The China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) recently released data through the third quarter of 2020.  September 2020 invention patent application filings were up almost 12% month on month and utility patent application filings were up 6.9% month on month.  Year on year, September 2020 invention patent application filings were up over 10% and utility model filings were up 33%.

Cumulative filings for invention patents applications through September 2020 was 1,102,863 versus 998,341 filings through September 2019.  Cumulative filings for utility model applications through September was 2,133,217 versus 1,603,214 filings through September 2019.  Cumulatively, foreigners filed 10.6% of invention patent applications so far this year and 0.3% of utility model applications, an often overlooked intellectual property right.

Cumulatively through September 2020, there were 361,102 invention patents granted, with foreigners receiving 17.8% of the granted patents.  Cumulatively, there were 1,724,770 utility models granted, with foreigners receiving 0.4% of the grants.

6,950 Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) applications were received in September 2020 for a total of 49,345  PCT applications cumulatively for the year. Extrapolating for the year, there may be almost 66,000 PCT applications, exceeding the 13th five-year plan goal of 60,000 PCT applications by 2020.

October 2020, like last year, will likely show a decrease in filings due to the long holiday. 

Additional detailed data is available here (Chinese only).

Source: China IP Law Update