China registers notable increase of PCT application in 2007

March 4, 2008

State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO), China's Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) receiving office, received 5,401 PCT applications in 2007, representing an increase of 41.2% year-on-year. Among them, 5,211 were domestic and 180 were from abroad, accounting for 96.7% and 3.4% respectively. As 70% of the applications were from enterprises, enterprises have become the main force of domestic PCT applications. Filing over 1,544 and 430 applications for PCT respectively, Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd and ZTE Corporation ranked as the top two PCT applicants among all other local enterprises. It indicated that Huawei, ZTE and other domestic leading technology enterprises have increased their international patent registration move. Most Chinese PCT applications were from the technical field, among which, applications in electrology covered more than half of the total volume. The majority of the electrology applications involved telecommunication, making it one of the most prosperous sectors in China's technological innovation. It also shows that some Chinese enterprises have been able to carry out independent innovation. The majority of overseas PCT applications were from world-known companies. As most of those companies had launched part of Research & Development activities in China and SIPO's examination ability has been dramatically improved, the number of PCT application filed with SIPO from overseas companies realized gradual increase.