Patent filings rebound after virus halted work

Turnaround shows enhanced innovation and faith in market prospects, NIPA official says

Patent applications in China posted a V-shaped rebound in the first four months of 2020, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, according to official data.

From January to April, the number of patent applications on the Chinese mainland was 1.32 million, an increase of 5.7 percent year-on-year, the National Intellectual Property Administration said in a statement.

The number of patent applications in February dropped by 33.2 percent compared with the same period in 2019. But it rebounded quickly in March, with a year-on-year growth of 10.5 percent. In April, the growth rate accelerated to 15.7 percent.

The sharp turnaround shows that market entities have fostered innovation to improve their ability to respond to the pandemic, the statement said.

NIPA also reported an 8.1 percent increase in patent filings by domestic enterprises in the first four months of 2020.

Out of the 65,000 enterprises on the Chinese mainland that applied for invention patents, about 29,000 are in high-tech industries, accounting for 44.6 percent.

The number of patent filings by domestic pharmaceutical and medical enterprises grew faster still. Around 9,000 invention patents were filed between January and April, up 8.4 percent year-on-year and 9 percentage points higher than the overall growth rate.

The new-generation information technology sector was also a driving force behind the growth. Its proportion to the total domestic filings of invention patents increased by 1.8 percentage points during those four months, compared with the same period of 2019.

Emerging industries, including the internet, big data, cloud computing, artificial intelligence and robots, saw accelerated updates in technological research and development during the period. This gave rise to new growth spots and business modes, injecting fresh vigor into China's economic development, Ge Shu, an official with NIPA, told People's Daily.

Telecommunication giant Huawei and internet company Tencent reported a 35.2 and 178.9 percent surge in invention patent applications, respectively.

ByteDance－a tech company operating a range of online platforms focused on training and entertainment－also had a strong performance. Its invention patent filings rocketed by 67.7 percent year-on-year.

Ge also cited iFlytek, which specializes in AI technology, and Cloud-Minds, an intelligent robot maker, as shining examples of high-tech businesses building up their IP muscles. Their invention patent filings jumped by 88.9 and 70.3 percent year-on-year, respectively. The year-on-year growth in invention patent applications from SenseTime, another AI company, stood at 36.9 percent during the four-month period.

The data suggested a boom in technological innovation. This means China will continue its path of industrial upgrades and transformation toward high-quality development and bright long-term prospects, despite the pandemic, Ge noted.

In contrast, patent applications from abroad filed with NIPA during the first four months dropped by 1.7 percent year-on-year to some 60,000.

Of these, 10,000 filings were from countries and regions involved in the Belt and Road Initiative, an increase of 3.8 percent year-on-year.

Also following a V-shaped growth path, overseas patent applications fell by 39.9 percent in February, due to the fallout of the pandemic. But they rapidly picked up in March with a 31.3 percent year-on-year rise, and continued the momentum with a 1.2 percent year-on-year growth in April.

The upswing shows the Chinese market has remained appealing to foreign businesses. They have faith in the country's economic prospects and long-term development, Ge said.

At the same time, domestic companies beefed up their filings abroad, showing their confidence in overseas expansion.

From January to April, the number of international filings by Chinese applicants via the Patent Cooperation Treaty reached 17,000, up 18.3 percent.

Latest data show the combined number of invention patent applications filed with the United States, Europe, Japan and South Korea－the top four IP filing destinations in addition to China－increased by 15.1 percent in the first quarter of 2020 from the same period of 2019.

China Daily - Xinhua