Patents
A patent is an exclusive right granted for an invention, which is a product or a process that provides, in general, a new way of doing something or offers a new technical solution to a problem. It is valid for a limited period of time (generally 20 years), during which patent holders can commercially exploit their inventions on an exclusive basis.
The patent system is designed to encourage innovation by providing innovators with time-limited exclusive legal rights, thus enabling innovators to reap the benefits of their innovative activity.
Patents belong to the more general category, which is intellectual property. Intellectual property (IP) refers to creations of the mind: inventions, literary and artistic works, and symbols, names, images, and designs used in commerce. In general IP is divided into two categories:
industrial property, which includes inventions (patents), trademarks, industrial designs, and geographic indications of source,
- industrial property, which includes inventions (patents), trademarks, industrial designs, and geographic indications of source,
- copyright, which includes literary and artistic works such as novels, poems and plays, films, musical works, artistic works such as drawings, paintings, photographs and sculptures, and architectural designs.
In the world there is no single patent office, which coordinates the receiving applications and granting patents in force in all countries. For this reason United Nations created specialized agency to promote the protection of IP around the world by cooperation among states and in collaboration with other international organizations. In 1967 the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) was established. It is dedicated to developing a balanced and accessible international intellectual property (IP) system, which rewards creativity, stimulates innovation and contributes to economic development while safeguarding the public interest.
Current patent system possess some essential weaknesses, including:
- Lack of one single global system of patent law - the best example is situation in UE.
- Conflicts connected with software patents.
- Patent trolls - firms which acquiring and enforcing patents, rather than create and sell goods (in the past, non-practicing entities – NPEs). They opportunistically litigate over software patents with unpredictable boundaries. Recent studies show that defendants have lost over half a trillion dollars in wealth—over $83 billion per year during recent years and this has not improved incentives to innovate.*
Despite the drawbacks of the patent system, the number of applications and granted patents has increased rapidly - in the last 20 years it has almost doubled.
| Specification | 1990 | 2000 | 2008 |
| total number of patent applications | 1 006 044 | 1 373 882 | 1 907 915 |
| total number of patent grants | 410 075 | 514 884 | 777 556 |
In the following list you can compare countries with the highest GDP and patent applications, patent grants and patents in force by patent office in 2009.
| COUNTRY | GDP Rank | Patent applications | Patent grants | Patents in force |
| United States | 1 | 456 106 | 167 349 | 1 930 631 |
| China | 2 | 314 573 | 128 489 | 828 054* |
| Japan | 3 | 348 596 | 193 349 | - |
| Germany | 4 | 59 583 | 14 435 | 509 879* |
| France | 5 | 16 104 | 10 529 | 438 926* |
| United Kingdom | 6 | 22 465 | 5 428 | 590 043 |
| Brazil | 7 | 21 825** | 2 451* | 32 484** |
| Italy | 8 | 9 717 | 18 277 | - |
| Canada | 9 | 37 477 | 19 497 | 134 150 |
| India | 10 | 36 812* | 18 230 | 6 568**** |
| Russia | 11 | 38 564 | 34 824 | 170 264 |
| Spain | 12 | 3 803 | 2 602 | 166 079* |
| Australia | 13 | 26 346* | 11 863* | 107 708* |
| Mexico | 14 | 14 281 | 9 629 | 74 550 |
| South Korea | 15 | 163 523 | 56 732 | 637 197 |
| Netherlands | 16 | 2 854 | 1 948 | 16 262 |
| Turkey | 17 | 2 732 | 648 | 7 472 |
| Indonesia | 18 | 4 606*** | - | - |
| Switzerland | 19 | - | - | 120 178 |
| Poland | 20 | 3 140 | 3 958 | 26 327 |
* - 2008
** - 2007
*** - 2006
**** - 2004
Presented information contains selected data. You can find more detailed statistics about patents by checking following website:
- www.wipo.int/ipstats/en/statistics/patents
- www.wipo.int/export/sites/www/ipstats/en/statistics/patents/pdf/941_2010.pdf
