SOFTWARE PATENTING IN ASIA

This paper examines software patents trends in Asia using patents granted to Asian inventors by the USPTO from 1980 to 2011. The various definitions of software adopted in prior literature are summarized and two classification-based definitions are used in the analysis. We found that globally, software patenting has grown faster than other types of USPTO-granted patents, especially more so over the last decade. Two thirds of software patents are invented in the major software producing economies of North America, Germany, France and the United Kingdom. One quarter of software patents are invented in Asia, with Japan accounting for much of this share. Excluding Japan, Asia contributes a more modest 7%. However, software patenting in non-Japan Asia is far outpacing the rest of the world over the last decade, even growing faster than in the major software producing economies of North America and Europe. This is driven by rapid growth in several key economies, namely Korea, India and Taiwan, with China close behind. Nonetheless, the contribution of software to national patents portfolios of non-Japan Asian economies is still relatively low compared to the global average. The exception is India, where software patents account for 38% of patents in the last 5 years.