Indonesian PCT Filing Falls Behind Other ASEAN Countries

JAKARTA: World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has released a statistic on Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) application being filed in 2022. Through WIPO’s press release of 28 February 2023, the number of PCT application is seen to be globally increased as much as 0.3% in 2022 with 278,100 applications in total.

This moderate growth reflects on the global economic conditions in 2022. Regardless of such condition, corporates keep investing on innovation and intellectual property.

According to the press release, three out of five biggest contributors of PCT filing are from Asia, which are China, Japan, and South Korea. China comes in the first place, with 70,015 applications in total, slightly increased from last year achievement, 69,604 applications. China is then followed by USA with 59,056 applications, Japan with 50,345 applications, South Korea with 22,012 applications, and Germany with 17,530 applications.

Within ASEAN level, Indonesia falls behind the rest ASEAN countries with only 9 applications being filed last year. This number remains the same with the total of applications filed in 2021. Consequently, Indonesia only outperforms Cambodia, who has no PCT application filed in 2022.

WIPO recognizes Singapore as the ASEAN country with the most filed PCT application in 2022, i.e. 1,740 in total, which number has increased compared to the previous year with 1,653 in total. It is followed by Thailand with 175 applications, Malaysia with 159 applications, Philippines with 31 applications and Vietnam with 27 applications.

Ironically, Indonesia has become a member of PCT since 7 May 1997, which is way earlier than most of ASEAN countries. However, the number of PCT applications being filed is still far left behind.

There are 157 country members of PCT to date. The inventors/applicants coming from these countries has benefited from PCT, as this system provides flexibility in time, costs, and risk management to them to projecting the value of their invention as an intellectual property asset. (su/RKH-MAR)