CNIPA held a regular press conference for the third quarter on July 9. The conference released the statistical data of patents, trademarks, geographical indications, and layout design of integrated circuits in the first half of 2020 of China, as well as the new trends and developments of intellectual property in China undertakings as reflected in these data.

In the first half of 2020, China's main intellectual property indicators meet expectations, and the development of intellectual property remains stable

(1) In terms of patents. The number of invention patent applications are 683,000; a total of 217,000 invention patents were authorized, of which 176,000 domestic invention patents were authorized. Among the domestic invention patent authorizations, service inventions are 169,000, accounting for 96.0%; non-service inventions are 77,000, accounting for 4.0%. The top 3 domestic companies (excluding Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan) that in the number of granted invention patents were Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. (2772 cases), OPPO Guangdong Mobile Communications Co., Ltd. (1925 cases), and BOE Technology Group Co., Ltd. (1432 cases).

The effective number of invention patents in China (excluding Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan) was 1.96 million, and the number of invention patents per 10,000 population reached 14.3. The top 3 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) possessing the number of invention patents per 10,000 population are: Beijing (141.5 cases), Shanghai (56.1 cases), and Jiangsu (31.9 cases).

A total of 29,500 PCT international patent applications were accepted, a year-on-year increase of 22.6%. Among them, 26,800 domestic patent applications, with a year-on-year increase of 20.7%. The top 3 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) in the number of PCT international patent applications accepted were: Guangdong (10,900 cases), Beijing (0.38 million cases), and Jiangsu (0.33 million cases).

A total of 26,200 patent reexamination requests were accepted; 25,700 cases were closed. Accepted 26,600 requests for invalidation of patents which closed 4,300 cases. The invention patent examination period of China is 20.3 months, high-value patent examination period is 15.2 months, utility model examination period is 6.4 months, and industrial design examination period is 3.2 months.

(2) In terms of trademarks. The number of trademark applications was 4.284 million; the number of trademark registrations was 2.629 million; the number of valid registered trademarks in China was 27.414 million.

A total of 3,875 applications for Madrid international trademark registration were received from Chinese applicants, with a year-on-year increase of 36.0%. The number of valid Madrid international trademark registration by Chinese applicants was 41,000.

A total of 166,000 applications for various trademark review cases were received, of which 192,000 cases were closed. The average examination period of trademark registration is stable within 4.5 months.

(3) In terms of geographical indications. 322 companies approved the use of special sign for geographical indication products by CNIPA and the registration of 364 geographical indication trademarks were approved. A total of 2,385 geographical indication products had been approved, 8811 enterprises that using special sign had been approved, and a total of 5,682 geographical indication trademarks have been registered.

(4) In terms of layout design of integrated circuits. 5,176 applications for registration of layout design of integrated circuits in China, with a year-on-year increase of 78.2%; 5262 certificates were issued with a year-on-year increase of 111.6%.

(5) In terms of intellectual property protection and application. There were 5,320 administrative adjudication cases involving patent infringement disputes in provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) in China. The national patent and trademark pledge deposit amounted to 85.3 billion yuan, with a year-on-year increase of 45%, and the number of pledge items is 4678, with a year-on-year increase of 52%. Among them, the amount of patent pledge deposits was 65.1 billion yuan, with a year-on-year increase of 61%,and the number of pledged projects was 4171, with a year-on-year increase of 54%; the total amount of trademark pledges was 20.2 billion yuan, with a year-on-year increase of 8.8%, and the number of pledged projects was 507, with a year-on-year increase of 34%.

Main features of statistical data in the first half of 2020

First, the overall situation of domestic patent and trademark applications is stable. There were 2.195 million patent applications for three types of domestic patents and 4.17 million trademark applications in China. The overall situation of patent and trademark applications was stable.

The second is the continuous consolidation of the dominance in domestic enterprises' patent application. There were 229,000 domestic companies applying for patents, an increase of 32,000 compared with the same period last year. Domestic enterprises submitted a total of 404,000 invention patent applications, with a year-on-year increase of 12.0%. In the domestic invention patent applications, enterprises accounted for 66.6%, an increase of 3.2% from the previous year.

The third is the scale of use of special sign for geographical indications has gradually expanded. 322 companies approved the use of special sign for geographical indication products in China, a significant increase from 116 approved in the same period of the previous year.

The fourth is the overseas intellectual property layout of market players has developed steadily. Chinese applicants submitted 26,800 PCT international patent applications to CNIPA, with a year-on-year increase of 20.7%; 3875 applications for Madrid international trademark registration, with a year-on-year increase of 36.0%, all maintained rapid growth.