By Donald Zuhn —

Patent services provider
inovia announced
the release of its 2013 report on global patent and IP trends today.  In compiling the report, inovia, which
produces products for PCT national phase entry, European patent validation, and
patent translations, surveyed 125 U.S. companies and universities in January
2013 to identify the trends having the greatest impact on the foreign filing
strategies of U.S. patentees.

The 2013 report notes that
23% of survey respondents are involved in the pharmaceuticals, biotech, or
medical devices industries.  Other
sectors or groups represented in the survey include chemicals/materials (13%),
electrical/electronics (10%), mechanical/engineering (10%), IT/software/media
(7%), and university/association/non-profit (18%).  The report also indicates that one-third of
survey respondents (33%) had no in-house patent attorneys or agents, 47% had
one to four in-house patent attorneys or agents, and the remainder (20%) had five
or more attorneys or agents.  With
respect to the number of in-house patent attorneys or agents, the trend was
towards increasing numbers of in-house practitioners (the 2012 report indicated
that 37% of survey respondents had no in-house patent attorneys or agents, 46%
had one to four in-house patent attorneys or agents, and 17% had five or more
attorneys or agents).

The report states that
among survey respondents, "[t]he theme of 'cautious optimism' from
previous surveys continues."  The
report notes, however, that "respondents don't foresee too much growth in
terms of the number of patent families expected to be filed in 2013."  Fewer respondents experienced IP budget cuts in
2012 than in 2011, and a greater percentage brought in in-house support or
outsourced annuity payments.  Half of
respondents cited final implementation of the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act
as the most important issue/trend of 2013. 
Other key trends for 2013 included cost containment, the rising cost to
obtain patent protection, as well as enforcement and patent trolls.

With respect to application
filings, 11% of survey respondents said they filed more patent applications in
2012 than they expected (down from 18% in 2011), 16% said they filed fewer patent
applications (up from 15% in 2011), and 73% said they filed as many patent
applications in 2012 as they expected (up from 67% in 2011).  The results of this year's survey, however,
were a significant improvement over those from inovia's first survey (released
in 2010), where 41% of respondents said they filed fewer applications than
expected in 2009.

The 2013 report indicates continued
growth for international patent protection, as 50% of respondents filed more
than half of their patent applications abroad (up from 42% in last year's
report).  Respondents, however, are even
more selective with their filings abroad, with 22% of respondents filing
corresponding applications in only 1-3 foreign countries and another 32% filed
internationally in 4-19 countries (the 2012 report indicated that 37% of
respondents filed corresponding applications in 1-3 foreign countries and
another 42% filed internationally in 4-8 countries; this year's survey did not
provide a breakdown of the percentage of respondents filing in 4-8 countries).

With regard to the
countries in which respondents regularly filed, 23% added new countries to
their list (up from 21% in 2011 and 17% in 2010), with 14% adding China and
smaller percentages adding South American countries, India, South Africa, South
Korea, and Japan.  Noting that 28% of
respondents added China to their list in 2011, the report stated that the drop
could be an indication that China is now a regular filing destination for many
U.S. applicants.  A smaller percentage of
respondents (19%) dropped countries from their lists (up from 17% in 2011),
with the European Patent Office or individual European countries being dropped
by 24% of respondents who pared down their lists, 10% dropping China, Japan,
and Mexico, and 7% dropping Australia, Canada, South Korea, and Russia from
their lists.  Respondents who dropped the
European Patent Office or individual European countries believed that the high
cost of pursuing such protection did not justify the value.  In ranking foreign jurisdictions, respondents
placed Europe, China, and Japan first, second, and third, respectively, which
was the same ranking respondents provided in last year's report.

Finally, the report noted
that a large majority of respondents (99%) rely on the PCT for foreign
filing.  Of these respondents, 75%
selected the EPO as an International Searching Authority (up from 72% in 2011),
50% selected the Korean IP Office (KIPO) (up from 42% in 2011), and 11%
selected the Japan Patent Office (JPO) (down from 12% in 2011).