Computer technology accounted for more patent applications in recent years than any other industry sector tracked by the World Intellectual Property Organization, although the number of digital communication patent applications grew faster. Industrial design registrations are also growing—and while Apple aggressively asserts its design rights in courtrooms, it does not file the most applications for such rights.
The number of patent applications worldwide topped 2 million for the first time in 2011, WIPO said in a report on worldwide intellectual property registrations [PDF], released last week. It noted that applications to register industrial design rights also rose sharply that year.
WIPO gathered application data from patent and trademark offices around the world, breaking it down by industry sector and country. One source, the European Patent Office's PATSTAT database, had not broken down 2011 data by sector at the time of its last update in April, so WIPO's per-industry analysis ends in 2010.
Filings for computer technology patents rose by 1.9 percent a year between 2006 to 2010, reaching a peak of 129,952 in 2009 before falling back to 126,897 in 2010, according to the WIPO report.
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Source: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2020603/computer-related-patents-now-top-worldwide-applications.html
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