AVERAGE PATENTS AWARDED
ANNUALLY, 1980-1999
AVERAGE PATENTS
AWARDED ANNUALLY,
2000-2018
AVERAGE NUMBER
OF PATENTS AWARDED
PER YEAR GLOBALLY,
1970-1979
40,605
17%
21% 28%
7%
6%
5%
22%
3%
11%
24%
10%
7%
4%
2%
1%
1%
2%
1%
1%
1%
119,689
283,248
29% 24%
2%
16%
SOUTH KOREA
CHINA
5%
2%
1%
2%
2%
5%
COUNTRIES
IN ASIA
(INCLUDES
ISRAEL)
L AST BY TE
88
FORTUNE.COM // JANUARY 2020
THE CENTER OF GRAVIT Y IN
intellectual property is shifting
east. Outside of Japan, the U.S.
and Western Europe used to
dominate the patent game. But
since 2000, according to data
from the World Intellectual
Property Organization, the
portion of patents granted for
IP developed in Asian countries
has soared—with China leading
the way. While the most recent
annual patent-approval figures
aren’t final, the trend is clear:
From 2000 to 2015, the number
of patents awarded in China
jumped 10-fold, from 5,680 to
56,312. And in 2018, China’s
IP office received a record
1.54 million patent applica-
tions, or nearly half the global
total. —BRIAN O’KEEFE
PATENT
POWER
T ILTS TO
ASIA
GRAPHIC BY NICOLAS RAPP
SOURCE: WORLD INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY REPORT 2019, WIPO.
DATA SHOWN ARE FOR INTERNATIONAL PATENT FAMILIES, WHICH REFER TO WHOLE
SETS OF PATENTS COVERING THE SAME INVENTION IN ONE OR MORE COUNTRIES.
