Per recently released statistics from the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA), a total of 698,822 invention patents were granted, 1,596,992 utility models were granted, and 487,977 design patents were granted cumulatively through the third quarter of 2023.  Compared with the third quarter of 2022, this represents an almost 14% increase in invention patents granted versus an over 25% drop in utility model grants and an over 8% drop in design patent grants. 

The drop in utility models and design patents and increase in invention patents indicates a shift in China’s goal from quantity to quality. China has been cracking down on “abnormal” patents, mostly designs and utility models that do not undergo substantive examination, with almost 1 million of these abnormal patent applications identified in 2022 alone.  Further, China has been reducing patent subsidies and rewards steadily with an end target date of 2025.  Shenzhen, a major source of patent applications, has proposed to end all patent grant subsidies  by the end of 2023.

The full dataset from CNIPA is available here: 2023Q3 (Chinese only).