Executive summary

  1. The EPO retains its crown as the top cited patent office for quality, with over 70% of benchmarking respondents rating its output as ‘excellent’ or ‘good’.
  2. Readers indicated that they abandoned patents at a higher rate over the past 18 months, while exclusive data provides insight into how some of the top global companies handled maintenance decisions last year.
  3. Practitioners report that certain strategic tools – including USPTO re-examinations and EPO oppositions – are under-utilised, but could provide key advantages.
  4. China’s patent office is cracking down on low-quality filings, while also implementing significant patent law changes – two developments rights holders need to follow.
  5. Filings fell at the JPO last year, while rising at the KIPO – both offices are making their pitch for more applications, with an emphasis on Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies.

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