On June 1, 2022, China’s National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) released its 2021 Annual Report (2021年度报告).  Highlights of the report include invention patent applications have increased 5.9% year-on-year to 1.586 million; utility model patent application filings decreased 2.5% to 2.852 million; design applications increased 4.6% to 806,000. China’s invention authorization rate was 55% in 2021.

In 2021, the number of invention patent applications in China were 1.586 million, a year-on-year increase of 5.9%. Among them, there were 1.428 million domestic invention patent applications, accounting for 90.0% of the total, a year-on-year increase of 6.2%; foreign-originated invention patent applications in China were 158,000, accounting for 10.0% of the total, a year-on-year increase of 3.6%.

In 2021, 696,000 invention patents were granted, a year-on-year increase of 31.3%. Among them, 586,000 domestic invention patents were granted, accounting for 84.2% of the total; 110,000 foreign-originated invention patents were granted in China, a year-on-year increase of 23.0%. 

In 2021, 3.12 million utility model patents were granted, a year-on-year increase of 31.2%; 786,000 design patents will be authorized, a year-on-year increase of 7.3%.

In 2021, 107,000 PCT international applications entering the Chinese national phase were received, a year-on-year increase of 6.3%, including 106,000 invention patent applications and 916 utility model patent applications. Since 1994, China has received a total of 1.419 million PCT international applications entering the Chinese national phase.

In 2021, a total of 7,628 requests for patent invalidation were accepted, a year-on-year increase of 23.5%; 7,065 cases were concluded, a year-on-year decrease of 1.1%. The average period for concluding a patent invalidation request is 5.8 months. In the concluded invalidation cases of invention patents, 24.7% were completely invalid, 15.0% were partially invalid, and 60.4% were valid. Among the concluded utility model patent invalidation cases, 42.0% were completely invalid, 17.8% were partially invalid, and 40.2% valid. Among designs, final cases of invalidation of the design patent, 49.9% were invalid, 0.9% were partially invalid and 49.1% were valid. 

In 2021, the number of trademark applications in China reached 9.451 million, including 9.193 million domestic trademark applications, accounting for 97.3% of the total, a year-on- year increase of 0.8%; foreign-originated trademark applications in China reached 258,000, accounting for 2.7% of the total, a year-on-year increase 11.6%

In 2021, the number of trademark registrations reached 7.739 million, a year-on-year increase of 34.3%. Among them, 7.545 million domestic trademarks were registered, accounting for 97.5% of the total, a year-on-year increase of 35.3%; 194,000 foreign-originated trademarks were registered in China, accounting for 2.5% of the total, a year-on-year increase of 5.2%.

The top 3 Chinese invention patent grantees were Huawei (7,629 invention patents), Tencent (4,537) and Oppo (4,204).  The top 3 foreign invention patent grantees were Samsung (2,293 invention patents), Toyota (1,425) and Qualcomm (1,389).

The top Chinese invention patent grantees in China in 2021.

The top foreign invention patent grantees in China in 2021.

The full text of the report is available here: 2021年度报告 (Chinese only).