- in China
China Breaks Into Top 10 for First Time in 2025 Global Innovation Index
The Global Innovation Index Report 2025 released by the World Intellectual Property Office (WIPO) shows that China's ranking has risen to 10th in the world, successfully entering the global top ten for the first time. Furthermore, China has 24 of the world's top 100 innovation clusters, maintaining the world's No. 1 position for 3 consecutive years.
Simultaneous IP Quantity and Quality Improvement
By 2025, the number of valid invention patents in China had exceeded 5 million, with the number of high-value invention patents per 10,000 people reaching 16. The number of valid invention patents in strategic emerging industries exceeded 1.4 million, maintaining rapid growth. The number of PCT international patent filings ranked first in the world for several consecutive years, while filings for industrial designs under the Hague System and international trademarks under the Madrid System are both among the top in the world. The number of valid domestic trademark registrations reached 50.816 million. More than 40,000 data intellectual property registration certificates were issued in pilot regions, and the amount of financing credit enhancement and license transactions approached RMB 15 billion yuan.
Examination Efficiency and Quality Steadily Improved
By the end of 2025, the average time for the examination of invention patents had been reduced to 15 months, and that for trademark registration remains stable at 4 months in China. Throughout the year, 972,000 invention patents were granted, and 4.206 million trademarks were registered. The accuracy rate of invention patent examinations and reexaminations exceeded 95%, while the pass rates for trademark examination, opposition, and adjudication spot checks all exceeded 97%.
IP Protection System Constantly improved
By 2025, the number of national-level intellectual property protection centers and rapid enforcement centers had reached 129, cumulatively handling 480,000 intellectual property enforcement cases. The overseas intellectual property dispute response guidance work platforms reached 116, cumulatively guiding responses to over 4,200 disputes, helping enterprises recover nearly RMB 41 billion yuan. The CNIPA, in collaboration with the Ministry of Justice, promoted the issuance of the Guiding Opinions on Strengthening Arbitration Work for Intellectual Property Disputes, and in cooperation with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, formulated and issued the Opinions on Further Strengthening Intellectual Property Protection in the Photovoltaic Industry. Together with the Supreme Court, it released typical cases of diversified mediation in intellectual property disputes, and work has been accelerated on the construction of a credit system in the field of intellectual property.
New Breakthroughs Made in IP Transformation and Utilization
In the past year, CNIPA had deeply advanced special actions to facilitate transformation and utilization of patents, strengthened construction of intellectual property operation centers, and issued operational guidelines for construction of patent pools to guide the establishment of patent pools in key industries. It had jointly carried out comprehensive pilot projects for the intellectual property financial ecosystem with the Financial Regulatory Bureau, held the 14th China International Patent and Technology Products Fair at a high standard, and thoroughly implemented the Trademark Brand Value Enhancement Initiative for Thousands of Enterprises and in Hundreds of Cities.
Also at the meeting the key tasks were planned for 2026, including: continuously improving the quality of intellectual property grant and validity, improving the long-term regulatory mechanism for the agency industry, increasing efforts to regulate patent application acts and trademark malicious squatting that violate the principle of good faith, strengthening guidance for regional brand trademark registration applications, and promptly addressing trademarks with significant adverse impacts; accelerating the promotion of a new round of comprehensive amendments to the Trademark Law and the revision of the Regulations on the Protection of Layout Designs of Integrated Circuits, improving the intellectual property protection system in emerging fields, strengthening special legislation research for geographical indications, and speeding up the establishment of data IP protection rules; increasing the intensity of administrative adjudication work and advancing diversified intellectual property dispute resolutions; focusing on building a long-term mechanism for the transformation and utilization of intellectual property, improving the pre-application evaluation of patents and the due diligence and liability exemption system for patent transfer and transformation, exploring the use of artificial intelligence to promote patent transformation and utilization models, supporting key regions to deepen comprehensive pilot projects of intellectual property finance ecosystems, vigorously implementing trademark brand strategies and geographical indication application promotion projects, supporting the cultivation of internationally renowned trademark brands, and vigorously developing geographically indicated specialty industries; deeply participating in global intellectual property governance within the WIPO framework, promoting the formulation of international rules for intellectual property in new fields and new business activities such as artificial intelligence, supporting all regions to orderly deepen intellectual property exchanges with foreign countries.
(Source: official website of the CNIPA)
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