Chinese Patent Office Releases Patent Statistics for First Two Months of Coronavirus Epidemic

The China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) has released patent statistics for combined January and February 2020 showing a 9% decline in invention patent application filings compared to the first two months of 2019.  2019 as a whole had already shown a significant decrease in filings. Combined January/February data is often used due to variation in the timing of the Lunar New Year holiday, which can occur in January or February and cause a tremendous decrease in patent filings due to holiday closures.

Specifically, there were 224,741 invention patent applications filed, 391,865 utility model applications filed (a 9% increase) and 88,406 design patent applications filed (a 20% decrease).   Annualized, these would still present a tremendous number of filings in the US, which had only 597,141 patent applications filed in all of calendar year 2018.

There were 54,790 invention patents granted, of which 20.8% were for foreign patentees. There were 238,276 utility models granted, of which only 0.5% were for foreign patentees showing the continued lack of popularity among foreigners of this potentially valuable intellectual property right. There were 105,686 design patents granted, of which 2.8% were for foreign patentees.

No reasons were provided for the decrease year on year but certainly the current epidemic had a significant influence.

The press release is available here.