The Information Office of the State Council held a press conference on January 12, 2022 to release the statistical data of intellectual property related work in 2021 and answer reporters' questions.

It is reported that the statistical data related to intellectual property rights in 2021 show the following four characteristics:

1. The innovation vitality of domestic market entities has been further stimulated. By the end of 2021, there were 298,000 domestic enterprises with valid invention patents, an increase of 52,000 over the previous year. Domestic enterprises own 1.908 million valid invention patents, a year-on-year increase of 22.6%, 5.0 percentage points higher than the national average growth rate. Among them, high-tech enterprises have 1.213 million valid invention patents, accounting for 63.6% of the total number of domestic enterprises, reflecting the continuous enhancement of the innovation and creativity of China's market entities.

2. The scale of patent and trademark pledge financing has been further expanded, and the universality further highlighted. In 2021, the patent and trademark pledge financing amount reached 309.8 billion yuan nationwide, with 17,000 financing projects which benefited 15,000 enterprises, a year-on-year increase of about 42%. Among them, 11,000 enterprises benefited from inclusive loans of less than 10 million RMB, accounting for 71.8% of the total number of enterprises benefited, which fully shows the inclusive characteristics of intellectual property pledge financing services for small, medium-sized and micro enterprises.

3. Patent reserve in the digital economy and medical fields has been further strengthened. According to the statistics of 35 technical fields divided by the World Intellectual Property Organization, by the end of 2021, the three fields with the fastest growth in the effective amount of domestic invention patents in China were information technology management methods, computer technology and medical technology, with year-on-year growth of 100.3%, 32.7% and 28.7% respectively, reflecting the continuous enhancement of patent reserves in key core technology fields and more powerful support for industrial upgrading, as well as better benefit people's life, health and daily life.

4. Foreign enterprises have further strengthened their confidence in China's intellectual property protection. In 2021, 110,000 invention patents were granted with foreign applicants in China, a year-on-year increase of 23.0%; 194,000 trademarks were registered, a year-on-year increase of 5.2%. Among them, the invention patents granted and trademarks registered of U.S. in China increased by 32.1% and 17.3% respectively year-on-year. The number of foreign intellectual property rights in China has maintained a rapid growth, indicating that foreign enterprises have firm confidence in China's intellectual property protection and business environment.

Specifically, by the end of 2021, the overall statistical data of IP work including patents, trademarks, geographical indications and integrated circuit layout designs in the aspects of creation, protection, utilization and service of intellectual property rights in China are as follows:

1. Patents. The effective number of invention patents in China is 3.597 million. Among them, there are 2.704 million valid domestic invention patents (excluding Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan). The number of high-value invention patents owned by per 10,000 population reached 7.5, an increase of 1.2 over the previous year. In 2021, 73,000 PCT international patent applications were accepted, of which 68,000 were submitted by domestic applicants. 54,000 patent reexamination cases and 7,100 invalidation cases were concluded.

2. Trademark. The number of effective trademark registrations in China is 37.24 million. In 2021, 5,928 applications for international registration of Madrid trademark were received from domestic applicants. 164,000 trademark opposition cases and 383,000 trademark review cases were examined.

3. Geographical indications. China has approved a total of 2,490 geographical indication products and up to 6,562 geographical indications for registration as collective trademarks and certification trademarks.

4. Integrated circuit layout design. A total of 52,000 IC layout designs have been issued in China.

5. The protection, utilization and service of intellectual property rights. China has built a total of 57 intellectual property protection centers and 30 IP rapid enforcement centers, and set up a national overseas intellectual property dispute response guidance center and 22 local sub centers.