WIPO: Fastest Growth in Iran’s Industrial Designs

The Islamic Republic of Iran marked the fastest growth in industrial designs worldwide with a 34.8% increase, the United Nations intellectual property agency said on Wednesday. According to the World Intellectual Property Organization, global industrial design filing activity in 2016 grew by 10.4% to an estimated 963,100 applications containing 1.2 million designs. Designs worldwide grew by 8.3%, driven primarily by strong growth in China, the United Nations Information Center in Tehran reported on its website. The office of China received applications containing 650,344 designs in 2016, corresponding to 52% of the world total, followed by the European Union at 104,522, the Republic of Korea at 69,120, Germany at 56,188 and Turkey at 46,305.  Among the top 20 offices, the fastest growth in designs occurred in Iran, a 34.8% increase, followed by Ukraine’s 17.4% growth, China’s 14.3% increase and the United States’ 12.1% growth.