Individuals and organizations in Hunan filed 54,501 patent applications last year, an increase of 23.3 percent from 2014, reaching the 50,000 benchmark for the first time. They included nearly 19,500 invention patents, an increase of 34.7 percent. In the same period, more than 34,000 patents were granted, up 27.9 percent, including 6,776 for inventions. About half of the applications were from companies, while universities had the largest increase in the number of applications and granted patents.

(Source: China Daily)