Foreign filers make up more than half of all US patent applications

Global Business

More than half of the 300,000 applications for a patent in the United States comes from foreign filers. CCTV America’s Hendrik Sybrandy reports.

About 300,000 people filed for patents in the U.S. last year. The deluge of applications prompted the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to open new bureaus in cities including Denver. The head of the Denver office says a lot of the examiners’ paperwork now comes from overseas.

Fifty-one percent of the patents filed in the U.S. in 2013 were of foreign origin. This is a significant increase from 50 years ago when less than one-fifth of patents were granted to people outside the U.S.

Fields such as information technology, health care, and defense, along with a strong U.S. consumer base, are drawing inventors to this country.