Patent statistics: 2019 to 2020

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 patents
  2013 to 2014 2014 to 2015 2015 to 2016 2016 to 2017 2017 to 2018 2018 to 2019 2019 to 2020
Patent requests for examination 28,497 28,776 28,596 28,199 28,046 30,163 28,209

Disposals

Figure 2: Patent disposals
  2013 to 2014 2014 to 2015 2015 to 2016 2016 to 2017 2017 to 2018 2018 to 2019 2019 to 2020
Patent disposals 38,533 36,370 32,422 32,635 31,629 29,757 27,046

Turnaround times

Figure 3: Average turnaround times for granting a patent
  2013 to 2014 2014 to 2015 2015 to 2016 2016 to 2017 2017 to 2018 2018 to 2019 2019 to 2020
Patent turnaround time (in months) 42.7 40.3 38.8 36.7 33.6 32.0 31.1

Applications by language

Patent applications filed by language
Language 2013 to 2014 2014 to 2015 2015 to 2016 2016 to 2017 2017 to 2018 2018 to 2019 2019 to 2020
English 35,810 36,172 35,885 36,019 33,632 37,889 36,951
French 1,234 1,354 1,167 1,278 1,086 1,138 1,048
Total 37,044 37,526 37,052 36,019 34,718 39,027 37,999

Applications, requests for examination and patents granted by sector

Chemistry
Chemistry patent applications 2017-2018 2018 to 2019 2019 to 2020
Filed 11,903 13,095 12,679
Requests for examination 9,263 10,014 9,153
Granted 7,160 7,219 6,552
Electrical engineering
Electrical engineering patent applications 2017-2018 2018 to 2019 2019 to 2020
Filed 5,656 6,279 6,655
Requests for examination 4,798 5,005 5,293
Granted 4,483 3,994 3,523
Instruments
Instrument patent applications 2017-2018 2018 to 2019 2019 to 2020
Filed 5,713 6,504 6,319
Requests for examination 4,769 5,430 4,737
Granted 4,341 4,076 3,479
Mechanical engineering
Mechanical engineering patent applications 2017-2018 2018 to 2019 2019 to 2020
Filed 7,198 8,278 8,040
Requests for examination 5,900 6,434 5,856
Granted 5,264 5,023 4,815
Other fields
Patent applications from other fields 2017-2018 2018 to 2019 2019 to 2020
Filed 4,248 4,871 4,306
Requests for examination 3,316 3,280 3,170
Granted 2,956 2,781 2,636
All disciplines
Patent applications from all disciplines 2017-2018 2018 to 2019 2019 to 2020
Filed 34,718 39,027 37,999
Request for examination 28,046 30,163 28,209
Granted 24,204 23,093 21,005

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 2019 to 2020)
Province, territory or country Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) applications filed Non-PCT applications filed Total applications filed Total patents granted
Alberta 216 592 808 369
British Columbia 254 411 665 210
Manitoba 30 85 115 48
New Brunswick 10 32 42 16
Newfoundland and Labrador 4 10 14 2
Northwest Territories 0 0 0 0
Nova Scotia 22 42 64 25
Nunavut 0 0 0 1
Ontario 643 1,301 1,944 771
Prince Edward Island 4 4 8 6
Quebec 362 850 1,212 463
Saskatchewan 19 153 172 74
Yukon 1 6 7 0
Residents of Canada (total) 1,565 3,486 5,051 1,985
Foreign countries 26,564 6,384 32,948 19,020
Total 28,129 9,870 37,999 21,005

Applications and patents granted by origin as stated by the applicant

Patent applications filed and patents granted by origin as stated by the applicant (fiscal year 2019 to 2020)
Origin Filed Granted
Algeria 3 0
Andorra 2 0
Antigua and Barbuda 2 0
Argentina 6 7
Aruba 1 0
Australia 555 231
Austria 271 166
Azerbaijan 0 1
Bahamas 0 2
Bahrain 1 0
Barbados 28 27
Belarus 1 1
Belgium 323 153
Belize 1 0
Bermuda 10 11
Brazil 72 22
British Virgin Islands 12 17
Bulgaria 1 3
Canada 5,051 1,995
Cayman Islands 182 21
Chile 20 13
China 1,494 549
Colombia 2 2
Costa Rica 4 3
Croatia 3 2
Cuba 3 10
Cyprus 14 6
Czech Republic 28 9
Denmark 292 185
Dominican Republic 1 0
Ecuador 0 2
Egypt 1 0
El Salvador 0 0
Estonia 3 2
Faroe Islands 1 1
Finland 301 186
France 1,589 1,061
Germany 2,086 1,370
Gibraltar 1 0
Greece 19 15
Guinea 1 0
Hungary 25 9
Iceland 9 9
India 194 67
Indonesia 1 0
Iran 6 1
Ireland 185 108
Isle of Man 9 0
Israel 418 172
Italy 604 311
Jamaica 0 2
Japan 1,610 1,346
Jersey 1 1
Jordan 0 1
Kazakhstan 1 0
Kuwait 0 1
Latvia 4 2
Liechtenstein 59 19
Lithuania 4 0
Luxembourg 123 57
Malaysia 19 6
Malta 8 2
Mauritius 3 0
Mexico 40 26
Monaco 2 1
Morocco 1 0
Nepal 1 0
Netherlands 527 326
Netherlands Antilles 0 1
New Zealand 80 52
Niger 0 1
Norway 250 130
Pakistan 4 0
Panama 1 0
Philippines 0 1
Poland 42 0
Portugal 39 11
Qatar 0 7
Republic of Korea 396 284
Romania 4 0
Russia 76 43
Saint Kitts and Nevis 3 0
Saint Vincent and The Grenadines 0 3
Samoa 1 0
San Marino 1 1
Saudi Arabia 181 38
Senegal 0 1
Serbia 1 0
Seychelles 0 1
Singapore 72 42
Slovakia 9 4
Slovenia 9 6
South Africa 41 31
Spain 204 109
Sweden 505 300
Switzerland 1,056 732
Taiwan 49 73
Thailand 10 1
Hong Kong 5 9
Trinidad and Tobago 1 0
Tunisia 0 2
Turkey 17 13
Turks and Caicos Islands 2 0
Ukraine 2 1
United Arab Emirates 7 1
United Kingdom 1,274 648
United States of America 17,410 9,919
Uruguay 8 0
Totals 37,999 21,005

Top 10 applicants

Top 10 patent applicants (fiscal year 2019 to 2020)
Applicant Number of applications filed
GUANGDONG OPPO MOBILE TELECOMMUNICATIONS CORP., LTD. 281
QUALCOMM INCORPORATED 232
PRATT & WHITNEY CANADA CORP. 195
THE BOEING COMPANY 191
HALLIBURTON ENERGY SERVICES, INC. 181
HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CO., LTD. 179
SAUDI ARABIAN OIL COMPANY 176
CAPITAL ONE SERVICES, LLC 169
THE PROCTER & GAMBLE COMPANY 147
ALIBABA GROUP HOLDING LIMITED 142

Top 10 patentees

Top 10 patentees (fiscal year 2019 to 2020)
Patentee Number of patents granted
HALLIBURTON ENERGY SERVICES, INC. 448
GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY 183
THE BOEING COMPANY 129
SNECMA 111
NISSAN MOTOR CO., LTD. 101
HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CO., LTD. 94
THE PROCTER & GAMBLE COMPANY 93
QUALCOMM INCORPORATED 91
SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD. 85
BLACKBERRY LIMITED 70

Patent Appeal Board operational statistics

Final actions
Operational statistics 2013 to 2014 2014 to 2015 2015 to 2016 2016 to 2017 2017 to 2018 2018 to 2019 2019 to 2020
Referrals 34 28 65 91 75 101 71
Disposals 40 24 19 33 41 46 56
Industrial designs
Operational statistics 2013 to 2014 2014 to 2015 2015 to 2016 2016 to 2017 2017 to 2018 2018 to 2019 2019 to 2020
Referrals 2 6 1 4 0 0 5
Disposals 0 2 6 5 0 0 0
Re-examination: section 48.1
Operational statistics 2013 to 2014 2014 to 2015 2015 to 2016 2016 to 2017 2017 to 2018 2018 to 2019 2019 to 2020
Filings 6 4 12 2 15 11 11
Disposals 7 2 3 9 7 4 11
Candidates for agent examinations
Operational statistics 2013 to 2014 2014 to 2015 2015 to 2016 2016 to 2017 2017 to 2018 2018 to 2019 2019 to 2020
Patents 218 439 471 433 440 406 408
Trademarks 69 71 89 111 142 120 110