According to the latest statistics from SIPO, there had been a rapid growth in patent filings and grants in China in the first half of 2009. The total of patent applications reached 426,000, up 23.1% as compared with the same period in 2008. 252,000 patents were granted, up 31.3% as compared with the same period in 2008. For the first ime, the number of domestic applications for inventions exceeded the number of foreign applications for inventions, accounting for 70% of all applications for inventions.
Of all the 426,000 patent applications, 375,000 are domestic applications, up 28.9% as compared with the same period in 2008 and accounting for 88.0% of the total applications. Of 375,000 domestic applications, 205,000(54.7%) are made on the job, and 170,000 (45.3%) are other applications. There are 51,000 applications from abroad, down 7.3% and accounting for 12.0% of the total applications. Of all the applications, 148,000 are applications for invention (34.8%), 142,000 for utility models (33.4%) and 136,000 for designs (31.8%).
