Chinese patent application was in the first place for 8 consecutive years, accounting for half of the world total

Last month Nihon Keizai Shimbun Electronic Edition reported the following:

中国の特許出願、8年連続首位　世界全体の半分占める

中国・台湾 ヨーロッパ 北米 ビジネス

2019/10/16 7:01

5G技術を強みとするファーウェイも特許出願を増やしている（15日、スイス・チューリヒで同社が開催したイベント）

【チューリヒ=細川倫太郎】世界知的所有権機関（WIPO）は16日、2018年の中国の特許出願件数が前年比12%増の154万件に達したと発表した。世界全体の5割近くを占め、8年連続で首位となった。人工知能（AI）など最先端技術の知財分野では、中国を筆頭にアジアが世界をけん引する構図が鮮明になっている。

世界全体の特許出願件数は5%増の332万件と過去最多を更新した。国・地域別で2位は米国の59万件、3位に日本（31万件）、4位に韓国（20万件）と続いた。上位の順位は前年と変わっていないが、日米は前年比では減少した。

中国の出願はコンピューター技術やデジタル情報通信、電子機器分野が多い。中国通信機器大手、華為技術（ファーウェイ）は次世代通信規格「5G」などで技術開発を加速し、出願を増やしている。日本勢は三菱電機やキヤノン、トヨタ自動車などの出願が目立つ。

WIPOのガリー事務局長は「アジアはイノベーションの世界的なハブに成長し、今後も出願で他の地域を上回る傾向が続くだろう」とみる。デザインの独自性などを保護する「意匠権」の登録出願は6%増の131万件、商品やサービスの名称を守る「商標権」も16%増の1432万件と、いずれも過去最多となった。AIや自動運転などの開発競争が激しくなっており、当面は知的財産権保護のため出願の増加は止まりそうにない。

米中は先端技術の覇権争いを繰り広げている。中国政府はハイテク産業育成策「中国製造2025」を掲げ、巨額の補助金を企業に投じて支援する。これに対し、トランプ米政権は中国の知的財産権の侵害や外資に対する技術移転の強要を批判している。一方、日本の出願は依然高水準だが、件数は減少傾向で科学技術立国としての地位の後退が鮮明になっている。

Translation

Huawei, whose strength was 5G technology, was also increasing patent applications (an event held by this company in Zurich, Switzerland on the 15th)

[Zurich = Ryotaro Hosokawa] The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) announced on the 16th that the number of Chinese patent applications in 2018 reached 1.54 million, an increase of 12% from the previous year. It accounted for nearly 50% of the world's total and ranked first for 8 consecutive years. In the field of intellectual property on state-of-the-art technology such as artificial intelligence (AI), the composition of Asia was leading the world with China at the top had become clear.

The number of patent applications worldwide increased by 5% to 3.32 million, a record high. By country / region, the US ranked 2^nd at 590,000, followed by Japan at third (310,000) and Korea at fourth (200,000). The top-ranking order had not changed from the previous year, but Japan and the US had a decrease year-on-year.

There were many Chinese applications in the fields of computer technology, digital information communication, and electronic equipment. Huawei, a major Chinese communications equipment company, was accelerating technological development with the next-generation communications standard "5G" and was increasing its applications. Japanese companies prominent in applications were such as Mitsubishi Electric, Canon, and Toyota.

“Asia will grow into a global hub for innovation, and applications will continue to outpace other regions,” said WIPO Director General Garry. The number of applications for registration of “design rights” to protect design uniqueness increased by 6% to 1.13 million, and the number of “trademark rights” for protecting the names of products and services increased by 16% to 14.32 million, both of which were the highest ever.  As competition for development of AI and autonomous driving was intensifying, for the time being the number of applications to protect intellectual property rights was unlikely to stop.

The US and China were fighting for the supremacy in advanced technology. The Chinese government had set up “China Manufacturing 2025”, a high-tech industry development measure, and supported it by investing huge subsidies into companies. In contrast, the Trump administration had criticized China for the infringing intellectual property rights and forcing foreign capital companies for technology transfer. On the other hand, in Japan while the number of applications was still high but the number of cases was decreasing, its retreat from the status of a science and technology nation had become clear.

              So, the US and China were fighting for supremacy in advanced technology.