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The State Council Information Office (SCIO) Held Press Conference on China's Intellectual Property in the First Half of 2023 (Selected)
1. Main statistics
In the first six months of this year, China granted 433,000 invention patents, 1.104 million utility model patents, and 344,000 design patents; accepted 35,000 international applications filed under the World Intellectual Property Organization's Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT); concluded 33,000 Patent reexamination cases and 4,433 invalidation cases. Chinese applicants submitted a total of 957 international design applications through the Hague System.
As of the end of June this year, the total number of valid invention patents in China exceeded 4.568 million, an increase of 16.9% year-on-year.
In terms of trademarks: In the first six months of this year, a total of 2.018 million trademarks were registered. CNIPA completed the examination of 87,000 trademark opposition cases, and finished 182,000 various trademarks review cases; received 3,024 trademark applications filed by domestic applicants under the Madrid system.
By the end of June this year, the number of valid registered trademarks in China was about 44.235 million, an increase of 9.1%.
In terms of geographical indications: In the first six months of this year, a total of 3 geographical indication products were approved for protection. There were 97 geographical indications approved for registration as collective marks and certification marks, and 3,509 companies approved to use special geographical indications.
As of the end of June this year, a total of 2,498 geographical indication products have been approved, a total of 7,173 geographical indications have been approved as collective marks and certification marks, and a total of more than 25,000 entities have been approved to use the sign of geographical indications.
In terms of integrated circuit layout design: In the first six months of this year, China issued 4,861 certificates for integrated circuit layout design.
By the end of June this year, China issued, in total, 66,000 certificates of integrated circuit layout designs.
In terms of intellectual property protection: In the first six months of this year, China handled a total of 21,000 administrative disputes concerning patent infringement at all levels of IP related authorities nationwide, guided the IP related disputes mediation organizations to accept and mediate disputes for 50,000 times, and started the construction of the first batch of ten national IP protection demonstration zones.
In terms of the exploitation of intellectual property rights: In the first six months of this year, the amount of patent and trademark pledge financing reached CNY 267.66 billion, an increase of 64.6%. In the first five months of this year, the total import and export value of intellectual property royalties was CNY 157.78 billion, an increase of 5.8% year-on-year.
2. Main features
I. The number of domestic patents and trademarks has steadily increased. As of the end of June this year, the number of valid domestic invention patents in China was 3.683 million, an increase of 20.4%, and the number of patents that have maintained valid for more than ten years reached 559,000, accounting for 15.2%, an increase of 1.6% over the same period last year. The number of valid domestic registered trademarks was 42.177 million, an increase of 9.4%, showing a trend of steady growth.
II. China has seen an increasing number of innovative companies. The number of domestic companies with valid invention patents reached 385,000, up 60,000 from the previous year, and these companies owed 2.605 million valid invention patents, accounting for over 70% of the domestic total, an increase of 1.8% over the same period last year. Among them, high-tech enterprises and specialized and sophisticated enterprises, also known as the new "little giant" had 1.804 million patents, an increase of 23.3% year-on-year and 2.9% higher than the national average growth rate.
III. The patent reservation in digital technology has been further strengthened. Statistics showed that the three fastest-growing fields in the number of valid invention patents out of the 35 technical fields by the classification standard of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) were IT methods for management, computer technology, and basic communication processes, an increase of 56.6%, 38.2%, and 26 %, respectively, which were way higher than the national average of 20.4% and provided strong support for the innovative development of China's digital economy.
Ⅳ.Domestic applicants became more active in applying for foreign intellectual property rights. In the first six months of this year, CNIPA accepted 33,000 international patent applications filed by domestic applicants via PCT, an increase of 7.1%, and 3,024 applications for international registration of Madrid trademarks, an increase of 12 %. Since China's accession to Hague Agreement in May 2022, domestic applicants lead in the application amount worldwide with more than 150 international design applications per month on average.
V. The volume of imports and exports of China’s intellectual property rights maintained steady growth. From January to May this year, the import value of China's intellectual property royalties was CNY 120.8 billion, and the export value was CNY 36.98 billion. Both import and export volumes increased, and the intellectual property trade showed strong resilience.
