Thomson Reuters Publishes 2009 Patent Report

Even though we’re not even a quarter of the way through 2009, Thomson Reuters has published its 2009 Patent Focus Report.  Released yesterday, the report is authored by Joff Wild, editor of Intellectual Asset Management magazine.  According to a press release, the report explores recent activities at each of the world’s major patenting authorities (USA, Europe, Japan, China, and India).

Some findings of the report include:

• Huawei Technologies, a Chinese company, topped the list of Patent Co-operation Treaty applications.
• Patent approval rates at the USPTO continue to fall below 50% of applications examined.
• The Japan Patent office reported the lowest level of approved patent applications since the mid-1990s.
• Although the amount of applications received by the European Patent Office has increased, the number of patents granted has fallen.

“The 2009 Patent Focus Report combines expert insight with the stories behind the statistics,” said Tim Hamer, SVP Global Marketing Services at Thomson Reuters. “This highly anticipated report discusses the issues facing the world’s major issuing authorities and dissects significant patent disputes and their outcomes.”

For those who wish to read the entire report, it is available at  http://go.thomsonreuters.com/pfr2009 .