World patent filings have been averaging around eight percent annual growth between 2010 and 2016.
By comparison, patent filings in Australia have averaged around three percent growth over the same period, ranking us 10th in OECD countries in terms of average annual growth. Patents are filed where entrepreneurs and companies believe they will have commercial opportunity and want to protect their ideas. Given our population and economic size, our ranking isn’t a surprise.
So where are patents being filed? China has been the major driver of growth in world patent filings, with annual application growth in the country of around 23 percent during between 2010 and 2016. By 2016, their share of global patent filings was a staggering 43 percent, up from 17 percent in 2009.
These statistics indicate a growing global interest in doing business in China, following the country’s burgeoning middle and upper classes and the resulting economic opportunity.