Computer-related patents now top worldwide applications - woodovesibly

Computer technology accounted for more patent applications in late years than any other industry sector tracked by the World Intellectual Property Formation, although the come of extremity communication letters patent applications grew faster. Heavy-duty design registrations are also growing—and spell Malus pumila sharply asserts its design rights in courtrooms, it does not file the most applications for such rights.

The number of patent applications worldwide lidded 2 million for the first time in 2011, WIPO said in a report on worldwide intellectual holding registrations [PDF], released closing calendar week. It noted that applications to register industrial design rights likewise rose sharply that year.

WIPO gathered covering data from patent and trademark offices around the world, breaking it down by industry sector and area. One source, the European Patent Office's PATSTAT database, had non broken down 2011 information by sector at the time of its last update in April, so WIPO's per-manufacture depth psychology ends in 2010.

Filings for computer engineering patents rose by 1.9 percent a year between 2006 to 2010, reaching a elevation of 129,952 in 2009 before falling back to 126,897 in 2010, according to the WIPO report.

Manifest filings on data communication technologies grew faster, though, at 8.1 per centum, rising to 71,499 applications in 2010.

Disputes accompany applications

Besides patent applications, the WIPO also looked at industrial design rights applications by technology firms. Project rights are closely connected to patents and were the bailiwick of numerous disputes in 2012, WIPO said.

"Frequently, these disputes focus on the infringement of patents and the implicit in technological inventions. Yet some of the highest visibility conflicts relating to smartphones and tablet computers undergo central along product designs," the organization said. Courts worldwide are making decisive judgments on which designs can be invulnerable and what constitutes infringement of a design right, it added.

Ericsson, for example, newly announced IT was suing Samsung for patent infringement, asking a U.S. judge to block sales of Samsung Electronics products such as the Galax urceolata S III smartphone and the Galaxy Note II in the U.S. And to begin with this year Samsung was coherent aside a jury to pay over $1 one million million to Apple for apparent infringement.

Samsung has also been fighting in the courts with Apple, which says Samsung copied its iPad tablet design.

Companies such as Samsung, LG, Research in Question, Panasonic, Sony, Microsoft, and Foxconn consistently emerged as the top users of design patents in the electronics, ICT and package industries in 2011, the WIPO said.

Rivals top Apple filings

Apple, though, wasn't the biggest exploiter of business enterprise design rights in 2011, WIPO data reveals. It ranked sixth for industrial design registrations in the U.S. in 2011, with 122 registrations, behind Samsung (328), LG (236) and Microsoft (182). For seven other major registries, WIPO counted heavy-duty design applications, not registrations, and in those countries Apple did not make the circus tent ten the least bit.

In China, Japan and the Republic of Korea, firms in the electronics and ICT industries stratified among the most intense users of blue-collar design rights, accordant to WIPO. "In the case of Taiwan, for the most character foreign firms occupied the top 10 ranks. Interestingly, the only entity of Chinese origin in these rankings is a university," it added.

Most design decently applications were filed in Red China, where Panasonic graded opening with 3634 design right applications filed, followed by Samsung with 3335 and LG with 2844 applications.

Design rights today are a substantial share of firms' investments in intangible assets and introduction. However, promote research is needed to display how the legal and creative aspects of industrial excogitation activity relate to one another, WIPO said.

Loek is Amsterdam Correspondent and covers online privacy, intellect property, ASCII text file and online payment issues for the IDG News show Service. Follow him on Twitter at @loekessers or email tips and comments to loek_essers@idg.com

Source: https://www.pcworld.com/article/456078/computer-related-patents-now-top-worldwide-applications.html

Posted by: woodovesibly.blogspot.com

Share this post