Germany Tops International Trademark Applications

by Ulrika Lomas, for LawAndTax-News.com, Brussels

13 February 2006

A record 33,565 international trademark applications were received in 2005 by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) under the Madrid system for the international registration of trademarks, the Organization announced last week.

This represents a 13.9% increase on the figures for 2004.

Germany, for the 13th consecutive year, led the list of top filers, and applications from developing countries increased by 30.6% over 2004, with China topping the list of such users. China also unseated Switzerland as the most designated country in international trademark applications.

"The overall performance of WIPO’s services to the private sector – in particular the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) and the Madrid system - in 2005 has been exceptional and reflects the growing integration of these procedures into business strategies. I am confident that these trends will continue as realization of the concrete business advantages offered by these systems grows and as new countries come on board," observed Dr. Kamil Idris, Director General of WIPO.

Commenting on the value of trademarks to business, Dr. Idris observed that:

"In the highly competitive global marketplace, a business is fully identified by and associated with its brands. Arguably, brand value is one of the most important - if not the most important asset that a business holds."

"Brands are powerful symbols that influence consumer choices and affect investment. Successful brands, underpinned by trademark protection, are a signal of a company’s ability to deliver on a promise."

According to WIPO, the largest share of the 33,565 international trademark applications that it received in 2005 was filed by users in Germany (5,802 or 17.3% of the total), followed by users in France with 3,497 international applications (10.4%), the United States of America 2,847 (8.5%), Benelux 2,426 (7.2%), Italy 2,340 (7.0%), Switzerland 2,235 (6.7%), the European Community 1,852 (5.5%) and China 1,334 (4.0%). These figures relate to international applications filed through the trademark offices of the members concerned.

The top twenty users of the Madrid system in 2005 were Hofer (Austria), Lidl Stiftung & Co (Germany), Janssen Pharmaceutica (Belgium), Deutsche Telekom AG (Germany), Henkel (Germany), Novartis (Switzerland), Aldi (Germany), Siemens (Germany), Nestlé (Switzerland), Bosch (Germany), Beiersdorf (Germany), Krka (Slovenia), Barilla (Italy), Unilever (Netherlands), Solvay (Belgium), L’Oréal (France), Plus Warenhandelsgesellschaft (Germany), Altana Pharma (Germany), ITM Entreprises (France), Parfums Christian Dior (France).

Recommended