BEIJING: The number of valid invention patents in the Chinese mainland exceeded 4 million by the end of 2023, the National Intellectual Property Administration (NIPA) said on Tuesday.

CCTV+ quoted Hu Wenhui, the deputy head of the administration, as saying that – as of the end of 2023 – the Chinese mainland possessed 4.015 million valid invention patents, marking a year-on-year growth rate of 22.4 percent and surpassing the milestone of 4 million for the first time.

In breakdown, 427,00 domestic enterprises hold a total of 2.909 million valid invention patents, accounting for 71.2 percent of the total, exceeding 70 percent for the first time, he noted.

Among the patents 1.665 million were of high-value invention ones, accounting for 41.5 percent of the total, an increase of 1.1 percentage points from the previous year. There were 44.047 million domestically registered valid trademarks, up 8.4 percent year on year.

A total of 921,000 invention patents were authorised in 2023, while about 74,000 internation
al patent applications were filed via the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), he said.

Source: Emirates News Agency