Patenting has never been more popular. Applications have reached record levels at the world's main patent offices, fuelled by a sustained increase in applications from Asia.
The boom is an encouraging sign for future economic growth, as companies intensify their efforts to turn the results of research into innovative products and services.
The European Patent Office (EPO) received 160,000 applications last year, up 4.8 per cent on 2014. The World Intellectual Property organisation (WIPO) reported a 1.7 per cent increase to 218,000 in filings under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) which provides some international harmonisation.
The top seven companies most active in the patenting arena are all based in Asia, according to the OECD's analysis of corporate patents between 2010 and 2012.
Within Asia, the big story is China. Patent filings by Chinese companies outside their home country have risen 30-fold so far this century.
Statisticians at the OECD have analyzed the distribution of patents filed in the world's five most important IP offices (Europe, US, Japan, China and South Korea) - so-called IP5 patents. In 2000, just 331 IP5 applicants were based in China; this had risen to 9,767 in 2012.
"While the Chinese growth rate in patenting since 2000 does stand out, it started far behind its competitors," says Mariagrazia Squicciarini, OECD patent specialist. MainlandChinahad not caught up withTaiwanby 2012 and the Asian powerhouses ofJapanandKoreaare still well ahead in absolute numbers.
"Japanhas always had a positive attitude towards IP rights embedded in its business culture," she adds.Chinadoes not have such a tradition but "there is an active policy by the Chinese government to foster patenting".
Analysis of different fields demonstrates an increase of IP5 patenting in most physics-based sectors, such as computer technology and digital communication. But patents based on chemistry and biology are in decline, including pharmaceuticals and biotechnology.
These differences stem partly from faster technical advances and market growth in information and communications technology (ICT) than in the life sciences — and partly because of structural differences between them.
"ICT products are becoming ever more complex," says Ms Squicciarini. "To get a smartphone on the market you may need hundreds of patents. And think about the digitisation of the economy — think of all the electronics going into cars, for example."