In a series of publications, we will present to you statistical data gathered by the World intellectual property organization about the different IP objects.
The topic of today’s publication are plant varieties and geographical indications.
Geographical indications
In 2017, there were 59,500 geographical indications (GIs) in force worldwide. GIs are signs used on products that have a specific geographical origin and possess qualities or a reputation that are due to that origin, such as Gruyère for cheese or Tequila for spirits.
Germany (14,073) reported the largest number of GIs in force, followed by Austria (8,749), China (8,507), Hungary (6,646) and the Czech Republic (6,191). There were 4,932 European Union GIs in force in each of the EU member states.
GIs in force relating to “wines and spirits” accounted for around 57% of the 2017 world total, followed by agricultural products and food stuffs (28.2%) and handicrafts (2.7%).
Plant varieties
China became the top filing office in 2017. It received 4,465 plant variety applications, followed by the Community Plant Variety Office of the European Union (CPVO; 3,422), the U.S. (1,557), Ukraine (1,345) and Japan (1,019). China saw a 52.8% growth in 2017. Ukraine (+5.6%), Japan (+4.3%) and CPVO (+3.7%) also saw growth. The U.S. reported a 2.9% drop in filings.
Source: WIPO
