Asia IP

China accepted about 928,000 invention patent applications in 2014, some 103,000 more than in 2013, the State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) said on Jan 15.

SIPO director Shen Changyu told Xinhua that invention patent applications accounted for 39.3% of all patent applications last year, compared with a 34.7% in 2013.

China grants patents for three major categories: invention, utility model and design.

Invention patent application growth slowed from 26.3% in 2013 to 12.5% in 2014, according to Shen.

Growth in invention patent applications is moderating, but its share in total patent applications is rising, said Shen.

The director said SIPO will step up law enforcement in 2015 and put more efforts in intellectual property protection.