LI	Liechtenstein	64	48	52	55	47	62
LK	Sri Lanka	5	1	3	2	2	-
LR	Liberia		-	-	-	1	-
LT	Lithuania	1	3	10	4	9	7
LU	Luxembourg	138	128	143	117	125	95
LV	Latvia	3	8	10	12	12	17
MA	Morocco	1	2	10	7	7	13
MC	Monaco	13	9	13	17	17	12
MD	Republic of Moldova	3	1	1	2	3	6
MG	Madagascar		-	-	-	1	3
MH	Marshall Islands		-	-	-	2	-
MK	The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia	4	3	6	2	4	4
ML	Mali		-	-	-	1	-
MT	Malta	1	7	6	3	3	3
MU	Mauritius	5	2	5	5	12	6
MX	Mexico	73	104	132	131	118	136
MY	Malaysia	5	18	18	31	45	33
NA	Namibia	-	-	1	-	2	1
NE	Niger	-	-	1	-	-	-
NG	Nigeria		-	-	-	-	2
NL	Netherlands	2,928	3,410	3,977	4,480	4,236	4,435
NO	Norway	528	592	549	533	475	605
NZ	New Zealand	258	288	300	300	343	386
OM	Oman		-	-	-	-	5
PA	Panama	6	10	7	16	14	18
PE	Peru	3	-	1	2	-	-
PG	Papua New Guinea		-	-	-	-	1
PH	Philippines	-	9	20	21	11	34
PK	Pakistan		-	-	2	-	-
PL	Poland	109	99	116	154	107	91
PR	Puerto Rico		-	-	-	-	-
PT	Portugal	21	42	34	37	48	57
PY	Paraguay		-	-	-	1	-
QA	Qatar	2	-	-	-	1	1
RO	Romania	24	21	25	16	16	21
RU	Russian Federation	533	557	539	586	519	500
SA	Saudi Arabia	6	10	10	29	33	26
SC	Seychelles	1	1	-	3	9	2
SD	Sudan	2	4	1	2	4	9
SE	Sweden	3,091	3,421	2,990	2,612	2,844	2,784
SG	Singapore	222	288	330	282	429	438
SI	Slovenia	39	42	44	65	62	78
SK	Slovakia	31	28	26	26	26	35
SM	San Marino	3	2	4	3	-	2
SN	Senegal	-	2	-	-	3	-
SV	El Salvador	2	1	-	-	-	-
SY	Syrian Arab Republic	1	1	-	-	5	6
SZ	Swaziland	-	-	1	-	-	-
TG	Togo	-	-	2	2	-	-
TH	Thailand	8	3	9	7	11	10
TN	Tunisia	1	2	6	5	5	10
TR	Turkey	71	76	85	111	115	168
TT	Trinidad and Tobago	-	1	1	2	1	-
TZ	United Republic of Tanzania	-	-	1	-	-	-
UA	Ukraine	40	58	75	58	87	55
US	United States of America	38,007	43,055	41,292	41,023	43,464	45,111
UY	Uruguay	4	4	9	11	5	4
UZ	Uzbekistan	2	-	2	-	-	4
VC	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	1	-	-	3	1	-
VE	Venezuela	2	-	1	1	1	5
VG	Virgin Islands, British	-	2	2	2	10	8
VN	Viet Nam	1	-	2	7	2	1
VU	Vanuatu	-	2	-	3	1	1
WS	Samoa		-	-	-	-	1
YU	Serbia and Montenegro	24	33	30	34	29	25
ZA	South Africa	387	419	384	357	411	336
ZM	Zambia	-	-	1	-	-	-
ZW	Zimbabwe	-	3	2	2	3	3
	Unknown	203	200	229	242	306	272
	Total	93,240	108,231	110,390	115,198	122,607	134,073

PCT Member States (on 8 February 2005)

Albania (AL)

Algeria (DZ)

Antigua and Barbuda (AG)

Armenia (AM)

Australia (AU)

Austria (AT)

Azerbaijan (AZ)

Barbados (BB)

Belarus (BY)

Belgium (BE)

Belize BZ)

Benin (BJ)

Bosnia and Herzegovina (BA)

Botswana (BW)

Brazil (BR)

Bulgaria (BG)

Burkina Faso (BF)

Cameroon (CM)

Canada (CA)

Central African Republic (CF)

Chad (TD)

China (CN)

Colombia (CO)

Comoros (KM)

Congo (CG)

Costa Rica (CR)

Côte d'Ivoire (CI)

Croatia (HR)

Cuba (CU)

Cyprus (CY)

Czech Republic (CZ)

Democratic People's Republic of Korea (KP)

Denmark (DK)

Dominica (DM)

Ecuador (EC)

Egypt (EG)

Equatorial Guinea (GQ)

Estonia (EE)

Finland (FI)

France (FR)

Gabon (GA)

Gambia (GM)

Georgia (GE)

Germany (DE)

Ghana (GH)

Greece (GR)

Grenada (GD)

Guinea (GN)

Guinea-Bissau (GW)

Hungary (HU)

Iceland (IS)

India (IN)

Indonesia (ID)

Ireland (IE)

Israel (IL)

Italy (IT)

Japan (JP)

Kazakhstan (KZ)

Kenya (KE)

Kyrgyzstan (KG)

Latvia (LV)

Lesotho (LS)

Liberia (LR)

Libya (LY)

Liechtenstein (LI)

Lithuania (LT)

Luxembourg (LU)

Madagascar (MG)

Malawi (MW)

Mali (ML)

Mauritania (MR)

Mexico (MX)

Monaco (MC)

Mongolia (MN)

Morocco (MA)

Mozambique (MZ)

Namibia (NA)

Netherlands (NL)

New Zealand (NZ)

Nicaragua (NI)

Niger (NE)

Nigeria (NG)

Norway (NO)

Oman (OM)

Papua New Guinea (PG)

Philippines (PH)

Poland (PL)

Portugal (PT)

Republic of Korea (KR)

Republic of Moldova (MD)

Romania (RO)

Russian Federation (RU)

Saint Kitts and Nevis (KN)

Saint Lucia (LC)

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (VC)

San Marino (SM)

Senegal (SN)

Serbia and Montenegro (YU)

Seychelles (SC)

Sierre Leone (SL)

Singapore (SG)

Slovakia (SK)

Slovenia (SI)

South Africa (ZA)

Spain (ES)

Sri Lanka (LK)

Sudan (SD)

Swaziland (SZ)

Sweden (SE)

Switzerland (CH)

Syrian Arab Republic (SY)

Tajikistan (TJ)

The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (MK)

Togo (TG)

Trinidad and Tobago (TT)

Tunisia (TN)

Turkey (TR)

Turkmenistan TM

Uganda (UG)

Ukraine (UA)

United Arab Emirates (AE)

United Kingdom (GB)

United Republic of Tanzania (TZ)

United States of America (US)

Uzbekistan (UZ)

Viet Nam (VN)

Zambia (ZM)

Zimbabwe (ZW)

Exceptional Growth from North East Asia in Record Year for International Patent Filings

Geneva, February 3, 2006Press Releases PR/2006/436

Improved Services and Productivity

Top Filers

Developing Countries

Geneva, February 3, 2006
Press Releases PR/2006/436