World Intellectual Prop Org: Rise of China as World's Largest IP Powerhouse

[JSCh]

China powers global patent applications to new record in 2015: WIPO
(Xinhua) 09:29, November 24, 2016

GENEVA, Nov. 23 -- Innovators in China powered global patent applications to a new record in 2015, filing more than a million applications for the first time ever within a single year, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Wednesday said in a report.

According to WIPO's annual World Intellectual Property Indicators (WIPI) report, in total, innovators around the world lodged some 2.9 million patent applications in 2015, representing a 7.8-percent increase over 2014 and the sixth straight year of rising demand for patent protection.

China's patent office received 1,101,864 filings in 2015, making it the first office to receive more than a million applications in a single year, including both filings from residents in China as well as from overseas innovators seeking patent protection inside China.

This totaled almost as many applications as the next three offices combined: the United States(589,410), Japan (318,721) and South Korea (213,694).

U.S. applicants filed the most applications abroad (237,961), marking a 6.0-percent increase.

Though innovators based in China filed comparatively fewer overseas applications (42,154), that figure has risen steadily over the past two decades.

"As policy-makers seek to invigorate growth around the world, it is encouraging to report that intellectual property filing activity saw healthy progression in 2015," said WIPO director general Francis Gurry. "While China continues to drive global increases, IP use grew in most countries in 2015, reflecting its increasing importance in a globalized knowledge economy."

In terms of trademark applications, China -- with a class count of 2.83 million -- saw by far the highest trademark filing activity in 2015. It was followed by the United States, the European Union Intellectual Property Office, Japan and India.

 

[Shotgunner51]

China's urbanisation rate is only 50%

Right on spot! That's why on per capita basis China doesn't need to benchmark against small population nations like South Korea (3,305 patents per million), Japan (2,880) or Switzerland (1,035). As long as China (now 706) is on par with another populous nation (say US which is 897) then it's normal.

 

[GS Zhou]

Two out of the Top Three PCT applicants belong to China!!

For every unit of GDP creation, the patents volume of China is growing rapidly. That clearly shows China is shifting to a more innovation-driven development mode!!

 

[Shotgunner51]

Two out of the Top Three PCT applicants belong to China!!
View attachment 355048

Huawei despite being a R&D and patents powerhouse, glad to see they are actively using PCT, after all two-thirds of their revenue comes from outside of China. ZTE is similar case. Good job both! I believe more Chinese tech firm will use PCT to protect their overseas market shares, money in billions.

Quite surprised to see BOE and Tencent so active on PCT as well, perhaps their global business is increasingly important. What is Tencent doing outside of China?

 

[AndrewJin]

Right on spot! That's why on per capita basis China doesn't need to benchmark against small population nations like South Korea (3,305 patents per million), Japan (2,880) or Switzerland (1,035). As long as China (now 706) is on par with another populous nation (say US which is 897) then it's normal.

50% is really a low number.
The goal is at least 80%.
Low industrialisation at county/township-level poses challenges as well as opportunities.
Small and medium size enterprises located at these rural regions are on the rapid rise!

High-end equipment manufacturing in Gui'an, Guizhou Province, Southwest China
Such as CT machines!

 

[Shotgunner51]

50% is really a low number.
The goal is at least 80%.
Low industrialisation at county/township-level poses challenges as well as opportunities.
Small and medium size enterprises located at these rural regions are on the rapid rise!

High-end equipment manufacturing in Gui'an, Guizhou Province, Southwest China
Such as CT machines!

View attachment 355064

Yes as urbanization is proceeding, R&D will be more intense hence the indicators (patent per capita) should increase.

 

[sbmc27]

I am curious to know input from honourable member 'the patent master'.

What about the position of south Asia as a whole?

 

[Shotgunner51]

What about the position of south Asia as a whole?

Rankings of total (resident and abroad) patents filing activity by origin for South Asian nations, 2015:

India 14
Pakistan 71
Bangladesh 92
Sri Lanka 68​

Above rankings are on patents, for other IP say industrial designs or trademarks, check below table. If you want other IP like utility models, plant varieties, check the full report at http://www.wipo.int/edocs/pubdocs/en/wipo_pub_941_2016.pdf

 

[ahojunk]

China encourages entrepreneurship, innovation in rural areas
(Xinhua) 20:49, November 29, 2016

BEIJING, Nov.29 (Xinhua) -- The central government on Tuesday released a set of guidelines to encourage rural residents to explore entrepreneurship and innovation.

According to a State Council document, the government will roll out policies to encourage migrant workers, college graduates, retired servicemen, scientists and technicians to start up businesses in the countryside to aid rural economic development.

The government expects them to work together and inject new energy into the rural economy by introducing modern technology, systems and management concepts to the countryside, which would make China's agricultural sector more competitive and increase farmers' income.

New agribusinesses including large-scale farming, farm produce processing, leisure agriculture, rural tourism, producer and consumer services are priorities of the policy support, it said.

The government will also encourage new types of business entities like family farms and farming cooperatives and online businesses.

Specific measures include easing market access, improving rural financial services, increasing fiscal support, providing entrepreneurship and innovation training and perfecting social safety net, it said.

 

[Place Of Space]

Thanks. On your question about PCT, which is facility used by innovator in cross-border protection, see this:

Most patents before entering PCT are written in Chinese, Japanese and Korean. To facilitate translation, WIPO has developed a translation machine based on artificial intelligence that outperforms any other technology for translating the complex language used in patents, handing innovators around the world the highest-quality service yet available for accessing information on new technologies.

WIPO has initially “trained” the new technology to translate Chinese, Japanese and Korean patent documents into English. Patent applications in those languages accounted for some 55% of worldwide filings in 2014. Users can already try out the Chinese-English translation facility on the public beta test platform.

“One of the aims of the patent system is to make technology available. Language is a barrier to the universal achievement of that aim. This breakthrough for WIPO Translate means that a vast, and ever-increasing, trove of patent documents will soon be more easily accessible to innovators who search these records for inspiration or technical know-how,” said WIPO Director General Francis Gurry.

“As part of a global trend, patent applications are increasingly being filed in East Asian languages, particularly in Chinese, and WIPO Translate helps ensure that state-of-the-art knowledge created in these languages is shared as widely and rapidly as possible.”​

Read more at:

http://www.wipo.int/pressroom/en/articles/2016/article_0014.html
https://www.ft.com/content/d6be65f0-9e8d-11e6-891e-abe238dee8e2
http://www.ag-ip-news.com/news.aspx?id=41081&lang=en​

Yes among the Top 20 we do see several nations in decline, like Japan, Finland, Netherlands, UK, Israel, Canada. Japan was world's #1 innovator between 1968-2005, then in decline, by 2015 they are still 3rd largest innovator after China, US, and second only to SK in per capita. Reasons? I don't know, perhaps it has to do with

1. Demographic decline
2. Unique socio-economic structure, aka "Keiretsu", resources highly concentrated only in corporations.

See global Top 100 applicants, the list is dominated by Japanese corporations. Six of out top ten were from one single nation of Japan, with Panasonic, Canon and Toyota Jidosha at top three.

View attachment 354916

The Indian firms should have performed better, I wonder how are they working, you know the number of them in top100?

 

[AndrewJin]

Two out of the Top Three PCT applicants belong to China!!
View attachment 355048

For every unit of GDP creation, the patents volume of China is growing rapidly. That clearly shows China is shifting to a more innovation-driven development mode!!
View attachment 355049

BOE??? The one discrupting Korean monopoly in OLED tech???

https://defence.pk/threads/emerging...led-market-to-disrupt-korean-monopoly.463561/

 

[Shotgunner51]

The Indian firms should have performed better, I wonder how are they working, you know the number of them in top100?

There is no applicant from India in global Top 100. Number of applicants by nation in Top 100 are:

• Japan, 46
• China, 23 (Mainland 20, Taiwan 3)
• South Korea, 16
  
• United States of America, 8
• Germany, 4
• Russia, 1
• Sweden, 1
• France, 1

 

[Place Of Space]

There is no applicant from India in global Top 100. Number of applicants by nation in Top 100 are:

• Japan, 46
• China, 23 (Mainland 20, Taiwan 3)
• South Korea, 16
  
• United States of America, 8
• Germany, 4
• Russia, 1
• Sweden, 1
• France, 1

View attachment 357006

You know what, in my mind, we thirst for a revolutional innovation which can totally change the world.

 

[Shotgunner51]

BOE??? The one discrupting Korean monopoly in OLED tech???

https://defence.pk/threads/emerging...led-market-to-disrupt-korean-monopoly.463561/

Yes that's the one, BOE is a tech giant and among the global Top 100.

Though slightly behind BOE, Huaxing (CSOT) is also a tech powerhouse in this game. On top of conducting intensive in-house R&D, Huaxing is also aggressively buying patents from R&D houses in Taiwan, Japan. They have bought 90 patents just this year, read this:

A top Chinese international filer joins the patent buyers’ club in deal with Intellectual Ventures-linked entity
http://www.iam-media.com/Blog/Detail.aspx?g=95590b2f-124a-473a-8b02-64d0cc069670
28 Nov 16

• A Chinese company that owns the fastest growing portfolio of US-issued patents and is among the world’s most prolific filers under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) has made what would appear to be its first acquisitions of third-party patents. It may well be the case that you’ve never heard of China Star Optoelectronics Technology (CSOT), also sometimes referred to by its Chinese name Huaxing; but while the Shenzhen-based company is far from being a household name, it is a significant player in the global consumer electronics industry. CSOT – which is jointly owned by TCL, Samsung Display and Chinese investor Century Science & Technology Investment – is China’s second largest display panel maker after Beijing-based BOE (another company that has made some big patent buys lately) and was the world’s sixth biggest TV panel producer last year by number of shipments.
• According to assignments data from both the USPTO and China’s SIPO, CSOT has acquired two patent portfolios from third parties in the past six months, in what would appear to be its first purchases of externally generated patents.
• Last month, CSOT’s Wuhan-based subsidiary was assigned 37 US patent assets – most of which seem to relate to LCD technology – by an offshore entity named HZW Intangible Assets Investment Management Limited. Further investigation reveals HZW to be affiliated with Taipei-based consulting firm HW Group. All of the acquired patents had been assigned to HZW by Taiwanese panel maker Chunghwa Picture Tubes (CPT) back in June.
• Earlier this year, CSOT was assigned 53 US patent assets by another offshore entity – this time, Hungary-domiciled Intellectuals High-Tech KFT. In what looks to be a clerical error, the transfer to CSOT is dated to 12th May – two weeks earlier than Intellectuals High-Tech KFT is supposed to have received the same patents from original owner Seiko Epson. All the available evidence points to Intellectual High-Tech KFT being a vehicle controlled by Intellectual Ventures (IV). It has made numerous acquisitions of patents over the last few years – the vast majority from Japanese corporates – and more than a fair few of these have ended up with III Holdings 3 LLC, an entity associated with the third iteration of IV’s Invention Investment Fund.
• It is possible that there is an IV connection to the CPT transaction too. The Taiwanese company’s assignment to HZW is its first transfer of patents to a third party since July 2011 – when it assigned a substantial number of assets to none other than IV.
• CSOT is just the latest Chinese tech company to turn to the patent marketplace in order to fortify its IP position.
• While SIPO may receive more applications than any other office, some of China's major businesses still feel the need to dip into the secondary market in order to obtain the assets they think they need. And this is even the case for that smaller number of Chinese companies, like CSOT, that do focus on building an IP portfolio internationally as well as at home.

IP (patents) are perhaps the most valuable assets for tech companies, and for tech-oriented nations.

 

[AndrewJin]

Yes that's the one, BOE is a tech giant and among the global Top 100.

Though slightly behind BOE, Huaxing (CSOT) is also a tech powerhouse in this game. On top of conducting intensive in-house R&D, Huaxing is also aggressively buying patents from R&D houses in Taiwan, Japan. They have bought 90 patents just this year, read this:

A top Chinese international filer joins the patent buyers’ club in deal with Intellectual Ventures-linked entity
http://www.iam-media.com/Blog/Detail.aspx?g=95590b2f-124a-473a-8b02-64d0cc069670
28 Nov 16

• A Chinese company that owns the fastest growing portfolio of US-issued patents and is among the world’s most prolific filers under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) has made what would appear to be its first acquisitions of third-party patents. It may well be the case that you’ve never heard of China Star Optoelectronics Technology (CSOT), also sometimes referred to by its Chinese name Huaxing; but while the Shenzhen-based company is far from being a household name, it is a significant player in the global consumer electronics industry. CSOT – which is jointly owned by TCL, Samsung Display and Chinese investor Century Science & Technology Investment – is China’s second largest display panel maker after Beijing-based BOE (another company that has made some big patent buys lately) and was the world’s sixth biggest TV panel producer last year by number of shipments.
• According to assignments data from both the USPTO and China’s SIPO, CSOT has acquired two patent portfolios from third parties in the past six months, in what would appear to be its first purchases of externally generated patents.
• Last month, CSOT’s Wuhan-based subsidiary was assigned 37 US patent assets – most of which seem to relate to LCD technology – by an offshore entity named HZW Intangible Assets Investment Management Limited. Further investigation reveals HZW to be affiliated with Taipei-based consulting firm HW Group. All of the acquired patents had been assigned to HZW by Taiwanese panel maker Chunghwa Picture Tubes (CPT) back in June.
• Earlier this year, CSOT was assigned 53 US patent assets by another offshore entity – this time, Hungary-domiciled Intellectuals High-Tech KFT. In what looks to be a clerical error, the transfer to CSOT is dated to 12th May – two weeks earlier than Intellectuals High-Tech KFT is supposed to have received the same patents from original owner Seiko Epson. All the available evidence points to Intellectual High-Tech KFT being a vehicle controlled by Intellectual Ventures (IV). It has made numerous acquisitions of patents over the last few years – the vast majority from Japanese corporates – and more than a fair few of these have ended up with III Holdings 3 LLC, an entity associated with the third iteration of IV’s Invention Investment Fund.
• It is possible that there is an IV connection to the CPT transaction too. The Taiwanese company’s assignment to HZW is its first transfer of patents to a third party since July 2011 – when it assigned a substantial number of assets to none other than IV.
• CSOT is just the latest Chinese tech company to turn to the patent marketplace in order to fortify its IP position.
• While SIPO may receive more applications than any other office, some of China's major businesses still feel the need to dip into the secondary market in order to obtain the assets they think they need. And this is even the case for that smaller number of Chinese companies, like CSOT, that do focus on building an IP portfolio internationally as well as at home.

IP (patents) are perhaps the most valuable assets for tech companies, and for tech-oriented nations.

Any ranking for 2016 by applicants?