China tops patent applications list in 2014

BEIJING: China has received 9.28 lakh patent applications last year, making it the highest recipient of requests for patents globally for the fourth successive year even as experts say the world's second largest economy lacks competitive edge despite the large numbers.
The number of invention patent applications filed to the State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) in 2014 stood at 9,28,000, up 12.5 per cent from 2013, the SIPO said.
The office authorised a total of 2,33,000 invention patents in the year, 1,63,000 of which were from Chinese applicants, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

By the end of 2014, China had 6,63,000 invention patents with high quality and market value, and the number of invention patents per 10,000 Chinese people reached 4.9, the SIPO said.

China has seen rising numbers of patent applications as part of a drive to upgrade the economy. However, experts claims the country's invention patents still lack a competitive edge, the report said.

One of the government's priorities has been to boost innovation by improving intellectual property rights protection, it said.