The number of patents and trademarks registered by foreigners in China increased rapidly in the first half of this year. From January to June, 339,000 patents for inventions were granted in China, with 54,000 granted to foreign applicants, up 30% year-on-year, statistics by the China National Intellectual Property Administration showed. In the same period, over 3.72 million trademarks were registered in China, with 90,000 of them registered by foreigners, up 7.5% year-on-year. The number of patents granted to applicants from the United States rose 35% and that of trademarks was up 8.9%. “The sustainable growth of foreign applications for patents and trademarks means foreign enterprises have confidence in our business environment, with the will to develop business activities and establish their IP layout in our nation,” Heng Fuguang, Deputy Director of the Administration’s General Office said.
China has become better at reviewing IP applications. By the end of June, the time taken to review high-value patent applications had been reduced to 13.4 months, down from 14 months in April. Ge Shu, Director of the Administration’s Strategic Planning Department, said maintaining high quality IP development, especially that related to core technologies, has been the top priority in its work, and it also provided more IP-related support to Chinese enterprises overseas in the first six months of this year. From January to May, the number of patents granted to Chinese enterprises in the U.S., Japan, South Korea and European countries kept rising, he added. To protect IP rights and maintain order, the Administration launched a campaign against unqualified patent agencies in March.
Lei Xiaoyun, from the Administration’s IP Utilization Promotion Department, said more than 100 illegal institutions have been blocked and investigations are continuing, the China Daily reports.
