The World Intellectual Property Organization has published its performance report for 2019 with some interesting findings.

For starters, it revealed that Huawei filed a total of 4,411 patents under the global patent system, also known as the Patent Cooperation Treaty, which has 176 member countries. This means Huawei surpassed other firms as the top patent filer worldwide for the past year.

In second place is Japan’s Mitsubishi Electric Corporation with 2,661 patents, followed by Samsung, Qualcomm, and OPPO with 2,334, 2,127, and 1,927 patents filings, respectively.

A snapshot of international applications filed under the PCT

If you’ve been following along with the consumer electronics industry, this shouldn’t surprise you. Huawei is clearly eager to continue expanding its hardware offering to consumers and enterprise customers across the globe, including the Philippines where the company is now selling audio and PC products, in addition to smartphones. In fact, it will launch its first entries into the TV market, following hot on the heels of other Chinese firms.

OPPO is another company to watch for. Like Huawei, it is also looking to break out into other industries. Last month, an OPPO executive reportedly told a Chinese website that the company will announce its smart TV lineup in the second half of 2020. Recently, it launched its first smartwatch, the OPPO Watch. The product features a curved AMOLED screen and Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 2500 chipset.

SEE ALSO: How AppGallery fulfills Huawei’s vision for a reliable app ecosystem and How OPPO is preparing for the 5G era in Asia-Pacific

The WIPO also reported that China has pushed the United States out of the top spot among users of the PCT with 58,990 applications last year. By comparison, the U.S. had 57,840 filings, while Japan, Germany, and South Korea rounded out the top five in the report, in that order. China’s win in the patents race is a first for the country, according to the patent agency.

Owning patents is widely seen as a sign of a nation’s economic strength and technological superiority. The U.S. had led all other PCT members with the most number of applications every year since the PCT was established in 1978.

China has ended the United States’ 41-year reign as the top PCT member with the most number of patent applications

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