China boasts sharpest growth in PCT applications

According to the latest statistics released by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)　on March 6, growth rate of applications originated from China has dwarfed for three straight years since 2009. China filed a total of 16,406 PCT applications in 2011, up 33.4%, sharpest in the world. The next two sprinters were Russia (28%) and the United States (21%).

Compared with incremental growth in the traditional industrial countries, China and other East Asian countries and some emerging economies are still riding an unwavering momentum. Following its debut in top 10 in 2005, China made the 6th (6,089) in 2008, 5th (7,946) in 2009 and 4th in both 2010 (12,337) and 2011. The 16,404 in 2011 was alone 10 times more than 1,706 in 2004.

With increased capacity in innovation, PCT patenting by tech-savvy Chinese companies is in high gear. Chinese telecommunications equipment giant ZTE and its cross-town archrival Huawei have been global front runners for four years in a row. Since reigning PCT patenting with 1,737 in 2008, Huawei has never been out of top four. In 2011, ZTE snuck to the top with 2,826, ousting Japan's Panasonic (2,463) and Huawei (2,463)., The rapid growth in PCT filings reflects fruition of government policies in inspiring innovation and venturing out, according to analysts.

The global total of PCT filings in 2011 was 181,900, up 10.7%.