According to a study published by WIPO<\/a> in March 2021, China (68,720 applications) remained the largest applicant for PCT applications, followed by the US (59,230), and Japan (50,520). Unsurprisingly, the IP law firms most active in PCT filings are also coming from China. Among the Top 50 IP law firms representing PCT applications in 2020, 54% originated from China that accounted for a total of 25,727 applications, 23% from Japan that is 11,094 applications, 14% from the US that is 6,437 applications, and 9% from Korea or 4,521 applications.<\/p>\n The data provided by Patent-Pilot<\/a> present 50 Top IP law firms filing for PCT in 2020 (see the table below). Overall, seven out of ten largest IP law firms for PCT\u00a0 applications originated from China, two from Japan (SAKAI INTERNATIONAL PATENT OFFICE<\/a> and SHIGA INTERNATIONAL PATENT OFFICE<\/a>), and only one IP law firm – from the US (FISH & RICHARDSON<\/a>).<\/p>\n Interesting to note, since 2018 Chinese ESSEN PATENT & LAW FIRM<\/a> experienced a tremendous 193% increase in the number of PCT filings. It was ranked number one in 2020 and outperformed the Japanese SHIGA INTERNATIONAL PATENT OFFICE<\/a> which was first in the Top 50 IP law firms in PCT in 2019. As Figure 2 demonstrates, Chinese IP law firms are experiencing a steep growth in the number of filings compared to the other countries.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>