Twenty years of Chinese patent applications

On April 1, 1985, with the acceptance of the first Chinese patent application as a symbol, the formal implementation of the Chinese patent law began. In the past two decades, China’s patent applications have continued to grow steadily and rapidly, and have joined the process of reform, opening up, and modernization in China. This article intends to outline the development track of patent applications through 20 years of major patent statistics. Through this aspect, it shows the path of technological innovation that the Chinese people have followed and gained thought and inspiration.

First, the amount of patent applications

The number of patent applications is an important aggregate indicator of intellectual property rights and patent work, reflecting China’s invention-creation output capacity and openness of the technology market, reflecting China’s technology, economic strength, and international competitiveness.

(1) Total number of patent applications

China's patent system began in the 1980s when reform and opening up and world science and technology were rapidly changing. The implementation of the Chinese patent law has developed intellectual resources hidden in the broad masses of the people and has been welcomed and valued by the international business community. In the 20 years between April 1, 1985 and the end of March, 2005, the total number of patent applications in China reached 2.381 million. From 1985 to 2004, the number of annual patent applications rose from 14372 in 1985 to 353,807 in 2004, with an average annual growth rate of 18.4%. According to the latest 2002 statistics published by the World Intellectual Property Organization (see Figure 1-1)