CNIPA 2020 Annual Report Released on Apr 27, 2021
1.497 million Invention patent applications were filed in 2020, among which 1.345 million (89.8%) were filed by Chinese applicants, 8.1% increase from 2019 and 152 thousand (10.2%) were filed by foreign applicants, 3% decrease from 2019. 2.927 million utility model applications were filed in 2020, 29% increase from 2019. 770 thousand design applications were filed in 2020, 8.3% increase from 2019.
Average pendency of invention patent applications was 20 months.
Invention patent issue rate was 47.3% (number of patents issued divided by number of applications concluded).
72 thousand PCT applications were filed with CNIPA in 2020, 18.6% increase from 2019. Among these, 67 thousand were filed by Chinese applicants, 17.9% increase from 2019.
55 thousand reexamination cases were filed in 2020 and the average pendency was 14.1 months. Decisions of rejection were overturned in 48.3% of the cases.
6178 invalidation cases were filed in 2020 and the average pendency was 5.9 months.
25.3% of the invention patents were completely invalidated, 14.9% were partially invalidated and 59.8% were maintained. 39.2% of the utility models were completely invalidated, 18.2% were partially invalidated and 42.6% were maintained. 46% of the design patents were completely invalidated, 1.1% were partially invalidated and 52.9% were maintained.
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