China's State Intellectual Property Of'fice (SIPO) handled 426,000 patent applications in the first half of this year, up 23.1% year on year. This includes 375,000 domestic applications, up 28.9% ; and 51,000 from overseas, down 7.3%.

Of patent applications handled in the first half, 148,000 are invention patents, up 12.1% , including 104,000 domestic ones, up 22.4% ; and 44,000 from overseas, down 6.4%. Invention, practical new type and exterior design patents make up 34.8%, 33.4% and 31.8% of the total respectively.

SIPO granted 252,000 patent rights in the first half, up 31.3% year on year, including 213,000 domestic patent authorizations, up 29.9% ; and 39,000 foreign one,s, up 39.3%. Of the three, kinds of patents, there are 66,000 invention patents; 92,000 practical new type ones; and 94,000 exterior design ones, up 57.5%, 16.3% and 33.5% respectively.

Affected by the financial crisis, some multinational companies and enterprises have compressed the number of patent applications and adjusted the layout of patent application. In the first half of 2009, patent application in China from South Korea dropped 29.6% ; that from the United States dropped 8.4% ; and that from Japan dropped 4.7%.