Huawei, Qualcomm, ZTE Led Global Patent Filing Activity Via WIPO Last Year

Three telecom giants from China and the U.S. led international patent filing activity via the World Intellectual Property Organization in 2014, the group said in a year-end review released Thursday. China and the U.S. combined caused 87 percent of the total growth in filings under WIPO’s Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), which saw some 215,000 applications in 2014, a 4.5 percent increase over the previous year, WIPO said. China’s Huawei, with 3,442 published PCT applications, was 2014’s most prolific applicant, followed by U.S.-based Qualcomm (2,409 published applications) and China’s ZTE (2,179 published applications). The U.S. was the most active country of origin for PCT filers in 2014, with 61,492 applications, a 7.1 increase from 2013, WIPO said. Japan followed with 42,459 applications, a 3 percent decline from 2013, it said. Applicants from China filed 25,539 applications, an 18.7 percent increase from 2013, putting China in third place in terms of PCT application activity, it said.