1. Further measures were taken to accelerate patent examination and reduce backlog

In order to implement SIPO's plan to "speed up patent examination and eliminate backlog", even more effective measures were taken in 1999. SIPO set up a dedicated lead group, as well as a working group to guide the implementation of the plan. It also launched a campaign for improving the performance of official duties and for encouraging devotion to work. To achieve the goals set in the plan, SIPO increased the number of assistant patent examiners, made significant improvements to patent documentation service, and intensified the use of its automation system. All such measures improved markedly the speed of patent examination. In 1999,100,154 patents were granted, 48% up over the previous year. The backlog in utility models and industrial designs was completely dispelled.401 reexamination cases and 795 invalidation requests were closed, up 55.4% and 99.7% respectively over the previous year; these maintaining a balance between receipt and closure of requests. By the end of 1999, a total accumulated number of 531,038 patents were granted.

2. Hot spots in applications for in vention patents and trends as reflected in filings

The number of applications for invention patents has increased slowly over the past 8 years, rising from 8,558 filings in 1985 to 14,409 in signment of invention patent applications to particular IPC categories (IPC groups).

(1). Hot spots in invention patent applications So-called "hot spots" in invention patent applications refer to 1992.The revision of the patent law in 1992 and China's accession to the PCT in 1994,however,changed the situation and led to a period of sharp rise in filings. In 1995, 21, 636 applications were filed, while the number reached 33,666 and 35,960 in 1997 and 1998 respectively. Influenced by the Asian financial crisis, foreign filings dropped by almost 6% ,and as a result, patent filings in 1999 were roughly equivalent to 1998 figures.

From which technical fields do filings play a main and leading role in maintaining the momentum of constant rise in filings for invention patents over the last decade. The answer can be found by analyzing statistics according to the as-technical groups in IPC where inventive and filing activities are dynamic within a certain period of time, and where the accumulated number of filings is rather high; reflecting inventors' strong interest in filing applications in such technical groups. From April 1,1985 to November 30, 1999,about 276,000 applications for invention patents were filed with the patent office, among which the accumulated volume of filings in the following IPC technical groups ranked top 20,as shown in the table above. Applications in the above 20 groups account for 15.7% of the total, while these groups constitute only 0.29% of the total 6905 IPC groups, meaning that, filings in the 20 said groups(less than 0.3% of the whole IPC groups),make up over 1/7th of the total applications received.

(2). Analysis of different hot spots in patent filings

1). Characteristics in the increase of patent applications

Analyzing the change in number of filings in the above-listed 20 hot technical groups between 1985 and 1998,we see that the amount of filings from 16 groups or 80% of the said 20 groups, leaps at intervals, reflecting the following:

a. Since the scope of patent protection was extended in the revision of the patent law in 1992, filings in certain groups experienced a sharp increase. Five out of 20 hot IPC technical groups or 25%, fell into the aforementioned situation, including the top three groups-Chinese herbal medicines (A61K35),Foods (A23L1) and pharmaceuticals (A61K31),as well as the other 2 groups--non-alcoholic beverages (A23L2) and pharmaceutical formulation (A61Kg),which respectively ranked 8 and 16.The number of filings in these 5 groups made up 7.66% of the total, that is, filings in 7/10000 of the total groups accounted for over 7% of the whole applications. In terms of the proportion of domestic to foreign applications in the said 5 technical groups, as high as 60% of applications in pharmaceutical group and pharmaceutical formulation were filed by foreign applicants, while the proportion was below 10% in the other groups.

b. After China acceded to the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) in 1994, SIPO became the PCT Receiving Office, International Search Authority and International Preliminary Examination Authority. As a result, a large number of European and American small-and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) designated China in their PCT international applications. Through the PCT channel, the filings for SMEs' high and new technologies could enter into China more cheaply, quickly and easily. Accordingly, filings in some certain PCT technical groups increased sharply.Out of the 20 hot technical groups listed above,7(35%) ,including mobile communication H04Q7(rank 5), semiconductors H01L21(rank 7),genetic engineering C12N15(rank 10),T.V. systems H04N7 (rank 11), computer application G06F17(rank 14),transmission equipment H04B1 (rank 18),and general computers G06F15(rank 19),fell into the above described situation.

Among these 7 groups, the proportion of foreign filings in 3 groups, namely computer application, general computers and genetic engineering, is relatively lower(60% ,66% , and 75% respectively), while that of foreign filings in the other 4 groups is as high as about 90%.

c. Technical breakthroughs in some technical fields can lead to technological progress in trade. As a result, a sharp increase in filings in some specific IPC groups should appear.4 out of the 20 above mentioned hot technical groups(that is 20%)experienced the said situation, including inputting systems(rank 4),T.V. units (rank 9),optical recording(rank12) and radio transmission(rank 20).

2). Hot spots in patent filings are a direct reflection and reliable indicator of technical trends and market demand The patent community advocates the following saying "The quantity of patent filings in a particular technical field reflects the status of technical development in that field. More applications filed means more active R & D, quicker technological advances, development of newer technologies and products, and faster upgrading of technologies and products". This saying is proven by the sharp increase in patent filings in the aforementioned four technical groups where marked technical breakthroughs were achieved. For example, Chinese character inputting used to be a major obstacle to using computers for the Chinese people. With the emergence of the five-stroke character inputting system, a breakthrough in Chinese character inputting, new ways of inputting, such as character formation code, phonetic code, phonetic-formation code and intelligent code were also developed. Accordingly, a large amount of patent applications for inputting systems were filed with the patent office. Thus, more and more new technologies and products appeared in the marketplace, leading to narrowed market occupancy by the five-stroke inputting system. Another example is house hold electronics. Increasing growth in patent filings with regard to new-type color T.V.s, CD-ROMs reading machines and radio transmission directly result in the emergence of new technologies and products in an endless stream.

Furthermore, hot spots in patent filings indicate future trends in technological development. According to forecasts, life sciences, environmental sciences, information and material sciences will become the main focus of technological development. In the 20 hot IPC groups, Chinese herbal medicines, pharmaceuticals, and foods and beverages fall into the category of life sciences. Inputting systems, mobile communication, radio transmission and TV sets may be considered one branch of information sciences. Treatment of waste water and gas are a part of environmental sciences while special ceramics are a part of material sciences.

3). Differences in the proportion of domestic to foreign filings in some hot technical groups

Among the 20 above-mentioned hot technical groups, domestic filings in 3 groups (15% of the total) occupies an absolute dominant position(more than 90% ) over foreign applications. The 3 groups are Chinese herbal medicines, foods, and non-alcoholic beverages. Domestic applications in 3 groups (15% of the total),namely inputting system, treatment of waste water, and special ceramics have a higher proportion(50%-90%)than foreign applications.

In 6 groups(25% of the total),the proportion of domestic applications(20%-50%)is close to that of foreign ones. The groups are pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, computer application, pharmaceutical formulation, waste gas purification and general computers.

In another 5 groups(25% of the total) ,domestic filings make up a lower proportion(10%-25%) than foreign ones. The groups are semi-conductor manufacturing, TV units, genetic engineering, TV systems and transmission equipment.

In the remaining groups(15% of the whole),that is, mobile communication, optical recording and radio transmission, foreign filings constitute a much larger proportion(more than 90%)than domestic filings.

4). The Proportion of Non-service Filings in Domestic Applications

Applications filed by individuals make up a very high proportion of utility model filings. So do individual filings for invention patents, however not as high as that for utility models. The highest proportion of individual filings for invention patents is 70% while the average is 62%.  The same situation also exists in the 20 hot PCT groups wherein applications are filed for invention patents.

Among the 20 hot PCT groups, seven groups show a minimum 47% domestic application rate. Among those seven groups, five show a domestic non-service application rate exceeding 62%. The five groups includes: Chinese herbal medicines, foods, inputting systems, cosmetics, nonalcoholic beverages.(The two excluded groups mentioned above are: waste water treatment and special ceramics).There are other 7 groups wherein service applications account for the majority. These are: semiconductor manufacturing, genetic engineering, TV systems, optical recording, special ceramics, waste gas purification, and general computers.

(3)Tendencies Reflected in Patent Filings in Several Hot PCT Groups

1). Filing Trends in the 20 Top Hot PCT Groups

Since the patent law was revised in 1992,the annual volume of filings in Chinese herbal medicines and foods has fluctuated at approximately 1,400 and 600 respectively. Steady filings from individuals hint that the volume trends will continue.

Filings in pharmaceuticals and cosmetics have experienced steady but slow growth, with dozens of new filings received each year since 1993. As expected, the situation will likely not change markedly in the future. Filings in the character in-putting group will drop incrementally due to the gradual maturity of the inputting system market. Hopefully, the introduction of new intelligent inputting systems and the boom of non-keyboard in-putting systems in the market will arrest the decreasing trend in patent filings in this sector.

Patent filings in semi-conductor manufacturing, mobile communication, TV systems and units, optical recording, radio transmission and transmission equipment, genetic engineering, computer application and general computers will maintain their on-going sharp upward momentum. With the quiet withdrawal of fruit pulp type beverages from the marketplace , filings in non-alcoholic beverages are steadily decreasing.

Thanks to the promotion of environmental protection public awareness building, it is expected that filings in wastewater treatment and waste gas purification groups will grow gradually. In response to the increasing needs of special ceramics products and technologies, the patent filings in this group will also increase.

2). Relative Changes in Patent Filings in Different Hot Groups

Chinese herbal medicines ranked number one in both the accumulated number of applications received to date, as well as in the annual volume of filings received. It will be difficult to exceed this ranking.

In the case of the food group, the total accumulated number of applications received to date will guarantee its current second place ranking for another couple of years. However, its ranking by annual volume may be exceeded by other groups. The ranking of the pharmaceutical group, the in-putting system group, and the cosmetics group may decrease due to the relatively slow increase in filings, and may be replaced by mobile communication, semiconductor manufacturing, T.V. units, and other groups. Since filings in the non-alcoholic beverages group keeps decreasing, its ranking will likely fall rapidly. As for the genetic engineering group, the T.V. systems group, and the optical recording group, their relative ranking may not change drastically, but their ranking as a whole should rise. In the case of the waste-water treatment group, the special ceramics group, and the waste gas purification group, their relative ranking remain unchanged while their ranking as a whole will likely fall. According to estimations, the ranking of the computer application, transmission equipment, and radio transmission groups by the total accumulated number may rise by two.

In contrast, the ranking of the general computer group will probably fall, and the ranking may be replaced by the switching network group [H04L12],the magnetic recording group [G11B5],and other groups.

3. The General Status of the Patent Applications

In 1999, SIPO received a total of 134,239 applications in all three categories (patent, utility models and industrial designs),showing an increase of 12,250 or 10.0% as compared with 121,989 applications received the precious year.

By 31 December, 1999, SIPO received an accumulated 995,742 patent applications. Among them 832,413 were domestic filings, accounting for 83.6% of the total, and 163,329 were foreign applications, accounting for the remaining 16.4%.

Between China's membership in the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) in 1994 and December 31,1999, SIPO received a total of 1,021 international applications. In addition, SIPO received 1,038 international application search copies, of which 935 search reports were established Moreover, 636 requests were received for international preliminary examination, of which 468 were completed. Of the international applications entering China's national phase, 43, 621 filings were for invention patents and 15 for utility models. In 1999 alone, SIPO received 223 international applications, 235 international search copies, and established 298 search reports for international searching. SIPO also received 193 requests for international preliminary examination, of which 138 were completed. In 1999, 13,326 international applications for invention patents and two for utility models entered China's national phase.

Patent filings in 1999 showed the following features:

(1)with regard to the number of applications for the three types of patents, the number for invention patents reached 36,694,2.0% higher than the previous year(35,960). The number for utility models amounted to 57,492,11.9% up over 51,397 received the previous year. The number for industrial designs was 40,053, up 15.7% compared with 34,632 filings in 1998.

(2)with regard to applications from home and abroad, most domestic applications were filed for utility models and industrial designs, accounting for 85.8% of the total. Of all foreign applications, 86.9% were for invention patents.

(3)with regard to the composition of all patent applications, most invention patent applications came from abroad, accounting for 57.5% of the total. In contrast, over 90% utility model and industrial design applications were domestic. In essence, growth in patent filings in 1999 were due to the sharp increase of domestic applications for both utility models and industrial designs for the most part.

4. stribution of Patent Applications by Region, Profession, and Country

The ranking of domestic applications by region changed between 1998 and 1999.The top ten provinces and municipalities in order were: Guangdong, Shandong, Taiwan, Zhejiang, Beijing, Jiangsu, Liaoning, Shanghai,Sichuan and Henan.

In 1999, he number of patent applications filed by domestic industrial enterprises reached 32,636,a rise of 20.1%compared with 27,179 filed in 1998.The number of patent applications filed by domestic colleges and universities totaled 1,769,22.4% higher than 1,445 in 1998. Filings made by domestic scientific and research institutes reached 3,048,a rise of 6.5% ainst 2,861 the previous year.

By December 31,1999, altogether 100 foreign countries and regions filed patent applications in China. In 1999 the number was 66,five of which filed for the first time applications in China. The newcomers were Samoa(12 applications), Kazakhstan (2applications),Belize, Iran, Saint Christopher Island (1 application from each). In terms of the quantity of patent applications filed by foreign countries, the top ten were Japan, the United States, Germany, the Republic of Korea, France, Switzerland, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Sweden and Italy, in that order.

5. Distribution of Patent Applications by Technical Field

In 1999,97,753 invention patent and utility model applications were classified according to the IPC, an increase of 29.8%compared with 75,325 the previous year.

As far as the classification of invention patent applications was concerned, applications relating to compounds for medical, dental, and cosmetic purposes (A61K) lead for the 9th consecutive year in 1999; domestic applications accounted for a heavy proportion of the total. Applications relating to electronic data processing (G06F) ranked 2nd; omestic and foreign applications took an almost equal share of the total. Applications relating to semi-conductors anked 3rd,87% of which were from foreign applicants. As far as domestic applications were concerned, applications related to medicine (A61K) and electronic data processing (G06F)ranked 4th for the fourth consecutive year. Part from the aforementioned categories, foreign applications related mainly to communication technology.

Concerning applications for utility models classified according to IPC sub-class in 1999, there was no significant change as compared to the previous year. However, the ranking of applications related to the electrically conductive connections and connectors and to current ollectors (H01R) rose to 2nd place, as opposed to 10th the previous year. The rise was due to the doubling of applications in this field. Applications related to electronic data processing (G06F) replaced those related to home cookers (F24C) in the top ten ranking. Since more than 95% of utility model applications were domestic, the above ranking reflected the overall status of domestic utility model applications. For utility model filings, those related to containers or packaging for storage or transportation of materials(B65D)ranked 1st for the seventh consecutive year. Applications related to valves, ventilation, and gas-filling equipment(F16K), kitchen utensils and beverage-producing equipment(A47J)were also listed in the top ranking.

6.Patent Examination and Granting

By December 31,1999,SIPO granted a total accumulated number of 531,040 patents.In 1999 alone
100,156 patents were granted,47.5% up over 67,890 the previous year. In 1999,36,371 applications for invention patents were published and requests for substantive examination reached 32,331. During substantive examination,395 applications were rejected and 6,140 were withdrawn. A total of 7,637 patents for invention were granted, 61.3% up over 4,734 the previous year.

As far as utility model patents were concerned,56,368 patents were granted in 1999, 66.3% higher than 33,902 granted in 1998.At the same time,242 applications for utility models were rejected and 10,258 withdrawn.

In 1999, 36,151 patents for industrial design were granted, 23.6% up over 29,254 the previous year. 42 applications for industrial designs were rejected and 953 withdrawn.

7.A Case Study for A Patent for Invention

Urinalysis Reagent Composition for Cancer Screening.

The patent application number of this invention is CN 96109181.9.This patent relates to a new diagnosing reagent composition for large-scale cancer screening.

It is well known that large-scale cancer screening is the most important measure for mass prevention of cancer. The screening is utilizing a screening means to find the person who suffered from cancer or prophase pathological changes of the cancer from normal public. These persons have not yet any clinical symptoms. It is of most importance to take precautions against cancer by early period diagnosis. Cancer death rate would not decrease and livability would not rise, if not early period diagnosis and treatment taken. A lot of human and material resources have been invested into research on this field by many countries. Sensitivity, specificity, misdiagnosis and undetected error are the four basic indexes for cancer screening validity. Said sensitivity refers to the capacity of finding patients suffering from cancer from screened subject. Said specificity refers to the capacity of excluding the healthy persons through this screening means. Thus, how to raise sensitivity and specificity as well as how to reduce misdiagnosis and undetected errors are still a major problem to be settled by many researchers throughout the world.

According to incomplete statistics, at least 60 different types of screening techniques specific for cancer have been published in literature over the past decades. And the way of detecting cancer marker in urine is one of the hot research topics. The said literature claims that the reagent compositions are specific for cancer screening. The current assay focuses on the cancer marker in urine, for example,US-5066601,EP-341803, EP-442675,JP-3-68858,CN-1096374 relate to assay methods for detecting cancer marker in urine.

However, there are some defects in the prior arts. Some of them have higher sensitivity but lower specificity. As a result, a healthy person may be misdiagnosed as a cancer patient, bringing him unnecessary psychological burdens. On the contrary, some other prior arts have higher specificity but lower sensitivity. Thus, a real cancer patient might loss the opportunity for an early treatment because of undetected error. For some prior arts, the situation is even more awkward because they require the use of very costly medical instruments, leading to a limited exploitation of such arts. Based upon extensive and in-depth research and experiments, the inventor of CN-96109181.9 (patent application number) has developed a rapid urinalysis reagent composition for cancer screening. This reagent is a kind of solution combined with nitric acid and sulfuric acid. The reagent composition also includes mercurous nitrate and mercury nitrates, nickel nitrate and/or nickel acetate, as well as a-nitroso-b-naphthol. In the solution, Hg²⁺ : Hg₂²⁺ : Ni²⁺: a-nitroso-b-naphthol=1~1.5(wt):1.2~1.8(wt) : 0.2~0.4(wt) : 0.05~0.1(wt) . The patentee of the CN-96109181.9 (patent application number) discloses that sensitivity of the rapid urinalysis reagent for cancer screening is 81.5%,specificity is 98.0% and accuracy is 91.1%.It is considered as good urinalysis reagent composition, because specificity and sensitivity are both high, and undetected error, false negative reaction and false positive reaction are low significantly.

8.Analysis and Forecast of the Technical Trend

Analysis of the Coal Mining Technology and the Trend

The coal mining is a traditional industry, involving open-pit mining and underground mining. The open-pit mining technology applies only to those coal seams that are near the surface. Because there are only minority of seams near the surface and thus suitable for openpit mining, most coal seams can only be mined by means of underground mining technology. The underground mining technologies include machine mining, hydraulic mining, and underground coal gasification. The following chart shows the status of patent applications in this field filed since 1990.

According to the technological contents described in these patent documents, the inventions mainly focus on the following three aspects:(1) enhancing the mining rate of coal mining methods (2) improve the automation level of the mining apparatuses (3)providing safety devices for detecting and preventing the underground calamities. Patent applications relating inventions for enhancing the mining rate of coal mining methods indicate a recent trend of increase in filings for underground coal gasification technology. The increase is owing to the facts that the underground coal gasification technology can result in a higher mining rate, that coal is nonrenewable resources, and that the gasification technology is attracting more and more attention. Moreover, by means of coal gasification, the mining scale is increasingly expanded, from only mining the coal pillars and coal seams that are difficult to be mined, to possible large scale commercial mining. However, before the gasfication technology is commercialized, how to improve automation level of the mining machine will still remain a focus of technical research in a relatively long run.

In addition, there are various potential factors endangering the safety underground. With the deepening of the mining depth, more attentions have been paid to the safety underground. So there are emerging lots of patent documents, in which inventions contained are to provide safety devices for detecting and preventing underground calamities.

According to the analysis above, the low mining rate, the low automation level of coal mining machines and lack of safety devices are the main and urgent problems that need to be solved in this field. Therefore, it is predicted that near future development in mining technologies will mostly relate to the following three aspects:(1) improvement of the automation level of the mining apparatuses,(2) the exploitation of underground coal gasification technology,(3)provision of safety devices for detecting and preventing the underground calamities.

2013-07-17