Patent filings are not the typical object of fascination in commercial real estate. But a periodic look can give some insight into what technology vendors might be offering to the industry and the competitive duels that could arise.

First, the stats, then the context and explanation. The first quarter of 2022 saw the highest global patent grants over the last five years, according to GlobalData, a provider of industrial analysis and data. Asian companies were the biggest filers. The historical boost was largely due to China, which saw a 29% year-over-year period increase. It included the highest percentage of university filings, which effectively means more patents in government hands. The US led in patents to startups.

The two top areas of patent grants were in artificial intelligence and fintech (technologies for financial services) and audiovisual. Leading patent category sectors were power and utilities, for clean technologies, and retail, in response to increased focus on e-commerce, delivery robots, and supply chain analytics.