Intellectual property filings continue to soar
The UK Intellectual Property Office (IPO) has revealed that 2019 saw record numbers of trademark applications and registrations. Tod Davies comments.
A total of 107,527 trademarks were registered in 2019 – an increase of 16.7% from the previous year (approx. 95,000). While most applicants were UK businesses, the IPO also saw a rising number of international registrations, with highest numbers coming from China, the USA and Germany.
Applications and registrations in design rights have also sky-rocketed in recent years – between 2015 and 2018 they increased five-fold, from approx. 5,000 to 25,000 per year. This dramatic increase may in part be explained by the simplification of the application procedure and the introduction of online applications in October 2017.
These statistics reflect a promising level of innovation in the UK during the last year. They also show that businesses and entrepreneurs, increasingly aware of the dangers of leaving their intellectual property as an untapped resource, are taking it more seriously.
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