According to the statistics released on February 21, SIPO granted 217,105 invention patents in 2012, up 26.1%. As of the end of 2012, China had granted cumulatively 1.111 million invention patents, housed 435,151 valid invention patents from home with the invention patents per 10 thousand heads rising to 3.2.

There are five provinces (municipalities) that housed more than 10,000 invention patents in 2012. The top 5 provinces (municipalities) for invention patents granted are Guangdong, Beijing, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai with 22,153, 20,140, 16,242, 11,571 and 11,379 respectively. According to the list, the top 5 provinces (municipalities) and Shandong which followed suit at No.6 with 7,453 ones are from the east-coastal developed area in China that contributed to 64.8% of the total.

According to the statistics, Shenzhen paced all cities with 13,139 invention patents granted, holding a big advantage over the second-place Hangzhou with 5,513 ones and the third-place Nanjing with 4,408 ones. Huawei, ZTE, Hongfujin Precision Industry (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd and China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation obtained more than 1,000 invention patents in 2012 with 2,734, 2,727, 1,099 and 1,044 respectively, which hit a new record high over the years.

SIPO received 19,926 PCT applications in 2012, up 14.0%, over 90% of which were from home. There are 16 provinces (municipalities) that filed more than 100 PCT applications in 2012. The top 5 provinces (municipalities) for PCT applications are Guangdong (9,211), Beijing (2,705), Shanghai (1,024), Jiangsu (915) and Zhejiang (639) which contribute to 80% of the total domestic PCT filings.

Among the top ten foreign enterprises, Japan companies dominate five places in the top 6 ranking list. Panasonic sneaks to the top with 1,660, ousting Sony (1,277) and South Korea's Samsung (1,256). Some well-known foreign enterprises like US-based GM, Qualcomm and Dutch's Philips are also on the list.

A representative from the Patent Administration Department of SIPO said that the patent applications that foreign enterprises filed maintained a steady growth. As of the end of 2012, foreign enterprises had filed cumulatively 1.257 million patent applications. China's sound IPR environment not only safeguards the legitimate rights and interests of owners but also helps foreign enterprises benefit from signing the patent licensing agreement. 

(China IP News)