This year's World Intellectual Property Indicators (WIPI) report reveals strong growth in intellectual property (IP) filings in 2021, as entrepreneurship, technology, innovation and digitalization continue to drive forward national and global growth.

Patent applications grew by 3.6% last year. Trademark and industrial design filing activity grew by even more – 5.5% and 9.2%, respectively. And worldwide IP filings reached an all-time high, with 3.4 million patent applications, 13.9 million trademark applications (specifying 18.1 million classes) and applications for 1.5 million designs filed last year.

This is consistent with the fact that 2021 was a year of robust recovery in many parts of the world. The global economy grew by 6% last year, the fastest rate of increase in more than four decades.

It also reflects the multi-faceted consequences of the COVID-19 crisis. On the one hand, the pandemic triggered extreme disruption across large swathes of the global economy. On the other hand, it proved to be a 5 World Intellectual Property Indicators 2022 potent and powerful accelerator of certain economic sectors and trends. This was especially true when it came to new and frontier technologies, with businesses and governments around the world identifying digitalization and innovation as key avenues of future growth.

To underscore this, the report finds that even at the height of the pandemic in 2020 patent filings relating to computer technology grew by over 13%, cementing this area as the most frequently featured technology in published patent applications worldwide. Indeed, taken together, the five largest fields for patent applications – computer technology, electrical machinery, measurement, digital communications and medical technology – now account for a third of all applications globally, up five percentage points from a decade ago.

Similarly, research and technology is the top sector in which applicants sought trademark protection abroad last year, accounting for one in five global non-resident filings. Next are health, clothing and accessories, and leisure and education, all areas where the relationship between brands and consumers is being reshaped by the digital acceleration.

By illuminating key growth sectors and headline indicators, as well as providing a whole range of analysis relating to IP activities, we hope that the report’s rich dataset will function as a practical tool for policymakers, IP professionals, industry, academia, and other stakeholders around the world.

Robust and reliable data has always been the bedrock of effective policymaking and has a direct bearing on the ability of governments and authorities to design and implement measures that help make IP a powerful catalyst for growth. Such data takes on added importance during periods of global economic turbulence, serving as an invaluable tool for charting a course through powerful headwinds.

Therefore we are grateful to our partners in 150 national and regional IP offices for supporting this report and our work at WIPO. We hope that this year's WIPI will help Member States navigate an uncertain global environment while continuing to generate economic and social impact through innovation, creativity and IP.