China dominates again in patents, topping US, Japan, Europe and Korea

[master_13]

GENEVA (AP) — The U.N.'s intellectual property agency says China racked up a record 1.3 million patent applications last year, topping the combined total in the U.S., Japan, Korea and Europe.

The World Intellectual Property Organization says innovators worldwide filed 3.1 million patent applications in 2016, up 8.3 percent from a year earlier, marking the seventh straight yearly increase.

China alone accounted for 98 percent of that increase, with its patent office receiving 236,600 more applications than in 2015.

Releasing WIPO's annual intellectual property report Wednesday, Director-General Francis Gurry cited the "extraordinary growth numbers" that epitomize the trend of recent years.

WIPO said trademark applications shot up by 16 percent to about 7 million, and worldwide industrial design applications increased by 10.4 to almost 1 million, again led by growth in China.

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[master_13]

Its not the quantity of patents but the value of patents which matter..for example..a patent in new handle design..vs...patent in new methods of nuclear waste processing..the later is far far far more valuable...

China, in its race to build numeric superiority is known to register many useless patents..

that's true to a certain extent. However, patents filed and granted internationally normally have to fulfill certain requirements that are more stricter than most countries. Some patents may not be applicable today and seem useless, that' doesn't mean it won't be useful tomorrow. In fact, there are many patents filed by IBM over the past 60 years that are still collecting dust, although a few of them did see light of the day as technological advancement found use of those patents. China is at the same stage, European countries, Korea and Japan all followed same trajectory of filing numerous patents hoping some will become market success.

 

[Han Patriot]

Its not the quantity of patents but the value of patents which matter..for example..a patent in new handle design..vs...patent in new methods of nuclear waste processing..the later is far far far more valuable...

China, in its race to build numeric superiority is known to register many useless patents..

Basically, it's better to check which are the top 20 patent applicants. Normally, it's Huawei, ZTE, BOE, BYD. These are all technological heaveweights, not some patent on armchair swing or something.

 

[TaiShang]

Competition and innovation is good. Today's ideas that may seem inapplicable, can generate huge profits in the future.

Patent applications are a sign of rigor and improvement. As I tell to my students, it is better to overcite, than under-cite. Similarly, it is better to do over-patent filling than under patent-filling.

I do not think those countries that fall badly behind in patent filling are waiting for that great idea that will miraculously help them build a Tencent overnight.

But I enjoy hearing losers' excuse. That means we have less competition.

***

 

[TruthTheOnlyDefense]

Where is India in all this? The Indian market is dominated by Chinese goods I was in India a few months ago and everywhere you look it's Chinese goods lol.

 

[rcrmj]

Its not the quantity of patents but the value of patents which matter..for example..a patent in new handle design..vs...patent in new methods of nuclear waste processing..the later is far far far more valuable...

China, in its race to build numeric superiority is known to register many useless patents..

you better look deep into the picture before stating your convinent line of thoughts that applied by the West for most of the times.

have a look at industrial design sector. Our company tried to apply one patent last year in China's domestic office regarding big data and on-line distribution platform, but failed (in other words``not innovative or "high" tech enough). However we reveived loads of patent for our trademarks, which is "useless" in tech fields, as you claimed.

So to have a granted industrial design or innovation patent is not as simple or "useless" as you think. It has strict requirements that need to be met. And China is leading in industrial and innovation patent sector, and that cannot be achieved by throwing in loads of "useless" patents just for the sake of numerical advantage "tactics"?

Nonetheless, for the sake of savy scientific ground researches, go for Nature Science magazine not WIPO's or PCT' statistics, as the latter are more to do with applications

 

[Menthol]

Its not the quantity of patents but the value of patents which matter..for example..a patent in new handle design..vs...patent in new methods of nuclear waste processing..the later is far far far more valuable...

China, in its race to build numeric superiority is known to register many useless patents..

At least it's a sign that the society is robust.

It just a matter of time that China will produce a lot of high quality patent in the future.

You can't jump to the top right away anyway. It takes process and China is on the right track.

Seeing people fill the patent with this quantity, it's a sign that people are enthusiastic, which is a good sign.

 

[TaiShang]

At least it's a sign that the society is robust.

It just a matter of time that China will produce a lot of high quality patent in the future.

You can't jump to the top right away anyway. It takes process and China is on the right track.

Seeing people fill the patent with this quantity, it's a sign that people are enthusiastic, which is a good sign.

What bothers me most these days is the springing up of dishonest/predatory academic publishing. Everyday I receive numerous e-mails for paid academic publication with promises to be indexed in idiotic data-bases such as google scholar.

Experienced researchers will not be fooled, but, some fall prey to the scam.

Most of the advertisements are US-originated (Texas and California, heavily). They usually charge you 300$. They guarantee proofreading and publication in two weeks.

This thriving business (mostly in the US) must be outlawed.