Foreign invention patent applications in China surge 13% in first half of 2024

China Economic Net

Beijing: China saw a significant uptick in foreign invention patent applications in the first six months of 2024, with 78,000 filings representing a 13.1% year-on-year increase, the country’s top intellectual property regulator said at a press conference in Beijing on Monday.

Japan led the filing countries with 22,000 applications, followed by the United States with 20,000, and South Korea with 10,000. The three countries showed year-on-year growth rates of 7.3%, 11.4%, and 18.2% respectively, according to the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA).

Ge Shu, a senior CNIPA official, said that foreign enterprises are strengthening their patent portfolios in China’s digital economy. By the end of last year, a total of 93 countries (regions) held valid invention patents in China’s core digital economy industries, with the digital product manufacturing sector accounting for 61.8 % of the patents.

As of June 2024, foreign enterprises had held a total of 919,000 valid invention patents and 2.13 million valid trademarks in China, up 3.9% and 3.8% respectively, according to Hu Wenhui, deputy commissioner to CNIPA, suggesting that this growth reflects the growing confidence of foreign enterprises in China’s intellectual property protection regime.