Change in PCT filings from 2014 to 2017

The Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) is a 152-member country agreement that provides a unified procedure for filing international patents. Given that PCT filings must be filed in the home country of the applicant company or inventor, they are considered a proxy for a country’s ability to generate valuable IP assets. Over the past three years of reports from 2014 to 2017, global PCT filings of patents have grown by 14% while filings from Canada shrank by over 22%. Canada’s reduction in filings is the worst performance amongst the 152 member states.

Canada’s filings decreased by 687, Spain’s by 307, Finland by 216, New Zealand by 74 and Greece by 23.

Figure 6: Change in PCT filings from 2014 to 2017

Figure 6

Source: World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)

The Figure 6 bar graph compares global year-to-year changes in Patent Cooperation Treaty patent filings from 2014 to 2017. The graph shows that Canada’s PCT patent filings have decreased by 687 or 22%, the greatest decrease of all countries measured.