India 2nd largest filer of trademark applications among BRICS

India was the second largest filer of international trademark applications among the BRICS nations in 2014, registering an increase of 5.6 per cent, according to an annual review of international patent filings.

The UN World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) said China and the US together accounted for 87 per cent of the total growth in filings under WIPO’s Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT). After China, India (1,394) is the largest user of the PCT system among BRICS countries, followed by the Russian Federation (890), Brazil (581) and South Africa (297).

However, their growth rates differ, with Brazil showing a decline of 11.6 per cent, the Russian Federations 25.3 per cent and South Africa 15.4 per cent, while filings originating from India increased by 5.6 per cent. About 215,000 applications were filed in 2014, a 4.5 per cent increase over the previous year, WIPO said.

"The rapid growth in international patent applications underscores the increasing importance of intellectual property as it moves from the periphery to the centre of the global economic system," WIPO Director General Francis Gurry said.

The agency also noted that "in a significant development," the US became the biggest filer of international trademark under the so-called WIPO Madrid System, which the agency described as a one-stop solution for registering and managing marks worldwide.

International trademark applications filed under the WIPO-administered Madrid System grew to a record 47,885 in 2014, representing 2.3 per cent growth on 2013. Among the top origins, Australia (23.3 per cent) and the UK (19.3 per cent) saw double-digit growth in 2014, while France (9.9 per cent), China (5.5 per cent), Germany (4.8 per cent) and the Netherlands (4.2 per cent) saw declines.

Two recent Madrid members India and Mexico saw considerable increase in their Madrid filing, with India registering a 273 per cent growth while Mexico 74 per cent.

The agency noted that telecoms giant Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. of China, with 3,442 published applications, overtook Panasonic Corp. of Japan as the largest applicant in 2014, while the US-based Qualcomm Inc. was the second largest applicant in 2014, with 2,409 published applications, and China's ZTE Corp. took third place with 2,179 applications.