Executive summary
- 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’.
- 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.
- Practitioners report that certain strategic tools – including USPTO re-examinations and EPO oppositions – are under-utilised, but could provide key advantages.
- 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.
- 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.