Category Archives: patents

Patent trends – the state of global innovation

The Intellectual Property and Science business of Thomson Reuters has released its annual analysis of global patent trends.  The State of Innovationreport tracks patent activity across 12 key technology areas.

Key findings include:
·         Computers and peripherals had the largest volume of activity in the whole of the technology sector.  There were 232,000+ filings in 2012.  Scanners declined by 34%
·         Medical devices saw a 15.7% increase in patent activity. 
·         ‘Tobacco-related innovation’ increased by 58%
·         ‘Sugar related inventions’ increased by 56%

The full report can be found here.

Searching Chinese patents

In 1985 China put in place its first patent law. It acceded to the World Trade Organisation in 2000. As China’s presence on the economic global stage increases, its patent applications increase with its own patents and those from countries seeking patent protection in China. According to China’s State Intellectual Property Office, in 2007 China received more patent applications that any country (694,000). (The US had the second most applications (484,955), followed by Japan (443,150).

This article by Christine Kaemmer is a useful and well structured resource for those who need to research Chinese Patents and Utility Models. It’s written so that it’s accessible to non IP experts – and sensibly stresses the importance of using expert searchers for prior art work.