Patent statistics: 2020 to 2021

These tables provide an overview of patent activity, based on the latest available statistics.

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Requests for examination

Figure 1: Requests for examination of patent applications
  2014 to 2015 2015 to 2016 2016 to 2017 2017 to 2018 2018 to 2019 2019 to 2020 2020 to 2021
Patent requests for examination 28,776 28,596 28,199 28,046 30,163 28,209 28,193

Disposals

Figure 2: Patent application disposalsFootnote *
  2014 to 2015 2015 to 2016 2016 to 2017 2017 to 2018 2018 to 2019 2019 to 2020 2020 to 2021
Patent disposals 36,370 32,422 32,635 31,629 29,757 27,046 28,585

Turnaround times

Figure 3: Average turnaround times for granting a patent after a request for examination
  2014 to 2015 2015 to 2016 2016 to 2017 2017 to 2018 2018 to 2019 2019 to 2020 2020 to 2021
Patent turnaround time (in months) 40.3 38.8 36.7 33.6 32.0 31.1 31.1

Applications by language

Patent applications filed by language
Language 2014 to 2015 2015 to 2016 2016 to 2017 2017 to 2018 2018 to 2019 2019 to 2020 2020 to 2021
English 36,172 35,885 36,019 33,632 37,889 36,951 36,216
French 1,354 1,167 1,278 1,086 1,138 1,048 948
Total 37,526 37,052 36,019 34,718 39,027 37,999 37,164

Applications, requests for examination and patents granted by sector

Chemistry
Chemistry patent applications 2018 to 2019 2019 to 2020 2020 to 2021
Filed 13,095 12,679 13,433
Requests for examination 10,014 9,153 9,840
Granted 7,219 6,552 7,224
Electrical engineering
Electrical engineering patent applications 2018 to 2019 2019 to 2020 2020 to 2021
Filed 6,279 6,655 5,912
Requests for examination 5,005 5,293 4,884
Granted 3,994 3,523 3,791
Instruments
Instrument patent applications 2018 to 2019 2019 to 2020 2020 to 2021
Filed 6,504 6,319 6,078
Requests for examination 5,430 4,737 4,856
Granted 4,076 3,479 3,812
Mechanical engineering
Mechanical engineering patent applications 2018 to 2019 2019 to 2020 2020 to 2021
Filed 8,278 8,040 7,245
Requests for examination 6,434 5,856 5,449
Granted 5,023 4,815 4,976
Other fields
Patent applications from other fields 2018 to 2019 2019 to 2020 2020 to 2021
Filed 4,871 4,306 4,496
Requests for examination 3,280 3,170 3,164
Granted 2,781 2,636 2,648
All disciplines
Patent applications from all disciplines 2018 to 2019 2019 to 2020 2020 to 2021
Filed 39,027 37,999 37,164
Request for examination 30,163 28,209 28,193
Granted 23,093 21,005 22,451

Applications and patents granted to residents of Canada and foreign countries

Applications filed and patents granted to residents of Canada and foreign countries (fiscal year 2020 to 2021)
Province, territory or country Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) applications filed Non-PCT applications filed Total applications filed Total patents granted
Alberta 189 622 811 459
British Columbia 264 535 799 212
Manitoba 35 61 96 59
New Brunswick 15 31 46 18
Newfoundland and Labrador 12 18 30 7
Northwest Territories 1 2 3 0
Nova Scotia 23 68 91 26
Nunavut 0 0 0 0
Ontario 700 1,542 2,242 817
Prince Edward Island 2 12 14 6
Quebec 381 854 1235 492
Saskatchewan 22 107 129 92
Yukon 0 0 0 1
Residents of Canada (total) 1,644 3,852 5,496 2,189
Foreign countries 26,252 5,416 31,668 20,262
Total 27,896 9,268 37,164 22,451

Applications and patents granted by origin as stated by the applicant

Origin Filed Granted

Afghanistan

1

-

Algeria

-

1

Andorra

2

-

Anguilla

1

-

Argentina

5

4

Australia

539

282

Austria

234

166

Bahamas

-

7

Barbados

28

31

Belarus

2

-

Belgium

331

175

Bermuda

12

20

Brazil

71

24

British Virgin Islands

6

25

Bulgaria

9

-

Burundi

1

-

Cambodia

1

-

Canada

5,496

2,189

Cayman Islands

72

66

Chile

29

12

China

1,652

727

Colombia

5

3

Costa Rica

5

-

Croatia

1

2

Cuba

9

5

Cyprus

14

18

Czech Republic

31

17

Denmark

278

194

Dominican Republic

1

1

Egypt

-

1

Estonia

3

-

Finland

316

226

France

1,416

1,070

Georgia

1

 

Germany

2,032

1,343

Gibraltar

2

-

Greece

13

7

Hungary

33

15

Iceland

5

2

India

146

72

Indonesia

-

1

Iran

7

1

Ireland

183

135

Isle of Man

5

1

Israel

374

177

Italy

595

303

Ivory Coast

-

1

Japan

1,450

1,214

Jersey

-

1

Jordan

1

-

Kazakhstan

1

-

Kyrgyzstan

1

 -

Laos

1

-

Latvia

5

2

Lebanon

1

-

Libya

1

-

Liechtenstein

46

27

Lithuania

4

2

Luxembourg

104

75

Malaysia

9

3

Malta

7

9

Mauritius

4

-

Mexico

35

37

Monaco

5

2

Morocco

2

1

Nepal

1

-

Netherlands

541

340

New Zealand

72

59

Niger

-

1

Norway

252

141

Oman

-

1

Pakistan

1

-

Panama

2

-

Peru

4

-

Philippines

-

2

Poland

49

11

Portugal

38

11

Qatar

 

1

Republic of Korea

420

313

Romania

1

 -

Russia

80

38

Saint Kitts and Nevis

3

-

Samoa

-

1

Saudi Arabia

170

37

Serbia

2

-

Seychelles

-

2

Singapore

61

39

Slovakia

8

5

Slovenia

15

7

South Africa

28

26

Spain

205

118

Sri Lanka

5

-

Sweden

466

319

Switzerland

1,120

715

Syria

1

-

Taiwan

65

33

Thailand

6

4

Hong Kong

8

6

Trinidad and Tobago

1

-

Tunisia

-

1

Turkey

21

3

Ukraine

1

1

United Arab Emirates

12

2

United Kingdom

1,292

671

United States of America

16,563

10,844

Uruguay

4

-

Venezuela

-

1

Viet Nam

1

-

Unknown origin

1

1

Total

37,164

22,451

Top 10 applicants

Top 10 patent applicants (fiscal year 2020 to 2021)
Applicant Number of applications filed
PRATT & WHITNEY CANADA CORP. 174
SAUDI ARABIAN OIL COMPANY 162
HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CO., LTD. 161
GUANGDONG OPPO MOBILE TELECOMMUNICATIONS CORP., LTD. 129
HALLIBURTON ENERGY SERVICES, INC. 123
THE TORONTO-DOMINION BANK 119
BASF SE 119
THE BOEING COMPANY 117
THE PROCTER & GAMBLE COMPANY 111
PIONEER HI-BRED INTERNATIONAL, INC. 108

Top 10 patentees

Top 10 patentees (fiscal year 2020 to 2021)
Patentee Number of patents granted
HALLIBURTON ENERGY SERVICES, INC. 257
THE BOEING COMPANY 207
GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY 172
HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CO., LTD. 108
SNECMA 97
QUALCOMM INCORPORATED 97
THE PROCTER & GAMBLE COMPANY 97
BASF SE 77
ILLINOIS TOOL WORKS INC. 77
PRATT & WHITNEY CANADA CORP. 74

Patent Appeal Board operational statistics

Final actions
Operational statistics 2014 to 2015 2015 to 2016 2016 to 2017 2017 to 2018 2018 to 2019 2019 to 2020 2020 to 2021
Referrals 28 65 91 75 101 71 52
Disposals 24 19 33 41 46 56 63
Industrial designs
Operational statistics 2014 to 2015 2015 to 2016 2016 to 2017 2017 to 2018 2018 to 2019 2019 to 2020 2020 to 2021
Referrals 6 1 4 0 0 5 2
Disposals 2 6 5 0 0 0 0
Re-examination: section 48.1
Operational statistics 2014 to 2015 2015 to 2016 2016 to 2017 2017 to 2018 2018 to 2019 2019 to 2020 2020 to 2021
Filings 4 12 2 15 11 11 8
Disposals 2 3 9 7 4 11 13
Candidates for agent examinations
Operational statistics 2014 to 2015 2015 to 2016 2016 to 2017 2017 to 2018 2018 to 2019 2019 to 2020 2020 to 2021
Patents 439 471 433 440 406 408 340
Trademarks 71 89 111 142 120 110 108
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