Argentina atop World Intellectual Property Indicators 2021

By Estudio Chaloupka

Argentina is positioned second behind Brazil in Latin America’s ranking of total (resident and abroad) IP filing activity by origin, in the recently published World Intellectual Property Indicators 2021 of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). The top 10 is led by China, followed by U.S., Germany, Japan, Republic of Korea, France, U.K., India, Italy and Switzerland.

Argentina ranks 37 in patent indicators, 19 in trademark indicators and 30 in design indicators worldwide.

In 2020, nine of the top 20 offices were in either low- or middle-income countries, the same number as in 2019, but up from only six in 2010. Other offices located in selected low- and middle-income countries, namely, Argentina (78,500), Thailand (63,486), Ukraine (62,665) and the Philippines (56,698), saw comparatively high volumes of trademark filing . Among the 20 selected offices located in countries from these income groups, annual growth exceeded 10% in Argentina (+21.9%).

The WIPO’s World Intellectual Property Indicators showed that patent and industrial designs filing activity rebounded in 2020, illustrating the resilience of human innovation even amid the dire global health situation. 

Trademark filing activity rose by 13.7%, patents by 1.6% and designs by 2% according to the WIPI, which compiles new data from some 150 national and regional authorities and shows how innovators, designers and brands are increasingly relying on intellectual property tools to expand their enterprises and seek new growth.

“WIPO’s World Intellectual Property Indicators Report confirms that despite the deepest economic contraction in decades, intellectual property filings - a strong indicator of innovation - showed remarkable resilience during the pandemic,” said WIPO Director General Daren Tang. This is in contrast to the financial crisis of 2008-2009, when both patent and trademark filing activity contracted sharply, said Tang.