Belt and Road Countries shows growth in grant of China's patent application

Belt and Road Countries shows growth in grant of China's patent application

With 26 countries participating in the Belt and Road initiatives in 2020, the National Intellectual Property Administration (NIPA) of China announced that more than 4200 patents were granted by these 26 countries.

Despite the pandemic, China saw an increase in the patent application by 17.1 percent year on year, reaching 6,198 in 22 Belt and Road countries last year. Such an increase amid pandemic is mostly due to the One Belt One Road policy by China. Moreover, good co-operation exists between NIPA and these countries which eases the process. The major filings were focused on the technical area of digital communications computer technology, electrical apparatus, and energy which coincide with the objectives of the Belt and Road.

Moreover, China's funding policy has been a great support for the initiative in the Belt and Road. Cities like Xi'an, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai have different policies for companies contributing to the Belt and Road initiative. Subsidized registration fees have been provided to companies having granted patents in the in countries along the Belt and Road. The patent filing subsidies will end from June 2021 and the grant subsidies will end by the year 2025.

With difficulties in expanding business in western countries, companies are expanding in the Belt and Road initiative. And multiple tech giants are entering this such as Huawei, Xiaomi, OPPO, Tencent.

With the increase in filings amid pandemic, the significant growth shows China's quick response to stop transmission. Thus the economy returns to the pre-pandemic level very quickly which certainly helps in resuming the businesses. Under the initiative, South Korea received the most Chinese patent applications, with 3,395 filings, followed by Singapore, Vietnam, and the Philippines.

The reason for South Korea and Singapore receiving multiple requests is probably due to their effective patent system and more friendly approach which lead to providing stronger protection to patentees, thereby attracting more inventors. For instances, OPPO has filed over 1,200 patents and Xiaomi has also filed over 1,200 patents in Korea for the past five years after the commencement of the Belt and Road initiative.

With 13000 invention patents being granted by China in 2020 from 71 Belt and Road Countries, and 23000 patent applications submitted to China from 74 Belt and Road Countries, the scale is getting higher as compared to the year-on-year growth rate, recognizing China's improving business environment.