JEDDAH – Despite the weak economic conditions, most of the top 20 IP offices saw growth in patent applications between 2010 and 2011, the World Intellectual Property Organization said in its World Intellectual Property Indicators 2012. The area which saw the highest growth rate was digital communication technologies. In particular, in 2011 the China State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) surpassed the US Patent and Trademark Office for the first time, becoming the world's number-one patent filer. SIPO received over 526,000 patent applications in 2011, a year-on-year growth of 34.6 percent. China accounted for 72.1 percent of the growth in patent applications in 2011 worldwide. This was against a backdrop of China having the fastest-growing economy in a slow global market. — SG/Agencies
