Reporter Zhang Wei Recently, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) released global intellectual property filing statistics for 2023.

Data show that in 2023, the total number of global PCT (Patent Cooperation Treaty) international patent applications was 272,600, a decrease of 1.8% compared with the previous year.

Among them, China has 69,610 applications and is still the country with the largest number of applications.

The United States ranks second in the world with 55,678 applications, followed by Japan, South Korea and Germany.

　　In terms of applicant ranking, Chinese applicants performed outstandingly.

China's Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. still ranks first in the world in terms of PCT applications. In 2023, it announced 6,494 PCT applications.

South Korea's Samsung Electronics ranked second, followed by the United States' Qualcomm, Japan's Mitsubishi Electric and China's BOE Technology.

Among the top ten applicants, China's CATL has the fastest growth. The number of applications announced in 2023 increased by 1,533, and its ranking rose 84 places to eighth.

　　In the field of education, Chinese applicants still rank at the top.

The University of California in the United States remains the largest applicant, publishing 531 PCT applications in 2023.

Soochow University in China ranked second, followed by the University of Texas System in the United States, Tsinghua University in China and Stanford University in the United States.

Among the top five educational institutions, Tsinghua University had the largest increase, with the number of published PCT applications increasing by 35.

　　WIPO Director General Darren Tang said that despite the short-term decline, long-term trends show that the use of intellectual property is growing steadily in an increasingly globalized and digital economy, and is expanding globally as economies around the world develop. , the number of international intellectual property applications is expected to resume growth later this year.

Asian countries accounted for 55.7% of international patent applications filed through the World Intellectual Property Organization, compared with only 40.5% ten years ago.

　　"Intellectual property rights have become an important driving force for innovation and creation and play an important role in China's high-quality development strategy. Only by strengthening the comprehensive protection of intellectual property rights can we stimulate new productive forces." Liu, Director of the China Office of the World Intellectual Property Organization Hua said recently.

　　She specifically mentioned that China has made significant progress in cutting-edge digital technologies such as artificial intelligence, 5G, and cloud computing. China's information and communication technology patent ownership has accounted for 14% of the global total.

As of the end of 2023, the top three technical fields with the highest growth rate of domestic patents in China are information technology management methods, computer technology and basic communication programs, with year-on-year growth of 59.4%, 39.3% and 30.8% respectively.

China's innovation in the field of digital technology continues to empower and increase the efficiency of high-quality development of the digital economy. China's digital economy has exceeded 50 trillion yuan (6.94 trillion U.S. dollars), accounting for more than 40% of GDP.

(Source: Rule of Law Daily)