Global demand for intellectual property tools soars, China driving growth: report

The number of trademark applications, which WIPO officials said has been used as an indicator of projected global economic activity, grew by a "stunning" 30 percent totaling 12.39 million, while the number of industrial design applications reached 1.24 million.

The number of China's trademark applications increased by about 55 percent, representing 46 percent of all trademark applications filed worldwide.

An estimated 9.11 million trademark applications covering 12.39 million classes were filed worldwide in 2017, marking the eighth straight year of growth.

The IP office of China had the highest volume of filing activity with a class count of around 5.7 million, followed by the US (613,921), Japan (560,269), the European Union Intellectual Property Office (371,508), and Iran (358,353).

China's IP office also received the highest number of patent applications in 2017, a record total of 1.38 million. Trailing China's IP office were the IP offices of the United States (606,956), Japan (318,479), South Korea (204,775), and the European Patent Office (166,585).