Recently, SIPO released China Patent Survey Data Report in 2016, concluded as follows.

1. Burgeoning patent protection needs coupled with tougher protection measures

China's patent protection environment is constantly improving over the years. China handled 48,916 patent administrative cases in 2016, marking a year-on-year increase of 36.5%. According to the survey, patentees showed great desire for IP protection and strong appeal for tougher administrative enforcement. In particular, the following summaries are listed.
a. burgeoning demand in patent protection calls for further improvement in patent protection satisfaction
b. patentees expect proactiveness in patent administrative enforcement
c. patent infringement rate is seeing a falling trend in general despite a slight looking up in 2016
According to the survey data in recent 5 years, the infringing acts are considerably contained, with the ratio of infringed patentees significantly dropped and reached a record low in 2015. The latest data shows that, in 2016, the rates of company and university patentees being infringed are slightly increasing, whereas the rates of research institutes and individual patentees being infringed are dropping steadily.
d. difficulty in collecting evidence has become a major roadblock in judicial protection

2. Steady rise in patent exploitation rate and patent industrialization

The survey shows that China's patent exploitation rate in 2006 to 2016 fluctuated between 57% to 75%. After continuous increase for two years, the rate reached a record high of 74.1% in 2013. It then slipped since 2014, standing at 69.2% and slumping to a record low of 57.9% in 2015. The rate then picked up a little to 61.8% in 2016.

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