Usually an increasing proportion of applications filed with the Trilateral Offices are from high technology areas. In Fig. 4.4, this proportion is given for each Office in 2005 and 2006, together with their origin.

Fig. 4.4 PROPORTION OF APPLICATIONS IN HIGH TECH AREAS

The USPTO has the highest share of patent applications in the high technology fields, with 37 percent of all applications occurring in this area. Of this number, 54 percent are from domestic applicants. At the JPO, the share of high technology applications increased to 25 percent in 2006, and 85 percent of such applications are from domestic applicants. At the EPO, the share of high technology applications remained nearly stable at 23 percent, with 38 percent coming from applicants resident in the EPC contracting states.

PATENTS GRANTED BY TRILATERAL OFFICES

Fig. 4.5 shows the numbers of patents granted by the Trilateral Offices. There is an overall growth of more than 18 percent. Together the Trilateral Offices granted 377,950 patents in 2006, 57,945 more than in 2005.

The number of patents granted by the JPO increased in 2006 by 15 percent. The EPO granted 9,525 more patents in 2006 than in 2005, an increase of almost 18 percent. The USPTO granted 173,771 the highest number of patents among the Trilateral Offices, an increase of 21 percent since 2005. The differences between the Trilateral Offices regarding the absolute numbers of patents granted can only be partially explained by the differences in the number of corresponding applications. These numbers are also affected by different grant rates and different durations to process applications by the Trilateral Offices, which themselves reflect differences in the trilateral patent granting procedures (see section below on “Trilateral Patent Procedures”)

Source: EPO, JPO, and USPTO, with co-operation of WIPO. “Trilateral Statistical Report 2006 Edition.”Oct. 2007.