Innovators around the world filed 3.3 million patent applications in 2018, up 5.2% for a ninth straight yearly increase. Trademark filing activity amounted to 14.3 million, up 15.5% and representing a fourth consecutive year of double-digit growth. Worldwide industrial design filing activity reached 1.3 million, while applications for utility models exceeded 2 million for the first time.

Source: WIPO Statistics Database, August 2019.