China and Huawei top in 2021 international patent application volume

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) showed that China ranked first in global patent application volume in 2021 for the third consecutive year.

Even as Covid-19 took a vast human and economic toll, international patent applications continued to grow, with Asia, and China in particular, cementing their leading positions.

The WIPO data showed that around 277,500 international applications were filed under WIPO's Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) in 2021, growing 0.9% year on year. 

China remained at the top of the rankings with 69,540 filings. The US remained in second place in 2021, with 59,570 filings, followed by Japan with 50,260, South Korea with 20,678, and Germany with 17,322.

China-based telecom company Huawei topped the rank of PCT applicants, filing 6,952 applications in 2021.

Huawei was followed by US firm Qualcomm at 3,931; South Korea’s Samsung Electronics at 3,041; LG Electronics at 2,855; and Mitsubishi Electric of Japan at 2,673.

Last year marked the 12th consecutive year of growth in international patent filings. However, during the global financial crisis in 2009, the international patent filings fell. Therefore, it is crucial and remarkable that international patent filings continued to grow in 2020 and 2021 when the global pandemic unfolded and upended economies worldwide.