Abstract
BEIJING China is now the third highest-ranking country for patent
applications, but experts say the country needs to do more to improve
patent quality.
According to the annual 'Statistics on Worldwide Patent Activities'
report, released by the World Intellectual Property Organization
(WIPO) last week (10 August), patent applications were up 32.9 per
cent in 2005 compared to the previous year.
Of the 170,000 patent applications submitted to China's State Intellectual
Property Office (SIPO) in 2005, around 93,000 were from within China.
China now ranks third � behind Japan and United States, but in front
of the European Union � in terms of the total number of patent applications
filed.
According to the WIPO statistics, patent applications in China have
increased more than eight-fold since 1995 (see China joins top ten
for international patents).
The report indicates that patent applications in China, like in other
countries, increased dramatically in fields like telecommunications
and electronics.
Chen Naiwei, director of the Intellectual Property Research Centre
at Shanghai Jiaotong University, says rapid economic progress, a
dramatic increase in China's research and development budget and
government policy promoting intellectual property rights are behind
the increase.
Total research and development investment in China grew by 22 per
cent in 2006, totalling 300 billion yuan (US$39.6 billion) or 1.4
per cent of the country's gross domestic product.
But Chen cautions that patent applications may not accurately reflect
innovation.
"In order to encourage patent applications, many local governments
have provided patent fees to enterprises and science institutes,
resulting in the rapid growth in application number," he told SciDev.Net.
More important than offering fees and awards, Chen says, is improving
innovation by combining enterprises with research institutes.
Most patents filed in China are for new design appearance or new models,
which do not require great technical innovation, he adds.
Related SciDev.Net articles:
A new model for Chinese innovation
Related links:
Full WIPO report
Photo Credit: Flickr/FadderUri
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