In recently released data from the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA), invention patent grants have increased 77% in the first quarter of 2021 year-on-year. Utility model patent grants are up 72% and design patent grants are up 14%. There is no filing data as CNIPA has ceased releasing patent application filing data since December 2020 but CNIPA has budgeted for a potential 50+% drop in the coming years.
Specifically, there were 152,342 invention patent granted in the Q1 2021, with 16.5% granted to foreigners. This compares with 85,997 in Q1 2020 with 22.7% granted to foreigners. The drop in percentage of patents granted to foreigners is despite a 29% increase in patent grants to foreigners (from 19,496 invention patents to 25,120 invention patents).
There were 591,965 utility models granted and 168,800 design patents granted in Q1 2021.
Other data, such as trademark and geographical indication registrations, are available here: 2021年3月国家知识产权局审查注册登记统计月报 (Chinese only).
