Recently, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) released the data on volume of PCT patent applications in December 2024 and throughout the same year.

According to statistics, in 2024, the total volume of PCT applications reached 273,900, increasing by 0.5% compared to 2023. China remained the largest source country, submitting 70,160 applications.

Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. was the top PCT applicant in 2024, with 6,600 published applications, followed by Samsung Electronics (Republic of Korea, 4,640 applications), Qualcomm (United States, 3,848 applications), LG Electronics (Republic of Korea, 2,083 applications), and Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited (China, 1,993 applications). Japan, China, and the United States had the highest number of applicants among the top 100 application entities, with 35, 21, and 19 applicants, respectively.

In the education field, the University of California (United States) continued to top the list in 2024 with 519 PCT applications. The University of Texas System (United States) ranked second with 216 applications, followed by Tsinghua University (China, 188 applications), Zhejiang University (China, 175 applications), and Seoul National University (Republic of Korea, 170 applications).

In 2024, digital communication became the most significant field for published PCT applications, accounting for 10.5% of the total, surpassing computer technology, which had held the top position since 2019. Other major fields included computer technology (9.7%), electrical machinery (8.6%), medical technology (6.5%), and measurement (4.4%). These five fields together accounted for approximately 40% of the total published PCT applications, an increase of 5 percentage points compared to 2019. Among the top ten technology fields, digital communication (+9.9%) and electrical machinery (+7.9%) exhibited the fastest growth rates in 2024.

(Source: WIPO China)