According to the World Patent Report 2008,  the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has overtaken the Japanese Patent Office (JPO) (total of 408 674 patent filings) to become the largest recipient of patent filings worldwide (total of 425 966 patent filings) in 2006, for the first time since 1963.  Approximately 727 000 patents were granted across the world in 2006 and approximately 6.1 million patents were in force worldwide.The majority of patents in force were owned by applicants from Japan. Granted patents are concentrated in Japan, the United States of America, the Republic of Korea and Germany. The top four countries received 73% of the total number of patent grants worldwide. Applicants from Japan (approximately 1.6 million) and the United States of America (approximately 1.2 million) own the majority of patents that were in force in 2006.  Between 2000 and 2006, the annual number of patents granted to applicants from China and the Republic of Korea grew by 26.5% and 23.2% a year, respectively (average annual growth rate). For more information, please see: http://www.wipo.int/export/sites/www/ipstats/en/statistics/patents/pdf/wipo_pub_931.pdf and http://www.epo.org/topics/news/2008/20080801.html