On September 4, 2013, the fifth Sino-Japan Design Seminar was held in Beijing, where the last heat of the summer was drove away by an autumn rain. All seats of the seminar were occupied, with more than 150 representatives from the State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) of China, the Japan Patent Office (JPO), All-China Patent Attorneys Association (ACPAA), Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) and famous Japanese enterprises gathered together, exchanged ideas and discussed the up-to-date situation of the design system and the hot issues in examination in both China and Japan.

The seminar disclosed a lot of design-related information that was widely concerned among the public. In the last 5 years, Japan topped the ranking of the design applications filed by foreign applicants in China. Up to July 31, 2013, the Design Review Department of the Patent Office of SIPO has received 1929 requests for evaluation report, and issued 1698 evaluation reports.

Japan Topped the Ranking of Foreign Design Applications in China

With China’s increasing investment to scientific and technological innovation and the further development of the public’s patent awareness, China maintained a continuous growth in the filing of design applications. , The applications filed by foreign applicants among the design applications received in China have been growing continually in the last five years, increasing from 14,284 applications in 2008 to 15,181 in 2012.

Among the design applications filed by foreign applicants in China from 2008 to 2012, Japan has ranked first for the five years in a row, with 4,000 to 5,000 applications per year on average, while the United States ranked second with 2,000 to 3,000 applications per year on average. South Korea replaced Germany and occupied the third seat since 2010.

The relevant statistics reflect that Panasonic, with 268 applications, ranked first in the top 10 Japanese enterprises for filing design applications in China in 2012, followed by Nissan with 150 applications and Honda with 146 applications. Furukawa, Sony, Toyota and Bridgestone were also in the top 10 list.

Furniture and Household Appliances Topped the Category of Evaluation Report Requests

The third amendment of China Patent Law introduced evaluation report system for design. The evaluation report issued by the patent administrative department under the State Council could be used as evidence in the trial or handling of patent infringement disputes by People’s Courts or patent administrative departments, especially be used to determine whether to suspend the relevant procedure. Only the design filed after October 1, 2009 and has been granted, including those terminated or abandoned, could be requested for evaluation report.

Up to July 31, 2013, the Design Review Department of the Patent Office of SIPO has received 1929 requests for design evaluation report and rejected 23 respects. Among the 1698 evaluation reports which have been finished, 354 were made with negative conclusion, and 1,344 with positive conclusion. The negative conclusion accounts for 20.8% of the finished reports.

From the perspective of categorical distribution of the requests for evaluation report, the Category 06 “Furniture and Household Appliances” topped the list with 227 requests which account for 11.8% of the total number. The Category 23 “fluid distribution, sanitary, heating, ventilation and air-conditioning equipment, solid fuel” ranked second with 171 requests and 2.9% of the total number, followed by the Category 09 “packages and containers for the transport or handling of goods” with 156 requests and 8.1% of the total number.

In addition, it is reported that among Top 10 countries and areas with the most design evaluation report requests, Japan ranked first with 51 requests, followed by United States with 49 requests. Iwasawa, Kawasaki and Family Inada were the top three of the 10 Japanese enterprises that filed the most evaluation report requests.

Date: September 16, 2013       

Source: State Intellectual Property Office