Trademark Statistics 2026: Global Filings, Active Marks and India Data
By Prakhar Rai, Founder, My Legal Pal. Advocate, Bar Council of India. LL.B, NLSIU Bangalore. Master of Business Laws.
Quick answer: About 15.2 million trademark classes were filed worldwide in 2024, flat on 2023, and an estimated 93.2 million trademark registrations were in force, up 6.1% (WIPO, November 2025). China holds 49.8 million of those, the US 3.6 million and India 3 million. India was fourth among origins with 532,900 classes filed in 2024 (+7.4%), and IP India reports 552,190 trademark applications in FY 2024-25. The 2025 numbers that are out so far point the same way: the UK up 17.3%, the EU up 9.1%, the US up 7.4%, China flat.
Key takeaways
The 93.2 million active-trademarks figure is WIPO’s estimate for 2024. It is not a forecast and it is not a 2026 count.
India is the number-four filing origin and the number-three register by marks in force, and its outbound Madrid designations fell 14.5% in 2025.
Filing is growing outside China: the UK, EU and US all grew in 2025, while China’s registrations fell about 12%.
Crowded classes matter more than totals. Classes 9, 35 and 42 are three of the top four in international filings, which is where most software, app and service brands sit.
When founders ask us how crowded a market is, they usually quote a big global number. The number that actually decides the outcome is much smaller: how many live marks sit in your class and in your target country. The global totals are useful background, and the class and country figures are the ones to act on.
Read this first: applications, classes and registrations are different things
This is the single most common error in trademark statistics pages, so it is worth a short explainer.
Term
What it counts
Why it matters
Application
One filing, which can cover several classes in many systems
Compare only with other application counts
Class count
Each class in each application counted separately
WIPO’s global filing figures use this, so it is larger than the application count
Registrations in force
The live register at year-end, stock rather than flow
This is the “active trademarks” number
Madrid application
An international application designating one or more countries
A single Madrid filing can produce many national rights
Three practical warnings:
WIPO counts classes, offices often report applications. The UK, for example, had 203,194 applications in 2025 but 428,482 classes, an average of 2.1 classes per application. Putting the first number next to WIPO’s class totals would be wrong.
Fiscal year is not calendar year. The USPTO reports a fiscal year ending in September. IP India reports April to March. WIPO uses calendar years.
“Active” has no universal definition. An estimate of marks in force depends on how an office treats lapsed and unrenewed marks.
Global filing and the active register
WIPO’s World Intellectual Property Indicators 2025 (published 12 November 2025) put 2024 trademark filings at about 15.2 million classes, a 0.1% decline from 2023. WIPO described this as signs of recovery after a two-year slowdown, with filings from 12 of the top 20 origins rising. It estimated the global stock of registrations in force at 93.2 million, up 6.1%.
The top origins by classes filed in 2024:
Rank
Origin
Classes filed
Change
1
China
about 7.3 million
-1.5%
2
United States
836,457
-1.5%
3
Russian Federation
559,436
+2.9%
4
India
532,900
+7.4%
5
Brazil
436,291
+10.4%
Growth was strongest in some mid-sized origins, with Argentina up 19.7%, Brazil up 10.4% and Indonesia up 8.4%. If you are looking at Latin America, see our guide to registering a trademark in Argentina.
A note on the “100 million trademarks” claim. A 2024 industry press release forecast more than 100 million active marks by 2026, from a base of about 83.6 million at the end of 2023. WIPO’s estimate for the end of 2024 is 93.2 million, and its implied 2023 stock is about 87.8 million. The two series use different bases, so the forecast has not been confirmed or refuted by public data. Treat “100 million” as a forecast with an undisclosed method, not as a statistic.
Country by country
India
India has three separate numbers worth knowing:
Filing flow (WIPO, 2024): 532,900 classes, fourth among origins, up 7.4%, driven by resident filers.
Applications (IP India, FY 2024-25): 552,190, up from 476,089 the year before (about 16%). The annual report figures, as reproduced by two law-firm summaries, show roughly 98% from Indian applicants. The split between Indian and foreign filers differs slightly between those summaries (538,441 and 13,749 in one, 539,132 and 13,058 in the other), but both add to 552,190.
Register (WIPO, 2024): about 3 million marks in force, the third-largest register after China and the US.
IP India also reported 382,834 registrations in FY 2024-25, up 36.86% from 279,717, and 471,719 applications disposed. That is consistent with an office clearing backlog. A fact-check: one summary of the report shows an “examined” figure that falls sharply year on year (721,944 to 156,403) with no explanation. I have not used it, because it may be a reporting or classification difference, and I could not check the original report.
Under the Madrid Protocol, IP India recorded 13,766 international registrations notified by WIPO in FY 2024-25 and protection granted in 6,921 of them. In WIPO’s 2025 Madrid data, India is a top-20 designated member with 12,297 designations, while designations from Indian applicants fell 14.5%. So India is a large domestic filer, while its outbound Madrid activity moved the other way in 2025.
Filing (USPTO, FY 2025): more than 824,000 new classes, up 7.4% on FY 2024.
Speed (USPTO, FY 2025): average time to first action 5.6 months (target 6.7), total processing 11.7 months (target 13).
Backlog (USPTO, FY 2025): 346,378 unexamined application classes, more than 90,000 fewer than a year earlier.
Register (WIPO, 2024): 3.6 million marks in force. WIPO’s calendar-year count of US-origin classes was 836,457, down 1.5%. That is a different period and a slightly different measure from the USPTO’s fiscal-year figure, so the two should not be set against each other.
EUIPO (2025): 196,886 EU trade mark applications, up 9.1% (provisional, subject to final confirmation), within 327,735 trade mark and design applications combined, up 7.8%.
Origins: Germany 12.7%, Italy 6.9% and Spain 6.4% are the biggest EU sources. China (almost 16% of all EU trade marks, up 13.3%) and the US (9%) lead from outside the EU.
United Kingdom
UK IPO (2025): 203,194 trade mark applications, up 17.3%, and 177,093 registrations, up 13.1%. The class count was 428,482, up 20.0%.
Origins: the largest non-UK sources were China (37,931, up 19.5%) and the US (16,525, up 7.2%). India is not separately listed in the UK trade mark origin table, so be wary of pages that claim otherwise without a source.
The UK is the second most designated Madrid member (28,249 designations). If a mark is challenged there, see how to oppose a trademark in the UK.
China
CNIPA (2025), domestic-origin applicants only: 6,768,124 applications (down about 0.3%), 4,083,346 registrations (down about 12.0%), and 50,815,885 valid registrations at year-end (up about 6.7%).
China holds over half of the world’s marks in force on WIPO’s 2024 estimate. It also accounts for the largest single group of foreign filers into the UK and EU.
The international (Madrid) system in 2025
WIPO’s Madrid Yearly Review 2026 reports 64,150 international applications in 2025, down 1.5%, with 116 members covering 132 countries (Grenada joined in 2025).
Top origins
Applications
Change
United States
10,997
-2.5%
Germany
6,106
-5.3%
China
5,636
-4.9%
France
4,026
-4.4%
United Kingdom
3,871
+3.7%
Top designated members
Designations
European Union
28,415
United Kingdom
28,249
United States
24,322
Canada
19,937
China
17,808
Madrid numbers are small next to national filings, so use them for cross-border behaviour, not for the size of the market.
Which classes are crowded
WIPO’s Madrid data show the most-specified Nice classes in 2025:
Rank
Class
Specified
Share
1
Class 9 (software, electronics)
17,390
10.8%
2
Class 35 (business and retail services)
13,630
8.5%
3
Class 42 (software as a service, tech)
12,649
7.9%
4
Class 41 (education, entertainment)
8,524
5.3%
5
Class 5 (pharma)
7,137
4.4%
6
Class 3 (cosmetics)
6,672
4.2%
7
Class 25 (clothing)
6,459
4.0%
This describes international filings, not every national register, so do not read it as a ranking of every country. It does match what founders see: software, app and online-service brands pile into Classes 9, 35 and 42. See our pages on Class 9, Class 35 and Class 42, and the overview of trademark classes.
What the numbers mean for a founder
A big register means a crowded one. Global growth is steady, and the UK, EU and US all grew in 2025. Assume a common word or short name will have conflicts.
Plan the order of countries. The most-filed jurisdictions are also where copycats register first. If you operate across borders, weigh the cost of not registering. See the risks of not registering your trademark.
Watch the register. Filing growth means more look-alikes after you file. A trademark watch catches them while an opposition is still open.
Use these numbers as context, not as a timeline. Official processing times for the USPTO are published above, but timing in other offices changes with backlog, so check the current office figures.
Sources used: WIPO World Intellectual Property Indicators 2025 and the Facts and Figures 2025 page (trademark filings, registrations in force); WIPO Madrid Yearly Review 2026 (international filings, classes, India designations); IP India annual report 2024-25 (through two law-firm summaries, not the original); USPTO FY 2025 trademark results; EUIPO 2025 figures (through a trade press summary of its January 2026 release, provisional); UK IPO Facts and Figures 2025; CNIPA 2025 statistics.
Not yet available: WIPO’s World Intellectual Property Indicators 2026, with national 2025 comparisons, typically follows in November. This page will need an update then.
Not verified: the IP India figures are second-hand, and I flagged one that looked inconsistent. Some pages quote “India ranks third in trademark filings” with about 5.4 lakh. WIPO’s 2024 data put India fourth, with 532,900 classes, so that wording needs a source and a year.
Estimates: WIPO’s global registration stock is an estimate, and the EU figure is provisional.
Quick answers
How many trademarks are there in the world in 2026? WIPO estimated about 93.2 million registrations in force at the end of 2024, up 6.1%. A figure for the end of 2025 was not yet published at the time of writing.
How many trademark applications are filed each year? WIPO counts about 15.2 million trademark classes filed worldwide in 2024, flat on 2023. Offices that report applications instead of classes will show a smaller number.
Which country files the most trademarks? China by a wide margin: about 7.3 million classes in 2024 and 49.8 million registrations in force. The United States and India follow in different orders depending on whether you count filings or the register.
Where does India rank in trademark filings? Fourth among origins in 2024, with 532,900 classes (up 7.4%), on WIPO’s count. India holds about 3 million marks in force. IP India recorded 552,190 applications in FY 2024-25.
How many trademarks does India register each year? IP India reported 382,834 registrations in FY 2024-25, up from 279,717 the year before, according to the annual report figures reproduced in law-firm summaries.
Is the number of trademarks growing? Slowly worldwide, and fast in places. Global filings were flat in 2024 and the register grew 6.1%. In 2025 the UK grew 17.3%, the EU 9.1% and the US 7.4%, while China’s domestic registrations fell about 12%.
A note on who we are
My Legal Pal is an international team of contract lawyers with US law experience. We aren’t a US law firm, and we aren’t a local firm in every country mentioned above. This article is general information and not legal advice on your facts. Have a lawyer qualified in the governing jurisdiction check the details before you act.
About the author. Prakhar Rai is an advocate enrolled with the Bar Council of India and the founder of My Legal Pal. He holds an LL.B from NLSIU Bangalore and a Master of Business Laws, and works on contract drafting, review and disputes for founders and businesses across borders. Full profile
Prakhar Rai is the founder of My Legal Pal and a licensed attorney. He started the practice after watching businesses that operate across borders get legal advice in fragments: a clause here, a reaction to a problem there, with no one looking at the whole picture or thinking a few steps ahead.
With more than a decade in business and corporate advisory, he came to a simple view. As companies started running on cross-border deals, digital platforms and overlapping regulation, they needed legal strategy built around how they actually work, not just documents drafted after the fact. My Legal Pal is built on that idea: foresight and clarity first, paperwork second.
He studied at La Martiniere College, holds an LL.B, and earned a Master of Business Laws from the National Law School of India University, Bangalore, specialising in corporate, banking, intellectual property, finance and securities law. That mix of academic grounding and hands-on advisory work shapes how he and the team approach every matter: commercially, not just technically.
