While the volume of US trademark filings had seen year-on-year increase in the last decade, especially in „virtual goods and services“ and NFT, data compiled by IP Pilot revealed that the volume of applications prosecuted by American associates took a turn in 2022.
Precisely speaking, the US trademark filing activity in the last year decreased by roughly 33% compared to 2021. The statistics revealed that the plunge was due to a 34% and 54% drop in filings from domestic and Chinese applicants respectively. The reasons for the decline are difficult to tell; it can range from the overall volatility of the market to the increased fees for filing a trademark application online.
The Top 50 applicants collectively filed 5,736 trademark filings in 2022 which was almost a 25% decrease from the previous year (7,632 filings).
Out of the total amount of trademarks prosecuted by US trademark attorney firms, 30% originated from domestic applicants. The list of top applicants for US trademarks was led by American companies such as PetSmart, Disney, MapleBear, and Johnson and Johnson.
That said, international applicants such as Australian Aristocrat Technologies and Swiss Novartis also held high positions.
In the last year, LEGALZOOM – a legal technology company – topped the ranking with 10,364 trademark filings received and distributed amongst US trademark attorneys. This was followed by TIANYU LAW GROUP, INC. (8,054), KOH LAW FIRM, LLC. (6,827), KINGSWOOD LAW (5,429), and ROSENBERG, KLEIN & LEE (3,965).
Within the Top 10 IP law firms, LEGALZOOM and RAJ ABHYANKER LLP had a more substantial focus on servicing local applicants. Meanwhile, the rest got work from mostly Chinese applicants. Interestingly, the number of trademark filings prosecuted for each client were small, implying a rather big client base for the leaders to achieve their volumes.
In alignment with the decrease in overall volume, most of the largest US trademark attorney firms had shrunken prosecution volumes despite keeping their leading positions. The only exceptions were TIANYU LAW GROUP, INC., SCINOVA IP AND REGULATORY CONSULTING LLC, and DAY LAW FIRM which grew by more than 40% in 2022 compared to the previous year.
