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CNIPA Released the Statistics on Patent, Trademark and Other IP-Related Indicators of 2019
China National Intellectual Property Administration(hereinafter referred to as“CNIPA”) held its first regular press conference of 2020 today, released the annual statistics of patent, trademark, geographical indications and layout designs of integrated circuits, analyzed the new features and trends behind.
1. Main statistics: In 2019, China's main IP indicators are generally stable, progressing steadily, and the quality and benefits of IP rights continually are improved.
(I) For patents: In 2019, the number of China's invention patent applications was 1.401 million. A total of 453,000 invention patents were granted, including 361,000 domestic invention patents. Among domestic invention patents, there were 344,000 duty inventions, taking a proportion of 95.4%. In 2019, the top three domestic companies in terms of the number of the granted invention patents are(excluding Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan): Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. (4,510), China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (2,883), OPPO Guangdong Mobile Communications Co., Ltd. (2,614 cases).
As of the end of 2019, China had a total of 1.862 million invention patents (excluding Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan) and the number of invention patents per 10,000 people reached 13.3, completing the target tasks of the National 13th Five-Year Plan ahead of schedule. The top three provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) in terms of patent ownership per 10,000 people in China are: Beijing (132), Shanghai (53.5), and Jiangsu (30.2).
In 2019, China received a total of 61,000 PCT international patent applications, increased by 10.4% compared with that of last year. Among these, 57,000 were from domestic, a year-on-year increase of 9.4%. The top 3 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) in China's PCT international patent applications are: Guangdong (24,700), Beijing (7,200), and Jiangsu (6,600).
In 2019, 1.023 million invention patent applications, 981 million utility model patent applications and 744,000 design patent applications were concluded. The examination period of high-value invention patent was reduced to 17.3 months, and the user satisfaction index of patent examination quality was 84.8, which was in the satisfactory area. The number of patent reexamination requests was 55,000, and the number of closed cases was 37,000. The number of invalidation requests was 6,000, with 5,000 cases closed.
(2) For trademarks: In 2019, the number of trademark registration applications in China was 7.837 million. And the amount of registered trademarks was 6.406 million. Among them, 6.178 million were domestic trademark registrations. By the end of 2019, the number of valid trademark registrations reached 25.219 million, with a year-on-year increase of 28.9%. On average, 4.9 market entities have 1 registered trademark. In 2019, we received 6,491 applications from Chinese applicants for Madrid trademark international registration. By the end of 2019, the number of valid Madrid Trademark Registrations of Chinese applicants was 38,000.
In 2019, a total of 8.253 million trademark registration applications were examined and closed. The average trademark registration examination period was shortened to 4.5 months, exceeding the annual target set by the State Council. 144,000 trademark opposition applications were received and 90,000 were examined. A total of 361,000 applications for various trademark review cases were received and 337,000 were closed.
(3) For geographical indications: In 2019, we issued unified geographical indication special signs, approved 5 applications for products protected by geographical indication, approved the registration of 462 geographical indication trademarks and approved 301 enterprises using products protected by geographical indications. As of the end of 2019, a total of 2,385 products protected by geographical indication were approved, 5,324 geographical indication trademarks were registered, and 8,484 enterprises were approved for the use of special signs.
(4) For integrated circuit layout design: In 2019, 8,319 applications for registration of integrated circuit layout designs were received, a growth of 87.7% on year-on-year basis, and 6,614 certificates of integrated circuit layout designs were issued, with an increase of 73.4% year on year.
(5) Other aspects: In 2019, the IP authorities across the nation as a whole handled 39,000 administrative adjudication cases concerning patent infringement disputes with a year-on-year increase of 13.7%, and 2 infringement cases concerning layout design of integrated circuits. In 2019, the total import and export of IP royalties exceeded US $ 37 billion. The total amount of patent and trademark pledge financing reached RMB 151.5 billion, a year-on-year increase of 23.8%. Among them, the amount of patent pledge financing reached RMB110.5 billion with 7,060 pledged projects involved, achieving a year-on-year growth of 24.8% and 30.5% respectively.
The main characteristics of the data in the second part: First, the ability to protect the source of intellectual property rights is constantly strengthened. As aforementioned, the number of the granted invention patents in China was 453,000, a year-on-year increase of 4.8%, and that of trademark registrations was 27.9%. The data shows that the approaches to improve the quality and efficiency of intellectual property have achieved remarkable results. Intellectual property has gained stronger and faster protection from the source.
Second, IP policies fit market demands more than ever. The latest data shows that the proportion of enterprises filing patent applications among industrial enterprises above designated size in China has reached 22.3%; in 2019, the proportion of enterprises in domestic invention patent applications reached 65.0%, an increase of 0.6% compared to the previous year; the average valid trademarks ownership of market players is steady increased. All these indicate that the creations of IP rights are more in line with the market. The IP policies have effectively stimulated the vitality of market players and released the motivation for innovation and entrepreneurship from the inside.
Third, IP is a strong support to achieve higher levels opening up. In 2019, the number of foreign invention patent applications in China reached 157,000, an increase of 6.0% on year-on-year basis; the number of foreign trademark applications in China reached 255,000, with a year-on -year increase of 4.7%. The number of foreign patent and trademark applications in China continued to increase, which fully demonstrated foreign investors’ the confidence and vitalities in the investment in China.
