The number of patent applications refers to the number of patent applications accepted by China National Intellectual Property Administration that have paid the application fee in full and meet the requirements of entering the preliminary examination stage. In other words, some applications may not be accepted before.
The concept of patent application volume is close to that of patent acceptance volume. Due to restrictions, the public is generally used to using patent acceptance volume data, but in fact, the patent application volume can more truly and objectively reflect the overall situation of patent application activities in China.