According to the agency Patent Landscape ReportDuring the 2014-2023 period, more than 38,000 GenAI patents were granted by China, six times the number of patents filed by inventors in the United States, the second-ranked country.
GenAI, or Artificial Intelligence, allows users to create content including text, images, music or software code, supporting many industrial and consumer products, including chatbots like ChatGPT, Google Gemini or Baidu’s ERNIE.
A game changer
“GenAI has emerged as a game-changing technology with the potential to transform the way we work, live and play,” speak Daren Tang, Director General of WIPO.
Since the introduction of the deep neural network architecture that is now synonymous with GenAI in 2017, the number of GenAI patents has increased by more than 800 percent through 2023. According to WIPO Report.
The sharp increase in patent activity reflects recent technological advances and the potential of GenAI.
For our common good
The WIPO chief added that by analyzing patent data and trends, the agency hopes to help people better understand where this rapidly evolving technology is being developed and where it is headed.
“This can help policymakers shape the development of GenAI for our common good and ensure that we continue to put humans at the heart of our innovation and creativity ecosystems,” he said.
Key findings of the report
GenAI patents now account for 6 percent of all AI patents globally, according to the report.
The top ten applicants include Tencent (2,074 inventions), Ping An Insurance (1,564), Baidu (1,234), Chinese Academy of Sciences (607), IBM (601), Alibaba Group (571), Samsung Electronics (468), Alphabet (443), ByteDance (418) and Microsoft (377).
In terms of location, China (38,210 inventions) leads the field, far ahead of the United States (6,276 inventions), South Korea (4,155), Japan (3,409) and India (1,350).
Image and video data dominate GenAI patents (17,996 inventions), followed by text (13,494) and voice or music (13,480).
GenAI patents using molecular, genomic and protein-based data have grown rapidly (1,494 patents since 2014) with an average annual growth of 78% over the past five years.
