Patents
Patents are the most traditional section of intellectual property. They are granted by sovereign authorities for an invention and give the patent owner the exclusive right to a given product or technology. The number of patents granted worldwide has more than tripled since 1990. One of the main reasons behind this growth is the boom on the technology market, especially in the fields connected with computer science and online technologies. In 2020, computer technology and digital communication topped the list of technologies with the most international patent applications.Traditionally, the United States has been the powerhouse of intellectual property. The national patent office of the United States has the most patents in force worldwide, with more than 3.3 million patents in 2020. However, the status quo has been challenged by strong growth in Asian markets, especially China. The number of patent applications in China’s high-tech industry has exploded in the last decade, with 2020 applications four times what they were in 2010.