China moves past Canada into 6th place in USPTO patents for 2014

[Martian2]

China moves past Canada into 6th place in USPTO patents for 2014

The four largest exporters in the world (e.g. #1 China by using Greater China patents, #2 U.S., #3 Germany, and #4 Japan) are among the five largest USPTO patent holders.

Greater China comprises mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.
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PATENT COUNTS BY ORIGIN AND TYPE, CY 2014

Patents granted by the United States for the year 2014.

1. U.S. 158,709 patents
2. Japan 56,006
(Greater China 20,993)
3. South Korea 18,161
4. Germany 17,594
5. Taiwan 12,254
6. China 7,921
7. Canada 7,693
8. U.K. 7,156
9. France 7,103
10. Israel 3,617
11. India 3,044
12. Italy 3,033
...
Singapore 1,010
Hong Kong 818 (Patent office counts Hong Kong as a separate entity)
Russian Federation 448
Brazil 362
Malaysia 271

These countries are sometimes mentioned by the media as the "next China":

Mexico 222
Poland 184
South Africa 181
Thailand 125
Turkey 103
Argentina 81
Greece 66
Chile 64
Ukraine 48
Egypt 45
Philippines 45
Indonesia 15
Vietnam 7

 

[Established_1965]

Taiwan got more patents than China :O

 

[Martian2]

Taiwan remains the world's third-largest cumulative foreign holder at 150,121 USPTO patents

For 2014, Taiwan remained the world's third-largest cumulative foreign holder of 150,121 USPTO (ie. U.S. Patent and Trademark Office) patents during the last 38 years. Essentially, Taiwan is out-innovating every other country on the planet except for the United States, Japan, and Germany. This would explain Taiwan's ever-increasing standard of living and foreign exchange reserves.

Patent Counts By Country, State, and Year - All Patent Types (December 2014)

A. Taiwan's cumulative USPTO patents are clearly massive in terms of quantity. However, we have to examine the quality of the Taiwanese patents. This can be done indirectly and easily by mentioning ten large leading Taiwanese companies in diverse industries.

1. TSMC (or Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company) is the world leader in the foundry business with 50% worldwide market share. TSMC logic chip technology is currently being mass produced at a leading-edge 20nm.

2. Mediatek is a leading multi-billion dollar designer of systems-on-chip (SOC) for smartphones and tablets.

3. Quanta and Compal produce 80-90% of the world's notebook computers with Taiwanese patents.

4. AU Optronics is a leading LCD manufacturer. AU Optronics won a monstrous patent lawsuit against South Korea's LG where a U.S. Federal District Court ruled that LG infringed on four key AU Optronics patents.

5. Epistar is a leading LED manufacturer with 1,000 LED patents.

6. Formosa Plastics is a leading manufacturer of specialty chemicals.

7. Taiwan is the world's fourth-largest machine tool exporter and has built a sub-micron CNC machine tool.

8. "Delta Electronics, Inc. (Chinese: 台達電子工業股份有限公司), founded in 1971, is the world's largest provider of switching power supplies and DC brushless fans,[1] as well as a major source for power management solutions, components, visual displays, industrial automation, networking products, and renewable energy solutions. Delta Group has sales offices worldwide and manufacturing plants in Taiwan, China, Thailand, Mexico, India and Europe."

9. "In Taiwan, which has the second-largest chip-design industry after the U.S., Novatek is a standout. Chairman Ho Tai-shung has turned it from a little spinoff of United Microelectronics (the Taiwanese chipmaker that is the world's second-largest foundry, behind only neighbor and rival Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing) into a chip-design powerhouse. Novatek, based in Taiwan's premier high-tech zone, the Hsinchu science park, is the island's dominant provider of TFT-LCD driver and controller chips, key components in the liquid crystal displays used in PC monitors and TV screens." (from BusinessWeek)

10. "Largan is the world’s biggest designer and manufacturer of imaging lens products used in mobile devices." (from Bloomberg News)

B. 60% of mainland Chinese high-tech exports are being conducted by Taiwanese companies. This means mainland China still relies on Taiwanese patents to expand its economy. With over 70,000 Taiwanese companies and one million Taiwanese residents, it is business as usual on mainland China.

C. Mainland China produces over half the number of Taiwanese USPTO patents on an annual basis. With $4 trillion dollars in foreign exchange reserves and its own USPTO patents, China's continued industrialization is unstoppable. It's nice to have Taiwanese companies, but they are no longer indispensable.

China has its own long list of corporate titans: Lenovo, Huawei, ZTE, PetroChina, Xiaomi, Alibaba, Baidu, SMIC, Haier, SAIC Motor, etc.

D. Since Taiwan has a small population of 23 million people, it proves that any country with over 20 million in population has the ability to industrialize based on its own innovation and USPTO patents.

E. However, Taiwan is a rare success story. Theoretically speaking, economics is not a zero-sum game. Thus, a developing country's economy should take off with currently undiscovered inventions. Practically speaking, it is difficult to identify a new economic sector that could produce billions of dollars in profits.

In conclusion, the story of Taiwan serves as an interesting model for developing countries. Taiwan proved that you can bootstrap your own economy into becoming a developed country. Hence, it is interesting to keep monitoring the USPTO patents every year to see if there is a breakout country on the cusp of joining the industrialized world.

 

[bobsm]

Taiwan got more patents than China :O

And Singapore. I'm sure the mainland will catch up and exceed that of ours in the near future.

Although this is for patent applications abroad, it does shed some light on mainland's lower numbers.

Global IP Registration Increases; China At Forefront Of IP Filings

Excerpt:

While China is the largest in terms of resident filings, it gave way to the US and Japan in relation to filings abroad with more than 200,000 patent applications for each compared to approximately 30,000 applications by Chinese applicants abroad.

The Chinese IP system is relatively young, WIPO Chief Economist Carsten Fink said at the briefing. “One should not forget that China is a very large market, so necessity of Chinese companies to file abroad is certainly smaller than it is in case of a Swiss applicant,” he said.

 

[TaiShang]

China's Huawei leads international patent filings: WIPO (ZTE 3rd Largest)

(Reuters) - Chinese telecom giant Huawei Technologies Co Ltd [HWT.UL] became the world's No. 1 applicant for international patents in 2014, a United Nations agency said Thursday, underscoring the innovative strides made by Chinese technology companies.

Huawei was followed by San Diego-based chipmaker Qualcomm Inc while Huawei's crosstown rival ZTE Corp, which was the world's leading applicant in 2012, took third place in its number of filings, according to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

WIPO's report, which is sometimes viewed as a rough barometer of a country's technological progress, noted that China was the only country to see double-digit growth in its filings, although U.S. companies led by far. High-tech and automotive powerhouse Japan, home to last year's leading applicant Panasonic Corp, saw its total filings slide.

In recent years China's top policymakers have offered incentives to nudge Chinese companies to shift from low-value, low-cost manufacturing to fostering innovation.

The country has also made a series of reforms to improve IP enforcement within its legal system, long considered dubious by foreign and Chinese firms alike.

The emphasis on innovation was reiterated this month at China's annual parliamentary session by Premier Li Keqiang, who made a high-profile visit to Huawei's research and development center in January.

Huawei has touted its yearly research and development budget - equal to 10 percent of its revenue - as proportionally higher than many of its peers in industry. Chief Executive Ken Hu told reporters in Barcelona this month Huawei will spend $600 million on 5G wireless research and development from 2013 to 2018.

Chinese technology industry observers say Qualcomm's antimonopoly settlement reached this year with Chinese regulators could spark a patent war as Chinese firms such as ZTE use their IP portfolios - and a stronger legal regime - to extract royalties from smartphone makers.

 

[Martian2]

Analysis

In the entire world, there are only four countries (e.g. US, Japan, South Korea, and Germany) and Taiwan ahead of China in annual USPTO patents. China has left the industrialized countries of Canada, UK, France, and Italy behind.

China has been climbing the USPTO rankings year-by-year. The number of American USPTO patents looks huge, but much of it is comprised of drugs research and medical devices. Eventually, China will compete in these categories too.

We expect continued improvement from China with each passing year. Obviously, Huawei is growing stronger than ever. Huawei's revenue was $46.5 billion for 2014. Ericsson Telecom only had $26.4 billion.

With an anticipated trade surplus of $720 billion this year, China can fund more research and development to generate more patents. Also, China bought a DRAM design company. We can expect future Chinese DRAM patents.

1. Chinese USPTO patents are currently sufficient for a middle-of-the-pack industrialized country. Combined with Taiwan's USPTO patents, China is at the leading edge of industrialized countries. This is evident in China's status as the world's largest exporter of over $2 trillion in goods and the largest trade surplus nation.

2. Standing alone, China meets the industrialized-country quantity standard for USPTO patents. Including Taiwan, China is only behind the US and Japan in annual USPTO patents.

3. Judged on a quality standard, Huawei, ZTE, Haier, Baidu, SMIC, Spreadtrum, and many other large Chinese corporations (see China's billion-dollar companies) clearly meet the criteria of producing relevant patents that can be incorporated into expensive products.

4. Having met the quantity and quality standards, we examine the health of China's tech companies. Using Huawei as an example, annual net profits have climbed 33% to $4.5 billion. Across the board, Chinese tech companies are registering record profits. We expect the Chinese tech boom to continue. After all, Chinese tech companies are flush with cash.

5. The Chinese government has a hoard of $4 trillion in forex reserves. China Inc. is running a trade surplus of $2 billion PER DAY. This provides the Chinese government with a huge pool of cash to invest in existing and new tech enterprises.

6. Approximately 60% of China's high-tech exports are conducted by Taiwanese companies. Does this mean that China is reliant on Taiwan's tech expertise? Not really. About one to two million Taiwanese live on the Chinese mainland. As residents of China, the Taiwanese expats are unlikely to return to Taiwan. In practice, China has already captured the Taiwanese experts and high-tech expertise.

For example, all of Taiwan's notebook computer production has moved to China. Ostensibly, notebook computer technology falls under Taiwanese control. In reality, all of the engineers and technicians reside on mainland China. They work there on a daily basis to keep the notebook computer plants running smoothly.

In conclusion, China is firing on all cylinders. Domestic Chinese tech companies are growing into behemoths. Huawei could pass Intel in revenues within two to three years. Taiwanese tech companies on the mainland have already been captured. They are not going anywhere. China Inc. is reaping eye-popping profits on a gargantuan scale. I think we have passed the point of no return. China will keep developing into a monstrously sophisticated economy like the United States.

 

[Martian2]

China's Economic Miracle

Due to ignorance, the mainstream media likes to propagate the myth of the Next China. There cannot be a Next China, because China's Economic Miracle was a unique event.

Here is the standard version of the incredible fairy-tale story that is told. China was a poor developing country. Through low labor costs and hard work, China magically became an industrial behemoth.

The fairy-tale is clearly wrong. China's wages have been far higher than Southeast Asia, South Asia, and Africa for decades. No one has followed in China's footsteps.

The truth is that China (since opening up in 1978) has been part of Taiwan's economy. Taiwan's economic machine spent its trade surplus and has been building out China's economy for 37 years.

Think of it as the Han version of America's Reconstruction, which lasted 14 years, after the Civil War. China was economically devastated and poor after paying for the Korean War (1950-1953) and the Vietnam War (1962-1976). The US waged two wars on China's border and bled China dry. This is where Taiwan steps in with all of Taiwan's wealth in capital and technology. Voila! Taiwanese Reconstruction of mainland China starts in 1978.

Thus, China's economy is a super-sized version of Taiwan's. Hence, it is not replicable. Taiwan has been running large trade surpluses for decades. Taiwan invested its huge hoard of capital into mainland China. Taiwan also possesses the world's third-largest cumulative foreign reservoir of USPTO patents. Obviously, Taiwan has been very successful in exporting PC motherboards, notebook computers, PC peripherals, semiconductor chips, electronics, specialty chemicals, etc.

China was never a developing country that crawled up the ladder of industrialization. The Taiwanese engine has been pulling the Chinese economic train along for decades. It is still happening today. China will punch through the middle-income trap as if the barrier doesn't exist. Taiwan's nominal per-capita GDP is around $23,000 this year. China will keep following Taiwan up the wealth ladder. They are both using the same Han technologies and patents.

 

[TaiShang]

Analysis

In the entire world, there are only four countries (e.g. US, Japan, South Korea, and Germany) and Taiwan ahead of China in annual USPTO patents. China has left the industrialized countries of Canada, UK, France, and Italy behind.

China has been climbing the USPTO rankings year-by-year. The number of American USPTO patents looks huge, but much of it is comprised of drugs research and medical devices. Eventually, China will compete in these categories too.

We expect continued improvement from China with each passing year. Obviously, Huawei is growing stronger than ever. Huawei's revenue was $46.5 billion for 2014. Ericsson Telecom only had $26.4 billion.

With an anticipated trade surplus of $720 billion this year, China can fund more research and development to generate more patents. Also, China bought a DRAM design company. We can expect future Chinese DRAM patents.

1. Chinese USPTO patents are currently sufficient for a middle-of-the-pack industrialized country. Combined with Taiwan's USPTO patents, China is at the leading edge of industrialized countries. This is evident in China's status as the world's largest exporter of over $2 trillion in goods and the largest trade surplus nation.

2. Standing alone, China meets the industrialized-country quantity standard for USPTO patents. Including Taiwan, China is only behind the US and Japan in annual USPTO patents.

3. Judged on a quality standard, Huawei, ZTE, Haier, Baidu, SMIC, Spreadtrum, and many other large Chinese corporations (see China's billion-dollar companies) clearly meet the criteria of producing relevant patents that can be incorporated into expensive products.

4. Having met the quantity and quality standards, we examine the health of China's tech companies. Using Huawei as an example, annual net profits have climbed 33% to $4.5 billion. Across the board, Chinese tech companies are registering record profits. We expect the Chinese tech boom to continue. After all, Chinese tech companies are flush with cash.

5. The Chinese government has a hoard of $4 trillion in forex reserves. China Inc. is running a trade surplus of $2 billion PER DAY. This provides the Chinese government with a huge pool of cash to invest in existing and new tech enterprises.

6. Approximately 60% of China's high-tech exports are conducted by Taiwanese companies. Does this mean that China is reliant on Taiwan's tech expertise? Not really. About one to two million Taiwanese live on the Chinese mainland. As residents of China, the Taiwanese expats are unlikely to return to Taiwan. In practice, China has already captured the Taiwanese experts and high-tech expertise.

For example, all of Taiwan's notebook computer production has moved to China. Ostensibly, notebook computer technology falls under Taiwanese control. In reality, all of the engineers and technicians reside on mainland China. They work there on a daily basis to keep the notebook computer plants running smoothly.

In conclusion, China is firing on all cylinders. Domestic Chinese tech companies are growing into behemoths. Huawei could pass Intel in revenues within two to three years. Taiwanese tech companies on the mainland have already been captured. They are not going anywhere. China Inc. is reaping eye-popping profits on a gargantuan scale. I think we have passed the point of no return. China will keep developing into a monstrously sophisticated economy like the United States.

Amazing and excellent analysis, Martian. That's literally information-overload. Thanks!

China accepts the most number of invention patent applications around the world for 4 consecutive years

February 28 2015

In 2014, the number of invention patent applications accepted by China ranked the first in the world for 4 consecutive years, and the quality of applications was also improved gradually, while the number of authorizations was also increased greatly.

Gan Shaoning, Deputy Director of State Intellectual Property Office introduced in the press conference related to applications for invention patents within China in 2014 held recently that, in the last year, the State Intellectual Property Office accepted 928,000 applications for invention patents, with a 12.5% year-on-year growth, which made China rank the first in the world.

Among those applications, many of them were submitted by enterprises, which became the major subject for creating intellectual property rights. In 2014, Chinese enterprises submitted 485,000 applications for invention patents, accounting for 60.5% of total number of applications within China; while 92,000 applications for invention patents submitted by Chinese enterprises were approved, accounting for 56.4% of total number of approvals within China.

Scientific and technological enterprises took the lead in terms of approved invention patent application. Huawei, with its 2409 applications, ranked the first in terms of the number of invention patent granted, and ZTE, with 2218 applications, ranked the second. The data reflected their innovation strength and technological level, and the invention patents also became a strong shield to protect the innovative product of enterprise. (Source: Science and Technology Daily)