International trademark applications from developing countries rose significantly in 2005, with China topping the list of filers, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) announced in Geneva on Thursday.

China made 1,334 applications under the Madrid system for the international registration of trademarks, the largest filer among developing countries, whose overall applications increased by 30.6 percent last year, the Geneva-based organization said.

Other outstanding developing countries include the Republic of Korea and Singapore, who made 148 and 137 applications respectively.

In 2005, China also became the most designated country in trademark applications, a position held by Switzerland since 1997.

This showed that China's market is the most attractive, according to Ernesto Rubio, WIPO assistant director general for trademark affairs.

Other countries which have moved up in the ranking of most designated countries compared to 2004 are the United States, Japan, Turkey, Norway etc.

A designated country refers to the country in which trademark applicants want their trademark to be protected. The amount of designation usually reflects the attractiveness of a country's market.

A total of 33,565 international trademark applications were received in 2005 by the WIPO under the Madrid system, which represents a 13.9 percent increase on figures for 2004.

The largest share of the applications was filed by Germany (5,802 or 17.3 percent of the total), followed by France with 3,497 applications (10.4 percent) and the United States 2,847 (8.5 percent).

Administered by the WIPO, the Madrid system is a user-friendly and cost-effective service for the international registration of trademarks.

The overall current membership of the Madrid system is 78 (77 countries plus the European community).

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