The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) recently announced a record number of international patent applications filed in 2016 at 233,000 patent applications filed, this represented a 7% increase from 2015. The technology sectors responsible for the most worldwide patent applications included: Digital communication (8.5%), Computer technology (8.2%), Electrical machinery apparatus, energy (6.9%), Medical technology (6.8%) and Measurement (4.4%).
The top 10 PCT patent applicants were dominated by companies from China, the US, South Korea and Japan. Chinese technology company ZTE Corporation was the top PCT applicant with 4,123 published patent applications in 2016 (a 91% increase on 2015 filing rates).
The top 10 PCT patent applicants were reported as follows:
1) Chinese technology company ZTE Corporation (increased by 91% since 2015)
2) Chinese networking and telecommunications equipment company Huawei technologies
3) US telecommunications equipment company Qualcomm incorporated
4) Japanese electronics company Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (increased by 28% since 2015)
5) South Korean electronics company LG Electronics (increased by 29% since 2015)
6) US software company Hewlett-Packard (increased by 33% since 2015)
7) US based semiconductor manufacturing company Intel Corporation (increased by 35% since 2015)
8) Chinese semiconductor display technologies company BOE Technology Group (increased by 36% since 2015)
9) South Korean electronics company, Samsung Electronics
10) Japanese multinational conglomerate, Sony Corporation (increased by 20% since 2015)
Source: http://bit.ly/2mstKFT
