Data Released for Patent Filings and Grants in China for First Half of 2011  

According to the latest numbers released by State Intellectual Property Office of the PRC (SIPO), patent filings and grants in China grew rapidly in the first half of 2011 from the corresponding period a year earlier.

Patent filings

During the first half of 2011, SIPO received 676,000 patent applications (up 44.8％from the corresponding period in 2010). By types of patents, there were 218,000 applications for invention, 245,000 for utility model and 213,000 for design.

Among the patent filings in total, 614,000 applications (up 49.4%) were from home and 62,000 (up 10.7%) from abroad. Of the patent filings from home, there were 376,000 service applications (representing 61.2%, up 57.3%), and 238,000 non-service applications (representing 38.8%, up 38.4%).

Within the category of filings for invention-related patents, 165,000 applications were filed from home (representing 75.7%, up 43.5%) and 53,000 from abroad (representing 24.3%, up 8.2%).

The data above show that patent filings in China saw substantial increase in the first half of 2011 from the corresponding period in 2010, of which filings from home grew significantly while those from abroad maintained steady growth.

Specifically, filings relating to service invention-creations accounted for nearly 80% of the patent applications for invention from home. Enterprises, with 310,000 applications i.e. over 80% of the service invention-creations from home during the period, were the major contributors to the increase in filings relating to service invention-creations in comparison with other entities such as universities and research institutes.

Patent grants

During the first half of 2011, 445,000 patents were granted in China, representing an increase of 24％ from the corresponding period in 2010. By types of patents, grants for invention, with 83,000 in number, saw a significant growth of 48.2%, while grants for utility model and design were 186,000 and 176,000 respectively. Of the grants in total, 407,000 were for applications from home and 38,000 for applications from abroad.