heb
en
This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
The Israel Patent Office (ILPO) has recently published a report summarizing the year 2021, which reveals a significant increase in applications for the registration of Intellectual Property rights in Israel in all areas of activity of the ILPO. While 2020 was a year of crisis due to the Covid-19 pandemic, 2021 was a year of global exit from this crisis, and the data delivered in the report comply accordingly with this factor.
According to the report, in 2021 there was an 18.5% increase in patent application submissions compared to 2020, when there was only a 5% increase in patent application submissions compared to the prior year. A total of 9,616 patent applications were submitted in Israel in 2021 compared to 8,123 patent applications submitted in 2020. The increase in patent applications in Israel was evident in all fields.
In addition, while the increase recorded in 2020 in patent application submissions was by both foreign and Israeli applicants, 2021 showed a decrease in patent submissions by Israeli applicants and an increase in patent application submissions by foreign applicants.
Of all the patent applications that were submitted by Israeli applicants, more than half (882 patent applications) were submitted without claiming priority, or according to the Paris Convention, while the rest (755 patent applications) were submitted as National Phase applications from an international application (PCT).
The report also shows that from all patent applications submitted in Israel in 2021, 693 were submitted for the first time in Israel, and, of these, 37% were examined in accordance with an accelerated procedure.
In 2021, there was a slight decrease in the submission of “green” applications (requests for technologies that aim to help improve the quality of the environment), compared to 2020. A possible reason for this decrease is that in 2020, “green” applications also included applications related to the Coronavirus pandemic.
Regarding foreign applicants, the report shows that most patent applications were submitted by applicants from the USA (about 44%) and European countries (about 28%), while applicants from other countries, such as Japan, China, and Canada, each submitted about 2-3% of all requests.
Regarding the examination of patent applications, the report indicates a decrease in the average waiting period for the commencement of the first examination round. The length of such a period was 27.5 months in 2021, compared to 29.5 months in 2020. The waiting period for re-examination also showed a decrease, with an average of 4.5 months in 2021, compared to 5.4 months in 2020. The average period from filing an application to its conclusion was about 42 months, which is similar to 2020.
In recent years, the ILPO has undergone many changes, which include, among others, the use of Artificial Intelligence-based search software to search for prior art, a smart format of the Patent Journal that allows for an easy and quick search for relevant information, as well as a pilot project, in which Notifications of Deficiencies and pre-acceptance messages, for applications pending examination, are issued in the English language.