Evolution of the Chinese patent
system and recent progress
Dr. Mao Jinsheng
Intellectual Property Development Research Center
Of The State Intellectual Property Office
Of The People’s Republic of China
December 10th, 2010
Outline
1. History of the Chinese IPR system
2. Current status of the Chinese patent
system
3. Challenge
4. National IPR strategy
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1. History of the Chinese IPR system
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1.1 Development history and status of the
Chinese intellectual property system
History - Before 1949
 In 1989, the Qing dynasty issued patent law
 In 1904, the trademark law
 In 1910, the copyright law
History - After 1949
 Until 1978, basically a blank period

1979 – 1990, founding period

1990 – Present, development period
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1.2 Laws and regulations governing
intellectual property rights
Time passed
Trademark law
1982.8.23
1983.3.1
2 Patent law
1984.3.12
1985.4.1
3
Copyright law
1990.9.7
1990.9.7
1991.6.1
4
Regulation for protection of computer software
1991.5.24
1991.6.4
1991.10.1
5
Anti-trust law
1993.9.2
1
6
7
Regulation on administration of audio-visual
products
Customs protection of intellectual property
rights
8
Protection of new varieties of plants
9
Protection of integrated circuit layout designs
regulation
2001.3.28
10 Collective management of copyright regulations
11
Administrative protection of copyright on the
internet
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Time issued
Time of
implementation
Title
1993.12.1
1994.8.25
1994.10.1
1995.7.6
1995.10.1
1997.4.21
1997.10.1
2001.4.2
2001.10.1
2004.12.22
2005.3.1
2005.4.30
2005.5.30
5
Status-Intellectual property system




Established a legal system for intellectual property rights suitable for
Chinese environment and in accordance with international rules.
Established a working system including administrative approval,
promotion and training, intermediary services, academic research, etc.
Established administrative and legal systems, with a parallel law
enforcement system of intellectual property rights.
In recent years, the number of the applications of Chinese trademarks,
utility patent and design patent continue to be largest in the world,
while the number of applications for invention patents is ranked fourth
in the world.
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1.3 Several amendments of the Chinese patent
laws
1984.03
The Patent Law of the People's Republic of China (hereinafter “the
Patent Law”) was promulgated on March 12, 1984, marking the
foundation of a patent system in China. It went into force on April 1,
1985, opening a new chapter in the history of China's patent system.
1992.09
The Patent Law was first amended on September 4, 1992. This
amendment brought expanded
content, prolonged duration and strengthened the protection of
patent rights. The amended Patent Law and its Implementing
Regulations entered into effect on January 1, 1993.
2000.08
The Patent Law was amended for the second time in 2000 to make it
in better conformity with the TRIPS Agreement of the WTO, laying
an improved legal climate of patent for China's accession to the
WTO. The amended Patent Law and its Implementing Regulations
took effect on July 1, 2001.
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1.3 Several amendments of the Chinese patent laws
2008.12
The Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People’s
Congress on Amending the Patent Law of the People’s Republic of
China was voted through at the 6th session of the 11th meeting of the
NPC Standing Committee on 27 December of 2008. The revised
Patent Law of the People’s Republic of China came into force as of
October 1, 2009. The 3rd amendment to the Patent Law, featuring
reinforcement of the legitimate rights and interests of both domestic
and foreign applicants.
2010
Decision of the standing committee of the State Council on Amending
the Implementing Regulations of the Patent Law of the People's
Republic of China (Draft) was voted through on 30 December of
2009.The Draft improved the secrecy examination system of the
invention-creation completed in China pursuing a overseas
application, supplemented and detailed the patent application
procedure and granting criteria, clarified the disclosure requirements
for genetic resources information and the administrative punishment
of patent infringement. The amended Implementing Regulations came
into force as of 1 February of 2010.
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2. Current status of the Chinese
patent system
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Indicators of China’s patens

Three types of patents：invention、utility model、design

Five types of applicants: enterprises, universities, research institutions,
associations, individual.

Indicators include basic patent indicators, statistics and survey
indicators and evaluation indicators.

Basic patent indicators: number of applications, number of granted
patents, number of owned patents

Statistics and survey indicators: usage rate of patents, licensing rate etc.

Evaluation indicators: competitiveness evaluation, management
capability evaluation, quality of patent evaluation
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2.1 Statistics of applications of the three
patent types（1991-2009）
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Distribution for domestic patent applications
（1991-2009）
Distribution for Domestic Patent Applications
100%
Invent
Utility Model
Design
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
19
85
19
86
19
87
19
88
19
89
19
90
19
91
19
92
19
93
19
94
19
95
19
96
19
97
19
98
19
99
20
00
20
01
20
02
20
03
20
04
20
05
20
06
20
07
20
08
20
09
0%
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Application structure of the three
patent types between (1985-2009)
1985~2009 Applications for 3 Kinds of Patents
Colleges and Universities
Scientific Research Units
Enterprises
Authorities and Organizations
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
19
85
19
86
19
87
19
88
19
89
19
90
19
91
19
92
19
93
19
94
19
95
19
96
19
97
19
98
19
99
20
00
20
01
20
02
20
03
20
04
20
05
20
06
20
07
20
08
20
09
0%
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申请与授权的时间间隔 between 1985
and 2009
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Application structure of the three
patent types between (1985-2009)
Foreign Invention Patent Applications From Europe
during 1985~The First Half of 2010
120,000
45%
40%
100,000
35%
80,000
60,000
40,000
30%
Foreign Applications
25%
Foreign Applications From Europe
20%
Proportion of Europe
15%
10%
20,000
5%
0%
19
8
19 5
8
19 6
8
19 7
8
19 8
8
19 9
9
19 0
9
19 1
9
19 2
9
19 3
9
19 4
9
19 5
9
19 6
9
19 7
9
19 8
9
20 9
0
20 0
0
20 1
0
20 2
0
20 3
0
20 4
0
20 5
0
20 6
0
20 7
0
20 8
0
20 9
10
0
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2.2 Statistics of granted patents between
(1991-2009)
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2.3 Statistics of patent in force(2006-2009)
Domestic Patents in Force
600,000
Inventi on
Uti l i ty Model
Des i gn
500,000
400,000
300,000
200,000
100,000
0
2006
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2007
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2008
2009
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2.4 Statistics of PCT applications between
(1994-2009)
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2.5 Percentage of multi-party applications
(1998-2009)
Cooperation Applications
60,000
30%
Cooperation Applications
Cooperation Applications of ECUSRU
50,000
25%
Cooperation Applications with Proportion of All Applications
ECUSRU Cooperation Applications with Proportion of Cooperation
Applications
40,000
20%
30,000
15%
20,000
10%
10,000
5%
0
0%
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
Remark: ECUSRU=Enterprises, Colleges and Universities, Scientific Research Units.
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2.6 Patent concentration (1985-2009)
Patent Concentration
16%
14%
12%
Proportion of Top Ten Colleges and Universities
Proportion of Top Ten Enterprises
Proportion of Top Ten Scientific Research Units
10%
8%
6%
4%
2%
19
8
19 5
8
19 6
8
19 7
8
19 8
8
19 9
9
19 0
9
19 1
9
19 2
9
19 3
9
19 4
9
19 5
9
19 6
9
19 7
9
19 8
9
20 9
0
20 0
0
20 1
0
20 2
0
20 3
0
20 4
0
20 5
0
20 6
0
20 7
0
20 8
0
20 9
10
0%
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3. Economic development in China
and challenges of patents
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3.1 Strengthen competitiveness:
The challenges that China is
facing

Intellectual property rights have wealth,
commodity and high added value characteristics
in market economy.

Intellectual property rights are an essential means
of market competition, a foundation and criteria
for establishment of an innovative nation.
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Curve of changes in added values
during product marketing
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Internal needs- Significance of intellectual
property in development of China

Knowledge with intellectual property constitutes
the most important production factors and wealth
resources.

Intellectual property rights are a powerful tool in
knowledge economy and international
competition.
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3.2 The Chinese intellectual property
system faces multiple challenges

Foreign firms apply for a large number of patents and register
lots of trademarks. Foreign firms are with more abundant
experience of IRP management and greater strengths in the
competition, compared with domestic firms.

Foreign patent applications are mainly for invention patents.

Foreign patent applications are mainly in high-tech sectors.

Foreign patents are likely to be renewed and protected for a
longer period.
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
Survey on top 500 Chinese enterprises shows: there were
50% enterprises experienced intellectual property disputes.
The numbers of disputes were significant when compared to
the limited numbers of independent intellectual property
rights.

Although Chinese total trade volume is the third in the world,
only 2% of total exports are independent innovative high-tech
products.

Only several thousand domestic firms in China owned
indigenous IPR, accounting for 0.03% of total domestic firms.

99% of firms have never applied for patents. Only 40% of
firms have own trademarks.

A lot of companies manufacture but do not innovate, have
property but no intellectual property, even rely on copying to
survive.
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3.3 Qualitative analysis
Domestic invention patent applications are concentrated in
some technical fields
Categories with the most domestic invention patent application
fields are:
Domestic Ratio of individual
applications
Traditional Chinese medicine中药
98%
83%
Non-alcohol (soft) drinks非酒(软)饮料 96%
67%
Food食品
90%
77%
(Chinese) input method (中文)输入法 79%
84%
Sewerage processing污水处理73%
53%
Special ceramics特种陶瓷
64%
32%
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International invention patent applications in China are
concentrated in high-tech fields
Ratio of international applications
Wireless Transmission
Mobile communication
Television system
Transmission equipment
Semiconductor
Television parts
Genetic engineering
Western medicine
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93%
91%
90%
89%
85%
85%
75%
69%
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Longer duration of international patent protection
Protection periods for the first batch of domestic invention patents expired
(Note: Protection period was 15 years before patent law revision)
Total
Domestic
International
Numbers of invention
patent applications(1985)
8000
4000
50%
4000
50%
Numbers of
patents expired(2000)
1200
95
7.9%
1105
92.1%
Average duration of domestic patents
Invention patents: 5-6 years, utiity patents 3-4 years
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Distributions for Patent Applications from
Domestic and foreign (2008)
Distributions for Patent Applications from
Domestic and Foreign
Domestic
Foreign
85.7%
41.6%
27.1%
31.2%
12.8%
1.5%
Invention
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Utility Model
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Design
30
Invention Patent Applications and Grants from
Domestic and Foreign (Accumulated)
Invention Patent Applications and Grants from
Domestic and Foreign (Accumulated)
Applications
Grants
58.6%
56.2%
43.8%
41.4%
Domestic
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Foreign
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Valid patents owned by domestic organizations : a
not-so-rosy picture

Number of valid patents is few-less then 25% of total applications

Share of valid invention patents is low-accounted for 13.8% of the
total

Renewed period of patent is short-invention patents renewed up to 10
years accounted for 4.8% of valid patents (corresponding figure for
the patents granted to foreign applicants is 24.9%); utility patents
renewed up to 5 years accounted for 15.4% of the total; design
patents renewed up to 5 years accounted for 10.1% of the total.
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Few patent applications by the Chinese companies in
foreign patent offices
Till 1999
average less then 300 applications each year
2000
1026 applications
2007
Less than 10,000 applications
Patent applications in foreign patent office per million habitants in
China is less than 5, but in developed countries are over 50.
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4. National IPR strategy
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4.1 Internal needs- Intellectual property rights
and innovation-oriented country
Innovationoriented
country
Knowledge
economy
predominates
and
independent
innovation
becomes the
major driving
power and
resources for
economic and
social
development
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National core
competitiveness
Knowledge
economy
Production
factors is
primarily
composed of
knowledge
capital
supported by
other factors.
Knowledge
capital
+Human
capital
Knowledge
wealth
+Non-material
cultural heritage,
standards,
business models,
outdated
intellectual
property rights.
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Intellectual
property
35
Internal needs- Significance of intellectual
property system in development of China

An institutional assurance for overall economic and
social development

Primary goal and resources for independent innovation

A natural choice for establishment of an innovationoriented country
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4.2 Guideline of the strategy
Strengthening construction of Chinese intellectual
property system, and greatly increasing abilities of
creation, administration, protection and application
of the intellectual property rights are urgent
demands for,
– Improving independent innovation ability and
construction of a innovation-oriented nation,
– Perfection of socialist market economic system,
standardization of market order and construction of
trustworthy society,
– Strengthening corporate market competitiveness and
national core competitiveness,
– Expansion of opening to the outside world and
accomplishment of mutual
benefits and wins.
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4.3 Main contents of the strategy——“112 579”
 1 Preface – Necessity, background, challenges and
opportunities
 1 Guiding Principle
 2 Strategic Goals: the next 5 years; by 2020
 5 Strategic focuses: improving the IP regime,
promoting the creation and utilization, strengthening
IPRs protection, prevent abuse of IPRs, and
fostering a culture of IPRs
 7 specific tasks: patent, trademark, copyright, trade
secret, new plant varieties, IP in specific areas,
IPRs related to national defense
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4.3 Main contents of the strategy——“112 579” (continue)
 9 strategic measures:
 1.Increasing the capacity to create intellectual property
 2.Encouraging the commercialization and utilization of
IPRs
 3. Expediting the development of the legal system for
intellectual property
 4. Improving intellectual property law enforcement
 5.Strengthening the administration of intellectual
property
 6. Developing intermediary services for IPRs
 7.Developing Intellectual Property Human Resources
 Promoting the cultivation of an intellectual property
culture
 9.Expanding international exchanges and cooperation
in intellectual property 国家知识产权局
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4.4 Plans to Promote IP Strategy

On 26 March 2010, the Plans to Promote the National
Intellectual Property Strategy Implementation was released.

The principal tasks of 2010 IP Strategy implementation are
as follows: fully implement the requirements of the Outline
of National IP Strategy, encourage IP creation and
utilization, enhance IP protection in accordance with the
law, consolidate the basis of IP Strategy implementation,
promote IP Strategy for more effective implementation,
strengthen IPR’ role in improving the transformation of the
economic development modes and economic structural
adjustment.
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Welcome to visit Intellectual Property
Development Research Center of
SIPO
Thank You！
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