Huawei Filed the Most International Patent Applications Via WIPO in 2018

The Chinese telecoms giant Huawei topped the list of 2018 international patent applicants with a record number of 5,405 published PCT applications, according to data from World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

SEE ALSO: Huawei Ranked Second Among Patent Applications Filed with the EPO

At this rate, China, which is now second in terms of the number of applicants (53,345), is expected to surpass the U.S. within the next two years.

“Asia is now the majority filer of international patent applications via WIPO, which is an important milestone for that economically dynamic region and underscores the historical geographical shift of innovative activity from West to East,” said WIPO Director General Francis Gurry.

More than half of Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) applications filed in 2018 came from Asia. China and India (2,013) are the only two middle-income countries among the top 15 origins of PCT applications.

ZTE, another telecom company from China, ranked fifth with 2,080 applications, a 30 percent drop from 2016 when it topped the list.

“Intellectual property is a critical competitive element in the modern global economy, with everyone ultimately benefiting from this race to create and innovate that results in new products that transform our world and the way people live everywhere,” Gurry said.

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