On July 14, 2021, the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) held a regular press conference in Beijing for the third quarter of 2021, focusing on the semi-annual statistical data of patents, trademarks, geographical indications and layout designs of integrated circuits, and the latest development of China's intellectual property industry reflected by these data.

In the first half of 2021, China's main intellectual property indicators met expectations, and the intellectual property industry progressed steadily.

(I) Patents

In the first half of the year, 339,000 invention patents were granted in China. By the end of June 2021, the effective number of invention patents in China was 3.324 million, of which the effective number of invention patents in China (excluding Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan) was 2.454 million, up 23.0% year-on-year. 33,300 PCT international patent applications were accepted, up 12.6% year-on-year. 

In the first half of the year, 1.327 million utility model patents and 393,000 design patents were granted in China. 28,400 patent reexaminations were closed, and 4,300 invalidation cases were closed.

(II) Trademarks

In the first half of the year, China registered 3.724 million trademarks. By the end of June 2021, the number of valid registered trademarks was 33.548 million, a year-on-year increase of 22.4%. Two thousand nine hundred and fifty-four applications for Madrid international trademark registration were received from applicants. 

In the first half of the year, CNIPA completed the examination of 82,000 trademark objection cases and the trial of 188,000 trademark review cases.

(III) Geographical Indications

In the first half of the year, CNIPA identified 87 geographical indication protection products, approved 254 geographical indications to be registered as collective trademarks and certification trademarks, and approved 3,355 market entities to use special signs for geographical indications. By June 2021, a total of 2,478 geographical indication protection products had been identified, 6,339 geographical indications had been registered as collective trademarks and certification trademarks, and 12,789 market entities had been approved to use special signs for geographical indications.

(IV) Layout Design of Integrated Circuits

In the first half of the year, 7629 integrated circuit layout designs were registered and issued in China, which continued to maintain rapid growth.

(V) Protection and Utilization of Intellectual Property Rights

In the first half of the year, 13,800 administrative adjudication cases of patent infringement disputes were filed in all provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities). The national patent and trademark pledge financing amount was 107.4 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 25.9%; the number of pledged projects was 6,195, up 32.4% year-on-year. 

Wherein, the amount of patent pledge financing was 86.2 billion yuan, up 32.4% year-on-year, and the number of pledge projects was 5,497, up 31.8% year-on-year. The amount of trademark pledge financing was 21.2 billion yuan, up 5.0% year-on-year, and the number of pledge projects was 698, up 37.7% year-on-year. 

The above data reflect three characteristics: the continuous improvement of China's intellectual property review ability, the steady increase in the number of domestic enterprises with invention patents, and the continuous growth of foreign applicants' intellectual property authorization registration in China.