Design applications grew by a further 2.6% in 2024
In 2024, an estimated 1.22 million design applications were filed worldwide– 2.6% more than in 2023 (figure 3.1). Approximately 60% of offices reported larger filing volumes than in the previous year. The office of India led the rise, receiving 12,160 additional applications compared to 2023, while the office of the United States of America (US) and the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) followed with respective increases of 8,199 and 2,781 applications.
Statistics based on the number of designs contained in design applications– known as application design counts – improve worldwide comparability by harmonizing data between those offices that allow several designs to be contained within a single application and those that allow only one.
In 2024, applications filed worldwide contained about 1.56 million designs,representing a 2.2% increase on 2023 (figure 3.2). The number of designs in resident applications remained stable, whereas those in non-resident filings climbed sharply by 12.5%. Much of this non-resident growth was driven by the US and the EUIPO, which together received 13,297 additional designs. Further notable gains came from the offices of the United Kingdom (UK) (+1,628), Brazil (+1,596) and France (+1,583).
The Hague System filing route accounted for 35% of all non-resident designs in 2024 (figure C15); the remainder were submitted directly by applicants to individual offices. In 2024, the Hague System provided protection in 99 countries worldwide.
India featured among the top 10 offices in 2024
In 2024, the office of China received the highest number of designs in applications filed, with a total of 825,330. This accounted for more than half (52.9%) of global activity. China was followed by the EUIPO (123,743) and the offices of the UK (78,567),the US (68,575) and the Republic of Korea (60,683) (figure 3.3). The top 10 offices remained the same as in 2023, apart from India climbing from 11th to 7th position and displacing France.
Combined, the top 20 offices accounted for 93.8% of all design counts worldwide in2024. Thirteen offices reported growth, with five registering a double-digit increase: India (+43.2%), Brazil (+27.3%), Indonesia (+25.3%), Morocco (+23.4%) and the US(+14.3%) (figure C10). In contrast, seven offices posted a decline, the two steepest being recorded by Türkiye (–16.6%) and Switzerland (–7.6%).
Half of the top 20 offices reported an increase in both resident and non-resident design activity. Of the remaining 10, eight recorded a decline in terms of resident filings only, whereas Switzerland and Spain registered a decline in non-resident count as well.
Among selected offices in low- and middle-income economies outside the top 20, the fastest growth in design counts came from the Dominican Republic (+70.8%), Mongolia (+68.6%),the Philippines (+40.1%) and the Eurasian Patent Office (EAPO) (+40%) (figure C12). In contrast, Algeria (–36.6%), the Syrian Arab Republic (–17.1%) and Ukraine (–11.7%) registered sharp declines.
Designs contained in resident applications made up 80.2% of the 2024 global total. This large share largely reflects China’s profile, with 97.3% of designs originating domestically. Resident counts formed the majority of activity at 15 of the top 20 offices; however, they represented under one-third of filings in Canada (7.2%), Switzerland (24.8%), the US (30.1%) and Australia(30.2%) (figure C9).
Regionally, Asia accounted for 68.3% of all designs in applications filed in 2024, followed by Europe (23.3%) and Northern America (5%) (figure 3.4). Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) and Oceania together contributed the remaining 3.4%. Over the 2014–2024 period, Northern America (+6.7%), LAC (+3.4%) and Asia (+3.3%) recorded the highest average annual growth in design counts among all regions.
Some offices allow design applications to contain more than one design for the same good or in the same class; others allow only one design per application. In order to capture differences in application filing systems across offices, the respective application and registration design counts need to be compared.
Between 1883 and the early 1950s, the offices of Japan and the US averaged a similar number of applications, rarely exceeding 10,000. The office of Japan received the highest number of applications per year from the 1950s through to the late 1990s, reaching approximately 50,000 annual filings at its peak. The office of China, which received 640 applications when it first began receiving applications in 1985, has seen an unprecedented rate of growth, peaking at 822,849 applications filed in 2023. The office of the US moved ahead of Japan in 2012 and of the Republic of Korea in 2023 to become the second largest globally. The office of the Republic of Korea moved down from second place, which it has held since 2004, to third in 2023. The EUIPO began receiving applications in 2003 and moved up to fourth position in 2019. Among these top five offices, the EUIPO is the only one to operate a multiple design system. On average, an application filed at the EUIPO contained three designs in 2024.
One-third of the total designs in applications filed abroad originated from China
Applications received by offices from resident and non-resident applicants are referred to as office data, whereas applications filed by applicants at their home office(s) (resident applications) or at foreign offices (applications abroad) are referred to as origin data. Design statistics based on office data provide information on destination of design activity,whereas statistics based on the origin of residence of the first named applicant complement the overall picture by providing information on the source of design activity.
In 2024, applicants based in China filed applications containing 906,849 designs – the highest total worldwide. Germany ranked second with 70,212 designs, followed by the US (66,855), Italy (63,668) and the Republic of Korea (60,109) (figure C16). Collectively, these five origins generated 74.9% of global design count activity for the year.
In 2024, design counts grew for 11 of the top 20 origins, with seven posting double-digit growth.The most pronounced increases came from applicants originating from India (+44.9%), Morocco(+20.2%) and Indonesia (+18.9%). In contrast, the steepest declines were recorded by Türkiye (–19.7%), the UK (–9%) and France (–8.7%). Among the top five origins, Germany (+7.9%), Italy (+5.2%) and China (+2.7%) expanded activity, whereas activity in the US (–3.8%) and the Republicof Korea (–0.1%) contracted.
Nine of the top 20 origins were European, seven Asian, and there was one each from Africa, LAC, Northern America and Oceania. By income level, the list comprised 13 high-income, five upper middle-income and two lower middle-income economies.
Designs in applications filed abroad climbed 12.5% in 2024 to reach 308,800 (figure C18). Applicants from China led with 103,615 designs filed overseas, representing one-third of the world total. China was followed by applicants from the US (46,185), Germany (24,133), Switzerland (19,992) and Japan (12,704) (figure 3.5).
The top 20 origins in terms of application design count abroad accounted for 90.7% of the world total. The sharpest year-on-year increases came from China, Hong Kong SAR (+66%), Singapore(+63.7%) and China (+31.5%). Conversely, Austria (–32.9%), France (–9%), Türkiye (–8.5%) and Japan (–8.5%) registered the steepest declines (figure C19).
Relative to its population, the Republic of Korea had the most intensive design activity worldwide
Adjusting resident filing activity according to gross domestic product (GDP) and population is instructive when comparing the intensity of resident design filing across origins.
In 2024, China had the highest resident design count per USD 100 billion of GDP, with a ratio of 2,391 (figure 3.6). China was followed by Italy (1,636), Morocco (1,555) and Türkiye (1,387). In contrast, the US (81), Indonesia (141), Brazil (142) and the Russian Federation (142) had notably lower ratios (figure C26). Relative to 2014, the ratios for 2024 increased notably for the UK (+506), Morocco (+215) and Italy (+212), whereas they declined markedly for Türkiye (–786) and Germany (–566).
When the resident design count is compared to population, the Republic of Korea topped the list, with 1,000 resident design counts per million population in 2024 (figure C27). It was followed by Italy (869), China (570) and Germany (552). Over the past decade, the UK (+277) and Italy (+202) have seen a substantial increase in their respective ratios.
Plotting the resident application design count per capita against GDP per capita makes it possible to visualize an economy’s design output relative to its development level (figure C28). Origins whose points lie above the sloping fitted line – which reflects the positive correlation between the two variables – exhibit intense design activity for their level of development. During the 2020–2024 period, Australia, Bangladesh, Brazil and Guinea-Bissau were situated close to that line, indicating a resident design activity consistent with their development level.
Economies such as China, Madagascar, Mongolia, Morocco, Türkiye and the Republic of Korea stood well above the sloping fitted line, signaling a particularly high design intensity relative to their GDP. Conversely, Chile, Costa Rica, Uganda and the United Arab Emirates lay below the line, reflecting a comparatively subdued design activity at their stage of development.
The top five industry sectors accounted for nearly 63% of filing activity worldwide
Grouping the 32 Locarno classes into 12 industry sectors serves to highlight the most important industry sectors for designs contained within design applications filed.
In 2024, the sectors accounting for the largest shares of the world total were furniture and household goods (16.7%), textiles and accessories (16.7%), tools and machines (11.3%), ICT and audiovisual (9.2%) and electricity and lighting (8.9%) (figure C23). Together, these five sectors accounted for 62.8% of all classes recorded globally.
For every top 10 office with available data, between 40% and 82% of all classes were concentrated within just three sectors, though the leading sectors differed by office (figure 3.7). Textiles and accessories dominated filings at the offices of Spain (50.6%), Germany (27.9%) and the offices of Türkiye (25.8%) and Germany (19.9%).
Among the top 10 origins, the three leading sectors in 2024 each accounted for at least 44% of the total design count (figure C25). Textiles and accessories appeared among the top three sectors for every origin, followed by furniture and household goods for eight origins and tools and machines for four.
Applications registered worldwide grew by 2.7% in 2024
In 2024, offices worldwide registered roughly 971,900 design applications – a 2.7% increase over 2023 (figure C4). This rebound comes after two consecutive years of sharp declines of 5.2% and 6.8%, respectively.
Registrations contained about 1.27 million designs, marking a slight increase of 0.6% on the previous year (figure C5). China alone accounted for 51.1% of the total, while the top 20 offices together represented 94.5%. Eleven of the 20 offices expanded their design count, with India (+27.9%), the US (+26.7%) and Morocco (+19.8%) recording the strongest growth. By contrast,Türkiye (–30%), Switzerland (–11.4%) and France (–7.1%) posted the steepest declines (figure C13).
Active registrations worldwide stagnated in 2024
Design rights typically endure for up to 15 years from the filing date, although most European jurisdictions allow up to 25 years, while China limits the term to 10 years.
In 2024, an estimated 6.09 million design registrations were in force worldwide, representing a modest 0.2% increase on 2023 (figure C29). China held half of all active registrations.
Active registrations in China dropped by 4.9% compared to 2023, to 3.07 million (figure C30).China was followed by the US (448,554), the Republic of Korea (414,402), the EUIPO (363,418) and the UK (363,083). Combined, the top 20 offices accounted for nearly 95% of active design registrations globally.
Figure C31 shows the distribution of 2.62 million active design registrations across 91 offices in 2024, grouping them by year of registration. More than one-quarter of designs registered in 2006 were still in force in 2024. Most of the 2015 cohort likewise remained active, and more than 80% of designs registered in 2020 were still valid in 2024. Average registration age differs greatly by office (figure C32). For example, in 2024, the average age of all active design registrations in Spain was 11.2 years, whereas in the UK it was only 3 years.
India registered more than 94% of applications processed in 2024
A design office examines applications and decides whether to register them. Examination processes vary between offices, making inter-office comparison difficult. Every effort has been made to compile examination outcome data based on common definitions and concepts.
Examination outcomes vary widely by office. Among the top five offices in terms of registration design count, the EUIPO registered the largest share of processed applications in 2024, at 98.5%. India (94.4%), the UK (93.6%) and Ecuador (93.3%) also recorded notably high approval rates (figure C33).
By contrast, rejection rates were elevated at the offices of the Islamic Republic of Iran (57.8%), the US (28%), Iraq (23.7%) and Viet Nam (22.4%). Withdrawals or abandonments comprised substantial portions of decisions in Thailand (35.1%), the Islamic Republic of Iran (22.8%) and Mexico (19.7%).
On average, the EUIPO processed applications in under four days
In general, for a design to be eligible for protection, it typically needs to meet certain criteria such as being new, original and of an individual character. However, examination procedures vary widely between offices. At some offices, no search is made and no examination as to substance is carried out prior to registration. At other offices, a substantive examination is conducted, whereby the design is checked against designs on the register for novelty and/or originality. Here, potentially pending applications are taken to be all design applications, at any stage in the process, awaiting a final decision by an office.
Among offices that supplied data on potentially pending applications in 2024, the US reported the largest amount – with 76,665 applications (figure C34). The Republic of Korea followed with 18,991, and India with 11,434. Despite ranking second and third in overall design counts, the EUIPO and the UK recorded a relatively small number of potentially pending applications at 5,391 and 2,071, respectively. Germany (1,090) and Türkiye (983) also showed relatively modest numbers of such applications when measured against their filing volumes.
In 2024, a design application was processed in under four days following its filing at the EUIPO, on average. In contrast, at the office of the US and Thailand, the processing time was 619 and 720 days, respectively (figure C35). The gap between the first office action and the final office decision averaged under a day in Madagascar, Peru and the United Arab Emirates, but stretched to over 300 days in Bangladesh, Cuba and Thailand.