China last year became the world leader in international patent filings, unseating the United States which had held the top spot for more than four decades, the UN said on Tuesday, reported the South China Morning Post.
A record 265,800 international patent applications were filed last year, a 5.2% increase on 2018, the World Intellectual Property Organization said in its annual report.
China and the United States were followed by Japan, Germany and South Korea as the world’s top patent application filers.
“China’s rapid growth to become the top filer of international patent applications via WIPO underlines a long-term shift in the locus of innovation towards the East, with Asia-based applicants now accounting for more than half of all PCT applications,” WIPO Director General Francis Gurry said in a statement.
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