(Yicai Global) March 19 -- Chinese telecoms equipment titan Huawei Technologies filed for more patents last year than any other firm, as Asian companies made up more than half of all submissions to the World Intellectual Property Organization for the first time in history.

The Shenzhen-based device maker filed 5,405 patent applications in 2018, over a third more than the previous year, according to a WIPO report published today.

Total applications rose 3.9 percent to 253,000, setting a record high with the United States remained the top single-country contributor, filing 56,142 submissions. China and Japan came in second with 53,345 and 49,702, with Germany and South Korea rounding out the top five.

"Asia is now the majority filer of international patent applications via WIPO, which is an important milestone for that economically dynamic region and underscores the historical geographical shift of innovative activity from West to East," said WIPO Director General Francis Gurry.

Other leading companies by applications were Japan's Mitsubishi with 2,812, Intel and Qualcomm from the US with 2,499 and 2,404, and Huawei's compatriot rival ZTE, which filed for 2,080 patents.

Editor: James Boynton