In 2006, the Chinese government signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the European Union on the protection of intellectual property rights (IPR). (Photo : Reuters)
The State Intellectual Property Office has released data on Feb. 23, Monday, that showed that China has again surpassed the record of other countries in terms of patent application for the fourth consecutive year.
Based on government data, China has recorded more than 928,000 patent applications in 2014, more than the number recorded in any other country.
China Daily reported that the government data also revealed that of the total applications, 663,000 of these were found to be inventions of high-quality market value. The data also showed that in terms of patent ratio, 4.9 patents were filed per 10,000 persons.
The state office attributed the high number of patent applications to China's enterprises, which it said are responsible for research and the development of innovative products and new technologies.
The agency said that in 2014 alone, the patent applications filed by Chinese enterprises reached about 485,000, surpassing the number filed by individuals, research agencies and academic institutions.
The government data also showed that China's telecom giant Huawei Technologies was granted at least 2,409 patents for inventions last year.
The government said that the high number of inventions was driven by high demand from industry and consumers, China Daily reported.
The state office also reported that invention patents account for about 39.3 percent of all applications last year, more than that of utility products such as cosmetics, which account for 36.8 percent.
One of the agency's priorities to encourage innovation includes the improvement of protection for intellectual property as the country plans to establish a standard intellectual property rights (IPR) system by 2020.
