The pace of patent applications in China slowed in the first quarter amid the financial crisis, State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) Commissioner Tian Lipu said last month. The number of patent applications rose 10 percent in the first quarter, down 11 percentage points from the same period last year, Tian said during an online interview with the central government's official web portal www.gov.cn. "This shows that the financial crisis has taken its toll on patent application development, but the impact is limited and better than expected," he said.

It was not necessarily a bad thing as each financial or economic crisis usually heralds a new round of innovation, Tian said. As of the end of March, China's patent applications topped 5 million, of which 1.2 million are valid patents. "That is a huge number and on the forefront around the world," Tian said.

(Source: China Daily)