GINC Patents
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Human Capital

Universal Schooling

The capacity to enrol every child and carry them through to the completion of secondary school. One of the capabilities of Foundational Education.

International families
2012015 to 2024
Leading country
China1.2× the next
All families
4,870home filings included
Over five years
Falling2020 to 2024 against the five before

Year by year

Patent families by country of origin and the year of the earliest filing, 2000 to 2025; 2025 is a part year, still filling in. International families are those for which protection was sought beyond one country.

Volume

International patent families in the capability, by the year of the earliest filing.

Source: Global Institute for National Capability (GINC), 2026. Underlying patents from 107 patent offices, IFI CLAIMS and Google

Share by country

Each country's share of the year's international families, in per cent: the capability's five largest countries of origin, 2015 to 2024, and the rest of the world.

Source: Global Institute for National Capability (GINC), 2026. Underlying patents from 107 patent offices, IFI CLAIMS and Google

Country leaderboard

International patent families, 2015 to 2024, by country of origin. Growth compares the latest five full years with the five before.

Ten largest

China

United States

Japan

Germany

South Korea

Taiwan

Canada

United Kingdom

Switzerland

India

47

40

33

11

8

8

5

4

4

4

2000 to 2025
1China4723.4%0.5×
4,042
2United States4019.9%0.4×
121
3Japan3316.4%0.3×
167
4Germany115.5%0.6×
21
5South Korea84.0%0.6×
393
6Taiwan84.0%0.1×
16
7Canada52.5%0.7×
11
8United Kingdom42.0%0.3×
10
9Switzerland42.0%0.0×
7
10India42.0%3.0×
4
11Finland31.5%–
4
12Spain31.5%0.5×
3
13France21.0%0.0×
5
14Netherlands21.0%0.0×
4
15Israel21.0%0.0×
2
16Belgium21.0%0.0×
3
17Russia21.0%1.0×
3
18New Zealand21.0%1.0×
2
19Italy10.5%–
2
20Sweden10.5%0.0×
1
21Australia10.5%0.0×
4
22Singapore10.5%–
1
23Türkiye10.5%–
6
24Brazil10.5%–
6
25Hong Kong10.5%–
2
26South Africa10.5%0.0×
1
27Portugal10.5%–
1
28Hungary10.5%–
1
29Poland00.0%–
3
30Mexico00.0%–
2
31Malaysia00.0%–
2

Applicants

The largest applicants by international patent families, 2015 to 2024: across the world, then within each of the five countries with the most families in Universal Schooling. Names are as held in the source and are not consolidated across subsidiaries.

Global

201 international families

RICOH CO LTD · Japan

GUANGZHOU SHIRUI ELEC TECH CO · China

GUANGZHOU SHIRUI ELECTRONICS CO LTD · China

GUANGZHOU SHIYUAN ELECT TECH · China

GUANGZHOU SHIYUAN ELECTRONICS CO LTD · China

UNIV SHANDONG YINGCAI · China

8

5

5

5

5

5

China

47 international families

GUANGZHOU SHIRUI ELEC TECH CO

GUANGZHOU SHIRUI ELECTRONICS CO LTD

GUANGZHOU SHIYUAN ELECT TECH

GUANGZHOU SHIYUAN ELECTRONICS CO LTD

UNIV SHANDONG YINGCAI

AMBOW SIHUA INTELLIGENT TECH CO LTD

5

5

5

5

5

2

United States

40 international families

ERGOTRON INC

FORD GLOBAL TECH LLC

HEWLETT PACKARD DEVELOPMENT CO

MILLER HERMAN INC

MILLERKNOLL INC

3M INNOVATIVE PROPERTIES CO

2

2

2

2

2

1

Japan

33 international families

RICOH CO LTD

NITTO DENKO CORP

ASAHI GLASS CO LTD

KEMMOCHI EIJI

KOKUYO KK

SONY CORP

8

3

2

2

2

2

Germany

11 international families

HERMEDIA VERLAG GMBH

AERIS GMBH

ASS EINRICHTUNGSSYSTEME GMBH

CEKA GMBH & CO KG

EICHLER CARSTEN

LENZ EBERHARD

2

1

1

1

1

1

South Korea

8 international families

ABLE SOFT INC

BESTUHL CO LTD

CHO BOK MAN

CHO SE HEE

DAEYEON CHEMICALS CO LTD

GAZELAB INC

1

1

1

1

1

1

Similar capabilities

The nine capabilities that share the most international patent families with Universal Schooling, 2015 to 2024: the families counted in both as a share of those counted in either. Each card shows its five largest countries.

Strategic Infrastructure

Education & Skills Infrastructure

1.1% shared · 149 families in both

United States

Japan

China

South Korea

Germany

3,247

2,198

1,763

1,499

503

Human Capital

Foundational Learning

0.4% shared · 24 families in both

United States

China

Japan

South Korea

Taiwan

1,468

1,054

1,039

901

207

Information & Influence

Cultural & Language Institutes

0.1% shared · 1 families in both

United States

South Korea

Japan

China

Taiwan

150

146

100

41

19

Strategic Infrastructure

Cultural, Community & Recreational Infrastructure

0.1% shared · 1 families in both

United States

Germany

China

United Kingdom

Netherlands

331

190

115

71

66

Strategic Infrastructure

Justice & Corrections

0.0% shared · 1 families in both

United States

Japan

South Korea

China

Canada

667

396

245

243

79

National Security

Combined Arms Manoeuvre

0.0% shared · 1 families in both

United States

Germany

France

Türkiye

United Kingdom

1,319

502

222

212

211

Information & Influence

Sports & Major Events

0.0% shared · 3 families in both

United States

Japan

China

South Korea

Taiwan

4,602

2,533

2,150

1,982

1,001

Critical Technology

Superconducting, Magnetic & Photonic Materials

0.0% shared · 2 families in both

Japan

United States

China

South Korea

Germany

4,778

2,134

1,575

1,414

897

Human Capital

Mental Health & Wellbeing

0.0% shared · 2 families in both

United States

Japan

China

South Korea

Germany

5,106

2,712

1,646

1,455

591

Crosswalk

How Universal Schooling is matched to the patent classifications. The entries below were chosen for it; each stands for itself and everything beneath it in the scheme, 17 Cooperative entries in all. A patent family counts when any of its codes, in either scheme and at any office, falls under one of them. Codes since retired are placed under the entries that replaced them.

EntryTitle in the schemeWhy it is chosenCPC codesIPC codesDocuments
A47B39/00School forms; Benches or forms combined with desksSchool benches and forms combined with desks879,690
A47B41/00School desks or tablesSchool desks and tables4419,636
B43L1/04BlackboardsBlackboards5420,790

CPC and IPC codes are the codes in use on patent documents, at any office, that fall under the entry. Documents is the larger of the two schemes' counts of documents carrying one of them. An entry with no IPC codes can be told apart only in the Cooperative scheme.

The Cooperative codes in use that count towards Universal Schooling: 17 codes on 14,540 documents. The full crosswalk is in the cpc-to-capability.csv download.

CodeTitleUnder entryHow placedDocuments
B43L1/04BlackboardsB43L1/04In the scheme2,953
A47B41/00School desks or tablesA47B41/00In the scheme2,703
A47B41/02Adjustable, inclinable, sliding or foldable desks topsA47B41/00In the scheme2,356
A47B39/02Adjustable formsA47B39/00In the scheme1,009
B43L1/10Writing surfaces thereofB43L1/04In the scheme800
A47B39/00School forms; Benches or forms combined with desksA47B39/00In the scheme607
B43L1/06Blackboards rigidB43L1/04In the scheme537
A47B39/10Devices for holding pupils upright, i.e. body supportsA47B39/00In the scheme529
A47B39/08Seats or backs for forms, e.g. foldable seat partsA47B39/00In the scheme513
B43L1/08Blackboards flexibleB43L1/04In the scheme482
B43L1/045Blackboards with magnetic actionB43L1/04In the scheme380
A47B39/12Miscellaneous equipment for forms, e.g. inkpots, displacing apparatus for the cleaningA47B39/00In the scheme332
A47B39/04Collapsible or tip-up formsA47B39/00In the scheme314
A47B39/023Adjustable forms with adjustable spacing between table and chairA47B39/00In the scheme305
A47B39/06Folding formsA47B39/00In the scheme304
A47B41/04Drawing or model standsA47B41/00In the scheme213
A47B41/06Holders or supports for guiding copy-books, slates, or the likeA47B41/00In the scheme203
Match: Through its tools
The classification names the equipment or technology the capability draws on, not the capability. The count says how much is being invented for it, not how well it is done. Captures only basic classroom furniture and boards; enrolment and completion themselves have no technology. The crosswalk is a first pass that nobody has reviewed.

Other capabilities in Foundational Education