According to the statistics of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the number of patent applications in China surged by 45% in 20 16, and it is expected to become the largest user of the international patent system within two years, surpassing Japan and the United States.
According to the 20 16 ranking of enterprise patent applications compiled by Geneva-based United Nations agencies, ZTE and Huawei, the two largest telecom and electronic equipment manufacturers in China, topped the list.
"China applicants are the main driving force for the growth of international patent and trademark applications ... At present, China continues to change from' Made in China' to' Created in China'," said Francis Gurry, Director-General of the World Intellectual Property Organization.
WIPO's analysis covers international applications submitted through patent cooperation treaties, and the quality of these applications is often higher than that of simple domestic applications If the current trend continues, China will surpass Japan this year and the United States two years later to become the leader of the international patent system.
Inventors in China submitted 43,000 international applications in 20 16, while domestic applications made China Patent Office the busiest patent authority in the world, accepting more than 1 10,000 applications every year.
Since Huawei and ZTE started to apply for international patents in 2000 and 2002 respectively, the number of their applications has risen rapidly, easily occupying the top two in the global patent application rankings.
FrankTietze of the Technology Management Center of Cambridge University said, "These two China companies are still catching up with their competitors in other parts of the world. "They are applying, applying, and applying to build a huge patent portfolio as a bargaining chip with other companies."
Japanese and Korean companies have also increased their international patent applications faster than most European and North American companies, although not as fast as China. Therefore, Asia accounted for 47.4% of all applications last year, only slightly lower than the sum of Europe (25.6%) and North America (25.3%).
"Japan's domestic applications have been declining for eight or nine years in a row, while international applications have continued to grow strongly," Gao Rui said. "Japan has a clear strategy, focusing on patent applications and using the best inventions as widely as possible."