The State Intellectual Property Office recently released the statistics of patent applications filed through PCT route. According to the statistics, in 2012, the SIPO received 19,926 PCT applications, an increase of 14.0% as compared with the year of 2011, in which 18,145 were filed by domestic applicants, and 1,781 were submitted by foreign applicants.
The top provinces(autonomous regions and municipalities) in China in terms of the PCT filings in 2012 are Guangdong(9,211), Beijing(2,705), Shanghai(1,024), Jiangsu(915), Zhejiang(639), Shandong(531), Hunan(448), Taiwan (370), Tianjin(304), Fujian(266).
The statistics show that applicants in the economically-developed areas are using the PCT system more than other areas in China. For example in Guangdong province, ZTE and HUAWEI are filing more PCT applications.
