Healthcare Patent Filing Outsourcing Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Domain, By Service (Pre-filing, Filing & Prosecution, Post Grant), By Origin (Resident, Non-resident), By Region, And Segment Forecasts, 2021 - 2028

Report Overview

The global healthcare patent filing outsourcing market size was estimated at 1.1 billion in 2020 and is expected to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.5% from 2021 to 2028. Rising need for a cost-efficient and time-saving patent filing process is expected to augment the growth of the market. Growing innovations in medical devices and robust pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical product pipelines will also drive the market over the forecast period. For instance, the number of healthcare Artificial Intelligence (AI) is on the rise. According to a report published by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) over 12,000 patents were filed as of 2018 in China.

The repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic included disruption of patent filing processes across the world owing to shelter-in-place mandates. In 2020, the USPTO authorized an extension of 30 days under the CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security) Act for patent filing processes with a due date between March 27 and April 27. On April 28, 2020, notices for additional extensions for due dates of patent and trademark matters were issued by the USPTO. In 2021, the USPTO assured the introduction of patents end-to-end (PE2E) search tool as well as the continuation of the pilot program of peer search collaboration.

Several start-ups are booming in the healthcare industry with new and innovative products. This will augment the market over the forecast period. Furthermore, growth in the number of patent applications by well-established players such as Novartis, Covidien, Boston Scientific, Ethicon, Olympus Corp., etc. will also drive the demand for healthcare patent filing outsourcing over the forecast period.

In January 2020 The U.S. and China went under the Economic and Trade Agreement (Phase I). This resulted in establishing a system for patent linkage while approving generic drug products. The agreement provided patent term extensions and adjustments to recompense for unreasonable delays in granting patents as well as resolved patent disputes before generic market approval. Such government initiatives will augment the need for local healthcare patent filing outsourcing companies thereby, boosting the market growth.

Patent protection plays a significant role in the pharmaceutical industry. Drug development is a time-consuming and expensive process. Therefore, such companies need patent protection to recuperate their investments as well as earn profits. Moreover, some pharmaceutical firms also use patent protection to strengthen market position and avoid competition. The aforementioned benefits of patents for pharmaceutical firms will drive the demand for healthcare patent filing outsourcing.

Domain Insights

The medtech segment dominated the market and accounted for the largest revenue share of 51.2% in 2020. This is attributed to growing technological advancements in the medical devices industry. For instance, in 2016, Medtronic, Olympus, and Boston Scientific filed 182, 150, and 225 patents respectively. On November 6, 2020, Medtronic filed a patent for a valve delivery device that got published on February 25, 2021. Similarly, on April 17, 2020, Boston Scientific received a patent for Opticross 35 15 MHz Peripheral Imaging Catheter. Such innovations by medical device players offer huge opportunities for healthcare patent filing outsourcing.

The medtech segment is further sub-segmented into assistive care devices, consumables and disposables, diagnosis and imaging devices, drug delivery devices, surgical devices, and wearable medical devices. The wearable medical devices segment is expected to expand with the fastest CAGR over the forecast period owing to the mounting demand for such devices in telehealth services and improving health consciousness among people. The amalgamation of healthcare data and IT is the latest fad of the industry and numerous established and emerging players are trying to gain the position of first movers.

Service Insights

The filing and prosecution segment dominated the healthcare patent filing outsourcing market and accounted for the largest revenue share of 51.5% in 2020. This share is attributable to the complexity associated with filing and prosecution coupled with cost-efficient attained by outsourcing such tasks. In-house filing and prosecution will also waste a lot of time of internal resources. Therefore, time-saving offered by healthcare outsourcing firms in filing and prosecution will also boost the growth of the segment over the forecast period.

The pre-filing segment accounted for the second-highest share by service in 2020. Pre-filing is a crucial step in patent filing as a lot of time and money of applicants could be wasted if the step is not done by professionals with strong knowledge of the patent processes. This will in turn augment the demand for pre-filing services thus boosting the growth over the forecast period.

Origin Insights

The resident segment dominated the market and accounted for the largest revenue share of 63.5% in 2020. Approximately, 70.0% of the overall patents registered on the WIPO repository are resident patents. However, the non-resident segment is projected to expand with a faster CAGR as filing patents in one country does not ensure protection from plagiarism in another country.

Also, the aid of local patent outsourcing firm with the know-how of local regulations is beneficial for applicants to get a patent in another country. Such factors will augment the growth of the non-resident segment over the forecast period.

Regional Insights

Asia Pacific dominated the market and accounted for the largest revenue share of 65.5% in 2020. The region is expected to maintain its vanguard over the forecast period. The high share is attributable to the colossal number of patents filed coupled with the availability of low-cost outsourcing services in the region. A significant number of patents filed in the Asia Pacific region are from China. According to the world intellectual property organization WIPO, in 2019, China filed 1,327,847 patents while Japan and India filed 452,130 and 34,015 patents respectively.

Medical devices and pharmaceutical companies in North America and Europe outsource their patent filing processes to countries in the Asia Pacific owing to low-cost labor. This will, in turn, augment the regional growth of the market over the forecast period.

Key Companies & Market Share Insights

This market is highly fragmented in nature due to the presence of a substantial number of medium to small sized patent outsourcing firms. The majority of the market players are privately held. High technical know-how is required for healthcare patent filing outsourcing therefore entry barrier for new players is high. Also, large medtech and pharmaceutical players going for in-house patent filing processes might hinder the market growth. However, single point service and deep professional expertise offered by the outsourcing players will help further penetrating the in-house territory and augment market growth over the forecast period. Some of the prominent players in the healthcare patent filing outsourcing market include:

• Clarivate

• ipMetrix Consulting Group

• CRJ IPR Services LLP

• Patent Outsourcing Limited

• Synoptic Intellectual Patents (P) Limited

• Dennemeyer

• Powell Gilbert

• Bristows

• Hoyng Rokh Monegier

• Carpmaels & Ransford Services Limited

Healthcare Patent Filing Outsourcing Market Report Scope

Segments Covered in the Report

This report forecasts revenue growth at global, regional, and country levels and provides an analysis of the latest industry trends in each of the sub-segments from 2016 to 2028. For the purpose of this study, Grand View Research has segmented the global healthcare patent filing outsourcing market on the basis of domain, service, origin, and region:

• Domain Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2016 - 2028)

  • Medtech

    • Assistive Care devices

    • Consumables and Disposables

    • Diagnosis and Imaging Devices

    • Drug Delivery Devices

    • Surgical Devices

    • Wearable Medical Devices

  • Pharmaceutical 

• Service Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2016 - 2028)

  • Pre-filing

  • Filing & Prosecution

  • Post Grant

• Origin Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2016 - 2028)

  • Resident

  • Non-resident

• Regional Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2016 - 2028)

  • North America

    • U.S.

    • Canada

  • Europe

    • Germany

    • France

    • U.K.

    • Spain

    • Italy

  • Asia Pacific

    • China

    • Japan

    • India

  • Latin America

    • Brazil

    • Mexico

    • Argentina

  • Middle East & Africa

    • South Africa

    • Saudi Arabia

    • UAE