Swiss ninth in international patents applications

International patents: record thanks to China, but also Switzerland Keystone-SDA

International patent applications reached a new record in 2024, rising to 3.7 million, up 4.9% year-on-year. Switzerland is ninth on the global list.

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China is once again the country from which the largest number of applications comes, the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) indicated today in Geneva.

With 1.8 million applications, the Chinese clearly outnumber the United States (501,000) and Japan (410,000). For its part, Switzerland ranks ninth, with more than 41,000 applications, but if the figure is related to gross domestic product, Switzerland jumps to third place, behind China and Japan.

“Innovation is an indispensable engine for growth,” notes WIPO Director General Daren Tang, quoted in a statement. The continuous increase in applications is seen as proof of the robustness of the intellectual property system, although even stronger international cooperation is desired.

As far as trade marks are concerned, the situation stabilised last year: 15.2 million applications were registered, a decrease of 0.1%. Again, China topped the list, followed by the US.

Translated from Italian by DeepL/mga

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