IP5 Announces 2019 Statistical Report (January 2021)
In January 2021, five of the world's largest IP agencies (including the European Patent Office (EPO), the Japan Patent Office (JPO), the Korea Intellectual Property Office (KIPO), the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA), and the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), also known as the "IP5") released the latest statistical reports on their respective websites.
According to the report, IP5 granted a total of 1.6 million patents in 2019, with an increase of 5.9% compared to 2018. In total, the IP5 offices received 2.7 million patent applications in 2019, a decrease of 4% compared to 2018. Among them, the number of patent applications received increased by 4.3% at KIPO, by 4.1% at EPO and USPTO compared to 2018, while the number of patent applications received by JPO and CNIPA decreased by 1.8% and 9.2% respectively compared to 2018. At the end of 2018, there were 13.9 million valid patents worldwide. Of these, 91% of the patents were valid under the IP5 offices.
With the exception of JPO, all four IP agencies saw an increase in the number of patents granted in 2019.
The number of patents granted by the EPO in 2019 was 138,000, up from 128,000 in 2018. In the same year, the Office took an average of 5.5 months to issue a Notice of First Examination Opinion (FIRST ACTION, which provides a search report as well as a written opinion on patentability), compared to 6.5 months in 2018. The agency took 28.1 months to issue a Notice of Final Examination Opinion (final action, a final decision by the examining division to grant or reject a patent application), down from 31.8 months in 2018.
The report also contains developments in the five IP offices, similarities and differences in patent granting procedures among the five IP offices and global data from the World Intellectual Property Organization and the Global Patent Institute up to and including 2018.
Adapted from the website of China Protection of Intellectual Property Rights