Trade & Investment

Standards, Conformity & Quality Infrastructure

The capacity to prove that products conform: metrology, standards bodies, accreditation and certification, the quality infrastructure without which exports cannot enter regulated markets. One of the capabilities of Trade Policy & Market Access.

International families: 11k2015 to 2024
Leading country: United States1.7× the next
All families: 55khome filings included
Over five years: Rising2020 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

United States

Germany

Japan

China

South Korea

Switzerland

France

Taiwan

Canada

United Kingdom

2,917

1,685

1,675

1,261

713

436

303

261

248

215


1	United States	2,917	26.2%	1.1×	5,585
2	Germany	1,685	15.2%	1.2×	2,489
3	Japan	1,675	15.1%	1.0×	2,530
4	China	1,261	11.3%	2.3×	37,796
5	South Korea	713	6.4%	1.8×	2,961
6	Switzerland	436	3.9%	1.3×	508
7	France	303	2.7%	1.0×	428
8	Taiwan	261	2.3%	1.4×	398
9	Canada	248	2.2%	1.3×	358
10	United Kingdom	215	1.9%	1.1×	297
11	Italy	139	1.3%	1.2×	206
12	Sweden	136	1.2%	1.3×	144
13	India	118	1.1%	3.7×	144
14	Netherlands	99	0.9%	0.8×	118
15	Australia	81	0.7%	2.0×	94
16	Austria	80	0.7%	1.1×	93
17	Israel	73	0.7%	1.1×	102
18	Singapore	56	0.5%	3.7×	71
19	Finland	54	0.5%	0.6×	59
20	Belgium	49	0.4%	0.9×	56
21	Türkiye	48	0.4%	1.7×	54
22	Denmark	45	0.4%	1.8×	48
23	Cayman Islands	40	0.4%	0.1×	68
24	Ireland	38	0.3%	1.1×	53
25	Saudi Arabia	36	0.3%	1.8×	53
26	Brazil	26	0.2%	1.2×	53
27	Spain	24	0.2%	0.6×	34
28	Norway	24	0.2%	0.8×	32
29	Hong Kong	24	0.2%	1.0×	32
30	Russia	19	0.2%	0.9×	180
31	Poland	18	0.2%	1.0×	56
32	South Africa	14	0.1%	1.8×	15
33	Luxembourg	14	0.1%	0.2×	20
34	New Zealand	11	0.1%	1.8×	14
35	Malaysia	11	0.1%	0.8×	13
36	Portugal	10	0.1%	1.0×	12
37	Mexico	9	0.1%	0.5×	23
38	Liechtenstein	7	0.1%	1.3×	7
39	Czechia	4	0.0%	0.3×	5
40	Hungary	1	0.0%	–	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 Standards, Conformity & Quality Infrastructure. Names are as held in the source and are not consolidated across subsidiaries.

Global

11,116 international families

BOSCH GMBH ROBERT · Germany

FLOWTEC AG · Switzerland

INFINEON TECHNOLOGIES AG · Germany

SIEMENS AG · Germany

TOYOTA MOTOR CORP · Japan

BASF SE · Germany

319

116

107

106

104

United States

2,917 international families

HONEYWELL INT INC

ROSEMOUNT AEROSPACE INC

FORD GLOBAL TECH LLC

GM GLOBAL TECH OPERATIONS LLC

MICRO MOTION INC

GEN ELECTRIC

Germany

1,685 international families

BOSCH GMBH ROBERT

INFINEON TECHNOLOGIES AG

SIEMENS AG

BASF SE

ROBERT BOSCH CO LTD

ENDRESS HAUSER SE CO KG

317

107

106

Japan

1,675 international families

TOYOTA MOTOR CORP

TOYOTA MOTOR CO LTD

DENSO CORP

SEIKO EPSON CORP

PANASONIC IP MAN CO LTD

MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC CORP

103

China

1,261 international families

HUAWEI TECH CO LTD

METTLER TOLEDO CHANGZHOU MEASUREMENT TECH CO LTD

METTLER TOLEDO INT TRADING SHANGHAI CO LTD

CHENGDU QINCHUAN IOT TECH CO LTD

METTLER TOLEDO CHANGZHOU PREC INSTRUMENT CO LTD

METTLER TOLEDO CHANGZHOU MEASUREMENT TECHNOLOGY LTD

South Korea

Japan

China

South Korea

Germany

2,812

1,682

1,237

976

644

Crosswalk

How Standards, Conformity & Quality Infrastructure is matched to the patent classifications. The entries below were chosen for it; each stands for itself and everything beneath it in the scheme, 46 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.

Entry	Title in the scheme	Why it is chosen	CPC codes	IPC codes	Documents
G01D18/00	Testing or calibrating apparatus or arrangements provided for in groups G01D1/00 - G01D15/00	Testing and calibrating general measuring apparatus	6	1	26,389
G01R35/00	Testing or calibrating of apparatus covered by the other groups of this subclass	Testing and calibrating electrical instruments, including reference standards	7	4	55,095
G01F25/00	Testing or calibration of apparatus for measuring volume, volume flow or liquid level or for metering by volume	Testing and calibrating flow, volume and level meters	23	5	35,858
G01K15/00	Testing or calibrating of thermometers	Testing and calibrating thermometers	4	1	15,292
G01L25/00	Testing or calibrating of apparatus for measuring force, torque, work, mechanical power, or mechanical efficiency	Testing and calibrating force and torque instruments	4	2	14,127
G01L27/00	Testing or calibrating of apparatus for measuring fluid pressure	Testing and calibrating pressure instruments	5	2	15,642
G01G23/01	Testing or calibrating of weighing apparatus	Testing and calibrating weighing apparatus	4	1	11,682
G01P21/00	Testing or calibrating of apparatus or devices covered by the preceding groups	Testing and calibrating speed and acceleration instruments	3	2	20,008
G06Q30/018	Certifying business or products	Systems for certifying businesses or products	1	1	32,884
G06Q30/0185	Product, service or business identity fraud	Left out

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 Standards, Conformity & Quality Infrastructure: 57 codes on 195,612 documents. The full crosswalk is in the cpc-to-capability.csv download.

Code	Title	Under entry	How placed	Documents
G06Q30/018	Certifying business or products	G06Q30/018	In the scheme	32,884
G01D18/00	Testing or calibrating apparatus or arrangements provided for in groups G01D1/00 - G01D15/00	G01D18/00	In the scheme	15,174
G01R35/005	Calibrating; Standards or reference devices, e.g. voltage or resistance standards, "golden" references	G01R35/00	In the scheme	14,261
G01F25/10	Testing or calibration of apparatus for measuring volume, volume flow or liquid level or for metering by volume of flowmeters	G01F25/00	In the scheme	13,800
G01R35/00	Testing or calibrating of apparatus covered by the other groups of this subclass	G01R35/00	In the scheme	11,733
G01P21/00	Testing or calibrating of apparatus or devices covered by the preceding groups	G01P21/00	In the scheme	9,457
G01R35/04	Testing or calibrating of apparatus covered by the other groups of this subclass of instruments for measuring time integral of power or current	G01R35/00	In the scheme	8,447
G01L25/00	Testing or calibrating of apparatus for measuring force, torque, work, mechanical power, or mechanical efficiency	G01L25/00	In the scheme	6,385
G01K15/005	Calibration	G01K15/00	In the scheme	6,263
G01G23/01	Testing or calibrating of weighing apparatus	G01G23/01	In the scheme	5,716
G01F25/20	Testing or calibration of apparatus for measuring volume, volume flow or liquid level or for metering by volume of apparatus for measuring liquid level	G01F25/00	In the scheme	5,564
G01R35/02	Testing or calibrating of apparatus covered by the other groups of this subclass of auxiliary devices, e.g. of instrument transformers according to prescribed transformation ratio, phase angle, or wattage rating	G01R35/00	In the scheme	5,380
G01P21/02	Testing or calibrating of apparatus or devices covered by the preceding groups of speedometers	G01P21/00	In the scheme	5,095
G01K15/007	Testing	G01K15/00	In the scheme	3,647
G01L27/005	Apparatus for calibrating pressure sensors	G01L27/00	In the scheme	3,622
G01K15/00	Testing or calibrating of thermometers	G01K15/00	In the scheme	3,532
G01D18/008	Testing or calibrating apparatus or arrangements provided for in groups G01D1/00 - G01D15/00 with calibration coefficients stored in memory	G01D18/00	In the scheme	3,260
G01L25/003	Testing or calibrating of apparatus for measuring force, torque, work, mechanical power, or mechanical efficiency for measuring torque	G01L25/00	In the scheme	3,248
G01L27/002	Calibrating, i.e. establishing true relation between transducer output value and value to be measured, zeroing, linearising or span error determination	G01L27/00	In the scheme	3,215
G01F25/15	Testing or calibration of apparatus for measuring volume, volume flow or liquid level or for metering by volume of flowmeters specially adapted for gas meters	G01F25/00	In the scheme	3,093
G01F25/00	Testing or calibration of apparatus for measuring volume, volume flow or liquid level or for metering by volume	G01F25/00	In the scheme	3,018
G01L27/007	Malfunction diagnosis, i.e. diagnosing a sensor defect	G01L27/00	In the scheme	3,007
G01D18/001	Calibrating encoders	G01D18/00	In the scheme	2,645
G01R35/007	Standards or reference devices, e.g. voltage or resistance standards, "golden references"	G01R35/00	In the scheme	2,427
G01L27/00	Testing or calibrating of apparatus for measuring fluid pressure	G01L27/00	In the scheme	2,342
G01P21/025	Testing or calibrating of apparatus or devices covered by the preceding groups of speedometers for measuring speed of fluids; for measuring speed of bodies relative to fluids	G01P21/00	In the scheme	2,224
G01F25/0092	Testing or calibration of apparatus for measuring volume, volume flow or liquid level or for metering by volume for metering by volume	G01F25/00	In the scheme	1,875
G01F25/17	Testing or calibration of apparatus for measuring volume, volume flow or liquid level or for metering by volume of flowmeters using calibrated reservoirs	G01F25/00	In the scheme	1,371
G01F25/13	Testing or calibration of apparatus for measuring volume, volume flow or liquid level or for metering by volume of flowmeters using a reference counter	G01F25/00	In the scheme	1,310
G01F25/0084	Testing or calibration of apparatus for measuring volume, volume flow or liquid level or for metering by volume for measuring volume	G01F25/00	In the scheme	1,125
G01D18/002	Automatic recalibration	G01D18/00	In the scheme	1,023
G01F25/24	Testing proper functioning of electronic circuits	G01F25/00	In the scheme	939
G01K15/002	Calibrated temperature sources, temperature standards therefor	G01K15/00	In the scheme	933
G01F25/0007	Retired code	G01F25/00	Retired, by main group	884
G01G23/012	Testing or calibrating of weighing apparatus with load cells comprising in-build calibration weights	G01G23/01	In the scheme	874
G01D18/006	Intermittent recalibration	G01D18/00	In the scheme	872
G01F25/11	Testing or calibration of apparatus for measuring volume, volume flow or liquid level or for metering by volume of flowmeters using a seal ball or piston in a test loop	G01F25/00	In the scheme	851
G01F25/14	Testing or calibration of apparatus for measuring volume, volume flow or liquid level or for metering by volume of flowmeters using a weighing apparatus	G01F25/00	In the scheme	662
G01D18/004	Continuous recalibration	G01D18/00	In the scheme	619
G01F25/0061	Retired code	G01F25/00	Retired, by main group	419
G01L25/006	Testing or calibrating of apparatus for measuring force, torque, work, mechanical power, or mechanical efficiency for measuring work or mechanical power or mechanical efficiency	G01L25/00	In the scheme	388
G01F25/22	Checking proper indicating of discrete level by floats	G01F25/00	In the scheme	370
G01G23/017	Securing calibration against fraud	G01G23/01	In the scheme	359
G01L27/02	Testing or calibrating of apparatus for measuring fluid pressure of indicators	G01L27/00	In the scheme	268
G01R35/002	Testing or calibrating of apparatus covered by the other groups of this subclass of cathode ray oscilloscopes	G01R35/00	In the scheme	219
G01G23/015	Testing or calibrating of weighing apparatus by adjusting to the local gravitational acceleration	G01G23/01	In the scheme	215
G01F25/0053	Retired code	G01F25/00	Retired, by main group	179
G01F25/12	Testing or calibration of apparatus for measuring volume, volume flow or liquid level or for metering by volume of flowmeters using tracer	G01F25/00	In the scheme	95
G01F25/0038	Retired code	G01F25/00	Retired, by main group	71
G01F25/003	Retired code	G01F25/00	Retired, by main group	63
G01F25/0076	Retired code	G01F25/00	Retired, by main group	63
G01F25/0046	Retired code	G01F25/00	Retired, by main group	35
G01F25/0069	Retired code	G01F25/00	Retired, by main group	35
G01F25/0015	Retired code	G01F25/00	Retired, by main group	27
G01R35/06	Testing or calibrating of apparatus covered by the other groups of this subclass of instruments for measuring time integral of power or current by stroboscopic methods	G01R35/00	In the scheme	19
G01F25/0023	Retired code	G01F25/00	Retired, by main group	9
G01L25/24	Retired code	G01L25/00	Retired, by main group	1

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. Counts calibration of measuring instruments and product certification systems, the core of metrology and conformity assessment; general test and measurement equipment is left out as too broad, and standards bodies and accreditation are not visible. The crosswalk is a first pass that nobody has reviewed.

Other capabilities in Trade Policy & Market Access

Trade Policy & Negotiation Capability
Market Access & Agreements Network
Trade Law & Enforcement