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DEFINITION
Patent applications are applications filed with a national patent office for exclusive rights for an invention--a product or process that provides a new way of doing something or offers a new technical solution to a problem. A patent provides protection for the invention to the owner of the patent for a limited period, generally 20 years.
Industry Statistics > Patent applications, nonresidents (most recent) by country
Showing latest available data.
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Most recent
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
Rank
Countries
Amount
(top to bottom)
Date
#1
United States :
171,935
2004 ...
#2
China :
64,798
2004 ...
#3
Japan :
60,739
2004 ...
#4
Korea, South :
35,088
2004 ...
#5
Canada :
33,298
2003 ...
#6
Australia :
21,651
2004 ...
#7
Brazil :
14,800
2004 ...
#8
Mexico :
12,667
2004 ...
#9
United Kingdom :
11,138
2004 ...
#10
Germany :
10,905
2004 ...
#11
India :
10,671
2004 ...
#12
Hong Kong :
9,878
2004 ...
#13
Norway :
9,320
2001 ...
#14
Israel :
8,929
2003 ...
#15
Singapore :
8,076
2004 ...
#16
Russia :
7,246
2004 ...
#17
Malaysia :
6,272
1997 ...
#18
South Africa :
5,501
1995 ...
#19
Poland :
5,359
2004 ...
#20
New Zealand :
4,952
2004 ...
#21
Thailand :
4,329
2003 ...
#22
Argentina :
3,816
2004 ...
#23
Indonesia :
3,441
2004 ...
#24
France :
3,060
2004 ...
#25
Chile :
2,879
2000 ...
#26
Philippines :
2,539
2004 ...
#27
Venezuela :
2,292
2000 ...
#28
Hungary :
1,919
2004 ...
#29
Ukraine :
1,692
2004 ...
#30
Italy :
1,396
2000 ...
#31
Vietnam :
1,210
2000 ...
#32
Pakistan :
1,081
2004 ...
#33
Croatia :
841
2004 ...
#34
Peru :
785
2004 ...
#35
Czech Republic :
633
2004 ...
#36
Netherlands :
556
2004 ...
#37
Saudi Arabia :
552
2002 ...
#38
Austria :
549
2004 ...
#39
Egypt :
537
2004 ...
#40
Iceland :
529
2004 ...
#41
Uruguay :
514
2004 ...
#42
Ecuador :
489
2004 ...
#43
Sweden :
478
2004 ...
#44
Malta :
471
2004 ...
#45
Switzerland :
466
2002 ...
#46
Macedonia, Republic of :
415
2004 ...
#47
Morocco :
401
1998 ...
#48
Turkey :
383
2003 ...
#49
Belarus :
382
2004 ...
#50
Bosnia and Herzegovina :
349
2004 ...
#51
Algeria :
334
2004 ...
#52
Spain :
320
2004 ...
#53
Malawi :
313
2001 ...
#54
Guatemala :
260
2001 ...
#55
Nigeria :
246
1990 ...
#56
Slovakia :
239
2004 ...
#57
Finland :
216
2004 ...
#58
Georgia :
210
2004 ...
#59
Trinidad and Tobago :
205
2003 ...
#60
Uzbekistan :
205
2004 ...
#61
Colombia :
198
2002 ...
#62
Sri Lanka :
189
2003 ...
#63
Belgium :
188
2003 ...
#64
Paraguay :
173
2003 ...
#65
Denmark :
172
2004 ...
#66
Romania :
163
2004 ...
#67
Honduras :
161
2002 ...
#68
Bangladesh :
156
1995 ...
#69
Panama :
153
2000 ...
#70
Dominican Republic :
135
1986 ...
#71
Bulgaria :
133
2004 ...
#72
Iran :
129
1995 ...
#73
Nicaragua :
129
2000 ...
#74
Tunisia :
128
1996 ...
#75
Cuba :
127
1999 ...
#76
Zimbabwe :
122
1996 ...
#77
Namibia :
120
1993 ...
#78
Bolivia :
106
1995 ...
#79
Kazakhstan :
102
2003 ...
#80
Estonia :
97
2004 ...
#81
Costa Rica :
91
1993 ...
#82
Brunei :
88
1993 ...
#83
Mongolia :
86
2004 ...
#84
Cyprus :
85
2004 ...
#85
Barbados :
68
1999 ...
#86
Portugal :
66
2004 ...
#87
El Salvador :
64
1995 ...
#88
Jordan :
61
1989 ...
#89
Ireland :
58
2004 ...
#90
Jamaica :
54
2002 ...
#91
Swaziland :
47
1992 ...
#92
Lithuania :
45
2004 ...
#93
Latvia :
44
2004 ...
#94
Slovenia :
42
2004 ...
#95
Ghana :
39
1994 ...
#96
Bahrain :
31
1992 ...
#97
Kenya :
30
1999 ...
#98
Bahamas, The :
29
1992 ...
#99
Greece :
27
2004 ...
#100
Sudan :
26
1992 ...
#101
Zambia :
25
2001 ...
#102
Tanzania :
23
1989 ...
#103
Libya :
23
1996 ...
#104
Macau :
22
2004 ...
#105
Madagascar :
22
2004 ...
#106
Liberia :
21
1993 ...
#107
Iraq :
18
1996 ...
#108
Azerbaijan :
17
1996 ...
#109
Fiji :
17
1986 ...
#110
Syria :
12
1995 ...
#111
Mauritius :
12
1998 ...
#112
Uganda :
11
1992 ...
#113
Moldova :
9
2004 ...
#114
Korea, North :
8
1992 ...
#115
Luxembourg :
8
2003 ...
#116
Somalia :
7
1985 ...
#117
Saint Lucia :
7
2001 ...
#118
Belize :
7
1989 ...
#119
Seychelles :
6
1996 ...
#120
Armenia :
6
2004 ...
#121
Guyana :