Leaving aside the point that nearly every year is a new record, these figures demand close attention. However detailed numbers will not be available until mid-March and so I look to 2011 instead.
The EPO also claimed a bumper year in 2011 [see here] so what does a bumper year look like?
The number claimed by the EPO as the number of applications received by them appears to be the sum of Euro-direct and PCT filings, regardless of where filed. A PCT application filed in China or the USA does not appear, to my mind, to represent "activity" by the EPO.
The EPO's activity instead could be considered to comprise the number of Euro-direct applications, plus the number of PCT applications for which the EPO acts as ISA, plus the number of PCT applications reaching the regional phase. These numbers are tabulated below:-
|
|
2011
|
2010
|
Growth 2010-2011
|
|
a) Euro-direct
|
62557
|
71398
|
-12.4%
|
|
b) PCT
International
|
181964
|
164170
|
10.8%
|
|
c) Of which, the
number using EP as ISA
|
71627
|
68938
|
3.9%
|
|
d) Euro-PCT
|
80286
|
79405
|
1.1%
|
|
Total "activity"
by EPO [a+c+d]
|
214470
|
219741
|
-2.4%
|
|
Total claimed by
EPO [a+b]
|
244521
|
235568
|
3.8%
|
It is hard to see how a 12.4% decline in Euro-direct filings, near stagnation in Euro-PCT filings, and a 2.4% decline in business overall could be claimed as an increase, but that is what happened in relation to the 2011 figures.
It will be interesting to see how the 2012 figures look when published.
