According to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), despite the disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic, global intellectual property (IP) filing reached new all-time highs in 2021, with China filing the largest number of patent applications, making up nearly half of the global total.

　　Data from WIPO's World Intellectual Property Indicators report on November 21 shows that innovators filed 3.4 million patent applications globally last year, which was up 3.6 percent from 2020. China ranks first among the top patent offices, with 1.5 million patent application filed in 2021, well ahead of the U.S. in second place, and Japan in the third place combined.

　　Global trademark applications in 2021 reached more than 18 million, up 5.5 percent. With more than 9.5 million trademark applications, China is the top trademark office. More than 1.5 million industrial design applications had been applied in 2021, and China also ranks first in this aspect, with more than 805,710 industrial design applications being applied for last year.

　　Latest data shows "continued and sustained growth" in intellectual property filings, "driven largely by increases from Asia, with other regions also trending mostly upward," said WIPO Director General Daren Tang.

　　IPWatchdog commented that China has seen a massive surge in IP filings across the board along with high rates of growth, and the country is a global leader in sheer numbers across all indicators.

　　The Chinese patent market has experienced a boom in recent years. This year China surpassed the U.S. to become the world leader of patents in force. China has 3.6 million patents in force followed by the U. S. with 3.3 million and Japan with two million.

　　India's No. 1 Hindi business news channel Zee Biz reported that Asia's share in patent filing has increased, and out of the world's total patents being filed, two-thirds are now being filed from the continent. A large share of this comes from China alone, where the country is continuously increasing its investment in the field of technology and innovation. Out of the top 10 patent-filing countries, China alone has filed more patents than the other nine countries combined.

　　"IP filing strength during the pandemic showed that people across the world continued to innovate and create despite the economic and social disruptions caused by the pandemic," said Daren Tang.