U.S. International Patent Filings Down in 2003

Those arguing that the U.S. is slipping as the world's leader for innovation have another data point to add to their arsenal. The U.S. continues to dominate international patent filings, but America's lead over other countries shrunk 12 percent last year, according to data released this week by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

The total of 39,250 international patent applications filed from the U.S. in 2003 was 12 percent less than the 44,609 applications filed a year earlier. The U.S. share of all international patent filings also fell — from 39.1 percent in 2002 to 35.7 percent in 2003. The nation's filings in 2000, for comparison, represented 42 percent of the world's total patent filings.

In 2003, inventors and industry from the U.S. (35.7 percent of all applications in 2003), Japan (15.2 percent ), Germany (12.7 percent), United Kingdom (5.5 percent), and France (4.3 percent) topped the list of biggest users of the Patent Cooperation Treaty system (PCT) managed by WIPO.

International patent applications received from developing countries continued to rise; in 2003, the group saw an 11 percent increase. The list was topped by the Republic of Korea with 2,947 applications, followed by China (1,205), India (611), South Africa (376), Singapore (313), Brazil (221) and Mexico (123). Both India and the Republic of Korea saw a double-digit increase in their use of the PCT, experiencing 27.3 percent and 15.5 percent increases, respectively.

More information is available at: http://www.wipo.org