Patent application reviews to be faster and more efficient

China is gradually becoming more efficient and speedier in reviewing its world-leading number of patent applications, in line with broader efforts to spearhead tech innovation. The China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA), the country’s top IP regulator, intends to shorten the review period for patent applications made this year to 15½ months, down from 16 months in 2023 and 16½ months in 2022, according guidelines released on Wednesday. Before the formal release, the ministry had touched on its plans to improve patent-review standards for emerging fields such as big data, artificial intelligence and genetic technologies. “[We will] expand the scope of review and expedite the process, as well as strengthen the review mechanisms to support critical technology breakthroughs and the high-quality development of key industries,” said Wang Peizhang, a senior official at the CNIPA, in March. Patents are considered an important marker of innovation and technological capabilities, but China has been criticised for heavily subsidising patent applicants, and for putting an emphasis on quantity over quality. Data released by the World International Patent Organisation (Wipo) last month showed that China had maintained its position for the fifth straight year as the top origin of patent applications under the United Nations Patent Cooperation Treaty, filing 69,610 applications in 2023, compared with 55,678 by the United States. Beijing has set out to tighten quality supervision and reduce substandard applications. “Original innovation has consistently been the weakest link in [China’s] self-dependent innovation,” said Xu Guanhua, a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences who used to serve as the science and technology minister. Xu was quoted last month by the Study Times, the mouthpiece of the Central Party School of the Communist Party, as saying that fundamental research into cutting-edge technologies served as “an indicator of a country’s strength and a lifeline for future development”. “As a major power, we must achieve breakthroughs in original innovation,” he urged, echoing President Xi Jinping, who called in January for efforts to boost “disruptive innovation”. China ranked as the 12th most innovative out of 132 economies surveyed in Wipo’s 2023 innovation index, trailing countries such as Switzerland, the US, Singapore and South Korea, and was the only middle-income country in the top 30 of the annual assessment. “China’s innovation quality shows notable disparities, with deficiencies in specific industries being crucial factors behind the gap between China and the US,” according to a research report released by the CICC Global Institute last year. While fields such as computer science, communication and transport technologies remained bright spots and reached global frontier levels, noticeable deficiencies persisted in pharmaceuticals, chemicals and semiconductors, the report said. Based on an analysis of patents granted in the US compiled in the Wipo database, the report said China’s patents were mostly from the electrical engineering industry, while much fewer came from traditional mechanical and chemical sectors, compared with a more balanced mix in countries such as the US, Japan and Germany. “Although the advancement of key industries may drive a surge in patent quantity, this alone is insufficient to enhance overall patent quality; elevating patent quality requires strengthening the innovation capabilities of industries with deficiencies,” the report said. It further warned that the rapid increase in Chinese patents “did not fully translate into international competitiveness in technology”, stressing that patent applications to other countries accounted for less than 10 per cent of the total filings over the past few years. “Many [Chinese patent applications] are primarily aimed at corporate promotion, product marketing and seeking policy support, rather than having the intention or profitability to enter overseas markets. So, applicants do not actively seek substantial patent protection in multiple countries,” the report said. A patent survey report published by the CNIPA in late 2022 also pointed to a lack of international competitiveness in China. Among the surveyed enterprises holding patents, industries related to information transmission, software and IT service had most submissions for patent applications abroad, yet only 9.1 of them filed submissions to overseas patent offices, the report found. In a separate statement on Thursday, the CNIPA said it would work with the US, European Union, Japan and South Korea to improve their Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) network, which aims to shorten the review time for patent applications under the programme to three months. The PPH enables applicants who have obtained a patent from one office to request expedited processing of a related application at another office, allowing the second office to leverage the work done by the first, thereby expediting the application process. Since launching its first PPH trial in November 2011, China has established PPH cooperation with patent examination agencies from 32 countries or regions, according to the CNIPA.