WIPO's international patent system passes 5 million mark for published applications

Geneva [Switzerland], December 2 (ANI/WAM): World Intellectual Property Organisation's international patent system published its 5 millionth patent application, marking a major milestone in decades of operations making it easier and cheaper for inventors to protect and promote their work around the world.
By filing an international patent application through the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) in one language and a single currency, applicants can simultaneously seek protection for their invention in over 150 countries. This results in significant labour and economic savings, while facilitating the worldwide spread of human ingenuity for a common global benefit.
Begun in 1978, the PCT has published its 5 millionth patent application: A filing for an invention from Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. titled "Image Processing Device and Image Processing Method (link)" designed to stabilize photographic images and result in clearer mobile phone pictures.
"In nearly five decades of operations, WIPO's PCT has helped spread across borders the great inventions of our times: from Bluetooth to robots to the underlying architecture of the internet and mobile phones as well as CRISPR, life-saving vaccines and today's electric vehicles," said WIPO Director General Daren Tang.
He added, "The PCT is any innovator's go-to option to secure patent protection in multiple countries. WIPO is vigorously pursuing its PCT mission of supporting applicants and potential new users the world over in the realization of the most precious of natural resources, human inventiveness."
"It's notable that the PCT's 5 millionth patent application is from a company based in the Republic of Korea, which has harnessed innovation, technology, and ingenuity to transform its economy in roughly the same time span as the PCT's operations. Intellectual property-driven innovation is a key driver of human progress, as the Republic of Korea has shown," said Tang. (ANI/WAM)