"Most respondents who added China in 2010 are encouraged by the positive signs from the Chinese government and patent office," said the report.

More companies, however, dropped countries. Of the quarter that did so, 45% eliminated Japan, citing high cost and low cost-to-benefit ratio. Low win rates in the country also was a factor.

"Japan used to be where all the action is, but that just doesn¡¯t seem to be the case anymore," an electronics IP executive told inovia.

Used by 43% of respondents, the Korean IP Office was a popular International Searching Authority among US companies. Most surveyed ¨C 89% ¨C used the European Patent Office.

While US filers still considered the EU their most important jurisdiction, 88% favoured a unified European patent system. This topic was of special interest to companies in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, which comprised a quarter of the respondents.

"There is little benefit and great inconvenience to seeking protection in a fragmented market," one respondent told inovia.

Some were cautious: "A unified system should, of course, be more cost effective, but then you only have one opportunity to secure protection," one noted. "The existing process allows you to approach major jurisdictions separately, which can be valuable in some circumstances."

Of those who dropped countries from their 2010 filings, 20% named the EU. Some blamed the cost and the complexity of the filing system.

Overall, companies said they were doing more with less, with 60% working on reduced budgets in 2011. Even companies that had a strong 2010 continued to move services in-house and were more selective with what they filed.

As in 2010, companies also plan on saving costs this year by filing in fewer countries. They also expect to file an average of 44.5 patent applications this year, compared to 49.4 in 2010.