SIPO Published Summary Statistical Data (2018-7)

State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) published its statistical data regarding patents, trademarks, and geographical indications for the first time on July 10, 2018.  As shown, during the first half of the year, 751,000 patent invention applications were filed while 217,000 patent inventions were granted in China, wherein 171,000 domestic patent inventions. Among the granted domestic patents inventions, 159,000 service were inventions, accounting for 93.2% and 12,000 were non-service inventions, accounting for 6.8%. In addition, during the first half of the year, SIPO received 23,000 international patent applications submitted through the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), which constituted a 6.3% increase on a year-over-year basis, of which 21,600 were domestic, increasing by 7.6% on a year-over-year basis.

During the first half of 2018, 3.586 million trademark applications were filed, while 3.065 million trademark examinations were completed in China.  As of the end of June 2018, trademark applications had amounted to 31.428 million in China, while cumulative number of registrations had been 19.395 million, with 16.807 million valid registered trademarks. 4,395 geographical indication and collective trademarks and certification marks had been approved, wherein 171 were from abroad.  The trademark registration examination period has been shortened from 8 months to around 7 months.

During the first half of 2018, 10 protection applications of geographical indication products were accepted in China, 46 geographical indication products’ protection applications were approved, and 135 enterprises were permitted to use special signs for geographical indication products. As of the end of June 2018, a total of 2,359 geographical indication products had been protected, including 2,298 domestic geographical indication products and 61 overseas geographical indication products.

During the first half of 2018, statistical data on patents, trademarks, and geographical indications showed four over-arching characteristics.  First, the creation and application level of Chinese intellectual property has shown sustainable growth. The number of domestic granted patents and patent ownership increased by 6.5% and 19.5% respectively over the same period of the previous year. The process of trademark registration has been expediated and the number of trademark applications increased of 57.5% from last year. Second, the status of domestic enterprises as cutting-edge innovators continued to be consolidated. Among the domestic granted patents and patent ownership, domestic enterprises accounted for 63.8% and 67.2% respectively. Domestic corporations contributed 66.9% of the growth in China's domestic patent invention applications Furthermore, the steady increase of Chinese enterprises in overseas intellectual property applications is noteworthy.  During the first six months of this year, 17 domestic enterprises submitted more than 100 PCT international patent applications. During the first five months of this year, there were 2,228 Madrid international trademark registrations, a growth of 80.69% year-on-year, ranking in third among countries in the Madrid Union.  Finally, China’s intellectual property protection had been further optimized.  The volume of domestic patent administrative enforcement cases increased by 29.5% year-on-year, of which patent dispute cases increased by 41.0% year-on-year. 13, 600 trademark violation cases were investigated, with a case value of more than 210 million yuan.

(Adapted from SIPO’s website)