WIPO reveals strong growth in Madrid applications

The World Intellectual Property Organisation’s (WIPO) latest Madrid System filing statistics reveal significant growth for international marks, with applications originating in China, Russia and the United Kingdom showing significant rises.

The figures reveal that there were 56,200 international trademark applications made in 2017, a rise of exactly 5% from the previous year. This continues the multi-year trend of increased use of the Madrid System, though the growth is less than that in 2016 (when the system grew by 7.2% year on year).

The leading classes being sought in international applications last year were computers and electronics (accounting for 9.8% of all applications), services for business (7.9%), technological services (6.2%), leisure, education and training services (4.7%) and pharmaceuticals (4.5%).

Looking at the originating country of applicants using the Madrid System, those from the United States led the way with 7,884 applications in total. This was followed closely by Germany (7,316) and China (5,230). China saw the most significant year-on-year growth of all countries – rising 36.3% on 2016. On the flip-side, some countries experienced significant drops in applicants filing via Madrid, with Italy (-6.6%), the Netherlands (-5.8%) and Austria (-4.9%) showing the most significant falls.

With regard to the specific leading filers, the list is headed by L’Oreal for the second year in a row. The top 10 Madrid applicants in 2017 were:

• L’Oreal – 198 trademarks
• Richter Gedeon Nyrt – 117
• ADP Gauselmann – 104
• Novartis – 96
• Abercrombie & Fitch – 82
• Apple – 74
• Brillux – 73
• Krya, Tovarna, Zdravil, DD, Novo, Mesto – 73
• BMW – 70
• Aucma Company – 62
• Janssen Pharmaceutica – 62