[1] The publication provides an overview of the activity in the areas of patents, utility models, trademarks, industrial designs, microorganisms, plant variety protection, geographical indications and the creative economy.
The WIPI draws on intellectual property (IP) statistics collected from the 193 member States of WIPO.
[2] The IP statistics data presented in the WIPI are taken from the WIPO Statistics Database and based primarily on data collected from national and regional IP offices, other competent authorities and publishers’ associations from around the world, through annual surveys consisting of multiple questionnaires.
[3][11] Due to the nature of the regional offices, the WIPI may use an equivalent count concept for some indicators when reporting data by country of origin.
To calculate the number of equivalent applications for the African Intellectual Property Organization (OAPI), the Eurasian Patent Organization (EAPO), the Benelux Office for Intellectual Property (BOIP), the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) and the GCC Patent Office, each application is multiplied by the corresponding number of member states.
[16][17] The last WIPO Indicators report to mention the name Taiwan was in 2017, noting the large number of patents by Foxconn.
[18][19][20][21] China has been criticized for its efforts in the UN to reduce the visibility of Taiwan,[22][23] including via WIPO; in 2020 Beijing reportedly retaliated to the failed election of a Chinese director-general of the organization by preventing the Wikimedia Foundation from gaining observer status at the WIPO, on the grounds that Wikimedia has a Taiwan subsidiary.