More than 2.6 million patent applications were filed at the world's five largest intellectual property offices in 2016, an increase of 10.4% over the previous year, according to a new report. The IP5 Statistics Report, published jointly by the EPO, the Japan Patent Office, the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the State Intellectual Property Office of the People's Republic of China, and the United States Patent and Trademark Office, collectively known as the IP5 offices, presents official patent statistics from each office. The 2016 edition of the report also finds that together the IP5 offices granted 1.1 million patents in 2016 (9.6% more than in 2015). To cope with increasing demand, the EPO has put in place a series of quality and efficiency measures, which in 2016 led to an 8.5% rise in products (completed searches, substantive examinations and oppositions), and 40% more patents granted. This year marks ten years of IP5 co-operation, the five offices having worked together closely since 2007 to improve the efficiency and quality of the examination process for patents worldwide. In the first ten years of co-operation, the IP5 have delivered a number of joint products and services to support innovators and the public.

Source: EPO