World Intellectual Property Indicators by Country 2024

Although intellectual property has always been an important part of human innovation and progress, this is increasingly the case in an age when technology and interconnectedness are king.

Experts consider the number of patents filed per year to be a fairly good indicator of the total amount of intellectual property a given country has. Other helpful indicators may include copyrights, trademark registrations, utility models, and commercialization of various IP options.

World Intellectual Property Indicators (or WIPI for short) is a yearly report that provides a snapshot of where various world countries stand when it comes to their intellectual property cache and overall level of innovation.

Here’s a look at some of the top most innovative countries in the world as of 2023, as well as a few factors that might impact a particular country’s innovation rates.

World Countries with the Most Intellectual Property

According to data, the following are currently some of the most innovative countries in the world.

China

Using the number of patents filed per year as a guideline, China leads the pack in the realm of intellectual property. Its highly innovative people collectively filed around 695,400 patents in 2022. The number of patents currently in force exceeds 3.6 million.

United States

The United States is a close second to China in the innovation department with about 3.3 million patents currently in force. The number of new patents filed annually was 646,855 in 2022.

Japan

Well-known as a leading world innovator for many reasons, Japan comes in third with approximately 2 million patents currently in force. The total number of new patents filed annually in Japan in 2022 was 289,530.

Additional countries known worldwide as top-tier innovators and with many patents both in force and annually filed include Switzerland, Finland, India, Canada, Chile, the Netherlands, Sweden, Singapore, Germany, and Brazil.

Factors That Influence Innovation and Intellectual Property Abundance

Numerous factors come into play when it comes to matters like intellectual property, patents, etc. Here are some key examples to know:

• Economic Climate: Generally speaking, richer nations with more robust economies demonstrate more patent activity and intellectual property, as they have more resources to invest in such things.

• Education: Countries with better educational systems or with better access to educational resources tend to be more innovative.

• Cultural Values: A country’s ingrained social and cultural values factor into the mix, too. The more a country’s people value concepts like risk-taking or entrepreneurship, the more patents and brilliant IP ideas it’s likely to generate.