Countries by Trademark applications, resident, by count

Ranking 2021

Analysis

This metric counts resident trademark applications filed with national intellectual property offices, measured in absolute numbers for 2021. The World Bank World Development Indicators (indicator code IP.TMK.RSCT) define a trademark as a sign capable of distinguishing the goods or services of one enterprise from those of other enterprises, where trademarks are protected by intellectual property rights, and a resident application refers to an application filed with the IP office of, or acting for, the state or jurisdiction in which the first named applicant in the application is resident, with class count used to render applications comparable across filing systems. Coverage spans 154 countries, with 89.6% of countries having data from the last seven years and 100% of datapoints rated as official quality. Nine extreme outliers were identified at the 3-sigma threshold.

The top of the ranking is heavily concentrated. China (rank 1, 9,192,753) accounts for an outsized share of global resident filings, with the United States (rank 2, 551,764) and Iran (rank 3, 506,935) following at roughly one-sixteenth of China's total. India (rank 4, 435,581), Turkiye (rank 5, 395,159), Brazil (rank 6, 346,752), and Russia (rank 7, 327,409) form a dense cluster. Large economies with established legal frameworks for intellectual property registration tend to generate higher absolute filing volumes, though absolute count favors populous countries with larger business populations.

Notable placements appear in the middle of the ranking. Mongolia (rank 40, 19,104) exceeds several larger economies, while Iran (rank 3, 506,935) outranks both India and major European economies. Paraguay (rank 43, 16,680) places above Singapore (rank 45, 15,088). At the lower end, Monaco (rank 100, 1,525) and Andorra (rank 111, 919) appear alongside far larger nations, reflecting their very small economies. Bahrain and the Democratic Republic of Congo share rank 120 with identical values of 405, and Bhutan and Zimbabwe share rank 135 at 155 applications each.

Absolute count does not adjust for population, economic size, or the structure of national filing systems. Countries using a class-count method record more applications per trademark than those using an application-count method, which can inflate rankings for countries with particular filing conventions. Data completeness varies: 79.2% of countries have data specifically for 2021, and average year-over-year volatility of 39.6% suggests that individual country figures can shift substantially between years. Results for smaller economies with fewer filings may reflect administrative capacity or reporting lags rather than actual trademark activity.

Methodology

Data source: World Bank World Development Indicators, indicator code IP.TMK.RSCT. Data year: 2021. The metric counts resident trademark applications using class count. Per the source definition: 'A trademark is a sign capable of distinguishing the goods or services of one enterprise from those of other enterprises. Trademarks are protected by intellectual property rights. A resident application refers to an application filed with the IP office of, or acting for, the state or jurisdiction in which the first named applicant in the application is resident. Class count is used to render applic[ations comparable].' Unit is absolute value; higher values indicate more resident filings. Coverage: 154 countries included, exceeding the 80-country threshold. Recency: 138 of 154 countries (89.6%) have data from the last seven years; 122 of 154 (79.2%) have data specifically for 2021. Data quality: 100% of datapoints are classified as official. Nine extreme outliers were identified at the 3-sigma threshold. Average year-over-year change is 39.6%, below the 50% volatility threshold. The value range runs from 3 to 9,192,753, a spread of over 306 million percent.

Sources

• World Bank