How big is the patent law sector?

Patent work is specialist and small, but it’s worth billions of pounds. There are around 1,500 members of the Chartered Institute of Patent Agents, with about 900 trainees working towards membership. The UK Intellectual Property Office (formerly the Patent Office) receives around 30,000 patent applications a year, ranging from simple tools to pharmaceutical processes. There are at least 30 million patents worldwide, with around 1.5 million being added each year.

Each country or group of nations has its own patent office, as law is territorial and you can’t just apply for a worldwide patent. Each patent office is responsible for the national framework of intellectual property rights. A select group of patent offices around the world have been nicknamed 'the big five': China's, Japan's, the United States', Korea's and the European Patent Office. According to the WIPO Report, these centers receive 77 per cent of all patent appllications made and 74 per cent of all patent applications granted.

In the UK, you’re most likely to have dealings with the UK Patent Office and the European Patent Office (EPO), which has offices in Munich, The Hague, Berlin, Vienna and Brussels. To secure overseas patents, you will act through corresponding patent attorneys in other countries, and you may act on their behalf in the UK and Europe.