Chief economist of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Carsten Fink told Xinhua in a recent exclusive interview that increased overseas patent filings from Chinese applicants showed a positive sign for China's innovation and economy.

According to WIPO, China's patent office had become the largest intellectual property office across the world in 2012 in terms of the number of its patent applications, but Chinese patent applicants did not file as frequently their patents abroad in other countries as did those from the United States, Europe or Japan.

Fink said that a changing picture was observed as patent filings abroad by Chinese companies and research institutes have been growing rapidly.

WIPO found in its new study that the growth of Chinese patent filings abroad increased significantly after the year 2000, with a five-year average annual growth rate of 40 percent between 2000 and 2005, and of 23 percent since 2005.

"That is important because on the one hand, it signals that Chinese companies really operate on the world technology frontier, and (on the other hand) it also suggests that indeed they are pushing the world's technology frontier. That is a good sign for China's innovation system," said Fink.

The chief economist outlined three reasons behind the rapid rise of Chinese overseas patent filings: the rise of China as an innovator which accounts for the second largest expenses in research and development all over the world, the honed experiences of Chinese applicants with the patent system, and the strong willings of Chinese companies to do business internationally.

Fink then stressed that overseas patent filings weighed heavily for China's economy and could be a positive boost.

He noted that historically China's export advantage has always been in industries that rely on labor-intensive manufacturing, and the increase in foreign patent filing suggested that China was gaining a competitive edge based on new ideas and advanced knowledge.

"That will help Chinese companies to transfer their business models from the past one that relied on low wages to another one that will rely more and more on new technologies, new products and new ideas. That's a good sign for the prospects of Chinese economy," said Fink.

The study also showed a rapid increase of the share of complex technology among total Chinese foreign-oriented patent families, reaching a 75 percent-share of total patents abroad on average per annum since 2000.

Specifically, the information and communication technology (ICT) sector took the largest part, with roughly one fourth of all patents filed abroad.

As for this feature, Fink explained that in contrast with more traditional fields like pharmaceuticals which relies on more deeply-rooted scientific base and has lasting-over-10-year research and development cycles, ICT sector has experienced rapid progress and seen breakthroughs in many areas, which meant that there were opportunities to leapfrog in many cases of product and research and development cycles.

The senior expert furthered that it was also attributed to the different levels of reliance on the patent system in different industries.

"We know that in the areas of information and communication technologies, it has been important for companies to build broad patent portfolios to compete. So the fact that information and communication technologies are dominating in China is not a phenomenon that's confined to China. Indeed one sees that as the major areas of patenting in most of the advanced countries," said Fink.

In regard of the overseas patent filings, China, Japan and the Republic of Korea shared a lot of similarities such as the rise of patent filings was commonly seen in the electronic industry, a reflection of a rising technology in the sector, but the striking point of China was its speed.

"It is quite clear that the speed at which China has been able to build up its patenting strength has been significantly faster than it has ever been historically in the case of Japan or the Republic of Korea," said he.

The study showed that almost 70 percent of overseas patents were filed by Chinese companies, and some 6 percent by universities and research institutes, while Fink pointed out one peculiar feature in terms of applicant types in international patenting of China -- individuals accounted for a relatively high share of patenting.

But the expert stressed that such a high figure did not necessarily mean they were classic garage inventors that come up with a bright idea, and there could be companies behind individuals, such as one employee who filed under their own name or an owner of business.

"That is something quite peculiar about China and something one needs to explore what really is behind that," said Fink.

In terms of absolute numbers, the majority of patent applications abroad by Chinese residents targetted the United States, with close to 50,000 patent applications based on available data between 1970 and 2012, followed by Europe, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and Canada, as the study highlighted.

Fink said that among these destinations, Chinese companies usually file in one country and target only one foreign intellectual property office, normally in the United States or Japan.

He advised that Chinese companies could broaden their international patent portfolios to include more countries as they diversify their international business.

The WIPO expert took the communications technology industry to elaborate, saying that ZTE technologies and Huawei Technologies accounted for the largest number of patent filings under WIPO's patent corporation treaty, and stressed that it was of great importance for companies to have large patent portfolios to compete internationally and also to have them in the major jurisdictions in the world.

(Source: Xinhua)