China accounted for three-fifths of the growth in global trademark filings during 2010, a new report has indicated.
The World Intellectual Property Organization found that a quarter of a million more applications were made in China during 2010 compared to the previous year.
This figure emphasises the rapid rate of progress – and indeed GDP growth – being seen in the Chinese economy despite the global economic downturn.
The number of additional filings received by the Intellectual Property Office of China amounted to more than the total number of applications made in France, Germany and the UK combined.
China Hong Kong also witnessed rapid growth in the number of trademark filings, with an increase of 18.3 per cent.
Residents of China and the US filed more than one million applications each, as they used the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market to seek protection in the European Union (EU).
Each application at the office covers all 27 EU member states – such as the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain – elevating the number of equivalent applications.