WIPO names Huawei #1 filer of international patents

[Shenzhen, China, March 17, 2016] The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in Geneva announced on March 16 that Huawei Technologies topped the list of international patent filers for the second straight year in 2015. Huawei applied for 3,898 patents, 456 more than the previous year and more than Qualcomm, Samsung, Sony, and HP.

WIPO tracks applications filed under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), an agreement that gives a filer patent protection in 148 countries with a single application.

International patent applications filed under the PCT grew by 1.7% to 218,000 in 2015, a new annual record. “Global intellectual property applications, like those for patents, trademarks and industrial designs, provide a good indication of the incidence and location of innovation,” said WIPO Director General Francis Gurry.

In addition to the global WIPO filing, this month Huawei rose to fourth place among companies filing patents with the European Patent Office (EPO). Huawei filed a total of 1,953 applications with EPO in 2015. For the second year in a row, it was the top filer in the digital communications sector, with 1,197 filings in that sector alone.

WIPO’s list of top international patent filers can be found here.