country study - wipo...country study – how do chinese applicants file patent applications abroad?...

Country Study – How do Chinese applicants file patent

applications abroad?

Hao Zhou Sacha Wunsch-Vincent Liudmila Kashcheeva

Economics and Statistics Division WIPO

WIPO/SIPO Experts’ Meeting (March 2014, Beijing)

Overview

What is the motivation of the study? What data do we use? What can we learn from the data? How can we improve?


Objective

Most studies focus on patent filings within China

There are studies on Chinese filings at specific offices

There is lack of systematic description of Chinese filings abroad


Database description

We use primarily PATSTAT database We construct patent families (first-

filing based) We group applications by WIPO’s

IPC-technology concordance We exclude PCT international filings


Database issues

Name cleaning Identification of country of first filing Incompleteness due to procedural

delay


Trend of Chinese foreign families

There is obvious surge of Chinese foreign patent families since 2004

0

2,000

4,000

6,000

8,000

10,000

Fore

ign-

orie

nted

pat

ent f

amili

es

1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Year


Type of applicants

More than 80% are owned by companies University share is low

0

20

40

60

80

100

Shar

e of

fore

ign-

orie

nted

pat

ent f

amili

es

1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009Year

Business Research/University Individual


Type of technology

ICT sector has the largest number of patent families (~1/3)

0

20

40

60

Shar

e of

fore

ign-

orie

nted

pat

ent f

amili

es

1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009Year

Electrical machinery Audio-visual technology Telecommunications Digital communicationComputer technology Semiconductors Optics Measurement


Foreign families: rich vs. poor


Gini coefficient = 0.6

0

20

40

60

80

100Sh

are

of p

aten

t fam

ilies

0 20 40 60 80 100

Share of owners

Foreign families: rich vs. poor


Foreign families: “nouveau riche”

The top 3 – Hongfujin, Huawei and ZTE became “rich” only after 2004

0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

Fore

ign-

orie

nted

pat

ent f

amili

es

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Year

HONGFUJIN PRECISION INDUSTRY (SHENZHEN) CO., LTD.HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CO., LTD.ZTE CORPORATIONSHENZHEN FUTAIHONG PRECISION INDUSTRY CO., LTD.FOXCONN (KUNSHAN) COMPUTER INTERFACES CO., LTD.FUZHUN PRECISION INDUSTRY (SHENZHEN) CO., LTD.TSINGHUA UNIVERSITYCHINA PETROLEUM & CHEMICAL CORPORATIONBYD CO., LTD.SILITEK ELECTRONIC (GUANGZHOU) CO., LTD.


Filing strategy: destination


Filing strategy: destination/technology

Relative Specialization Index reveals relative concentration of filings by destination office and technology




-0.136-0.121

-0.072-0.050-0.035-0.009

0.0330.107

0.2200.241

0.3040.307

0.3710.410

0.4650.493

United States of AmericaMexicoRussian FederationChina, Hong Kong SAR

JapanEuropean Patent Office

Republic of KoreaCanada

AustraliaMalaysia

OthersNew Zealand

BrazilFrance

GermanyUnited Kingdom

-1 -0.5 0 0.5 1

Transport



-0.290-0.258

-0.0350.1190.123

0.1610.2180.232

0.3600.3640.381

0.4240.5160.524

0.5580.642

United KingdomUnited States of AmericaEuropean Patent Office

JapanOthers

Republic of KoreaRussian Federation

BrazilMexico

CanadaAustralia

China, Hong Kong SARNew Zealand

PhilippinesSouth Africa

Israel

-1 -0.5 0 0.5 1

Pharmaceuticals



-0.385-0.120-0.116-0.103

0.0260.0740.0760.0820.1070.131

0.1630.177

0.2170.2390.241

0.420

United KingdomChina, Hong Kong SAREuropean Patent OfficeUnited States of America

MexicoRussian Federation

GermanyBrazil

CanadaMalaysia

Republic of KoreaOthersJapanIsrael

AustraliaSouth Africa

-1 -0.5 0 0.5 1

Materials, metallurgy

Filing strategy: number of offices

Majority families have just one foreign office (excluding CN, HK, TW)

0

20

40

60

80

100

Shar

e of

fore

ign-

orie

nted

pat

ent f

amili

es

1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009Year

1 office 2 offices 3 offices 4 offices 5 offices 6+ offices


Filing strategy: top companies

0

1

2

3Av

erag

e nu

mbe

r of

fore

ign

offic

es p

er fa

mily

SINOPEC

BYD CO., LTD.

ZTE CORPORATION

TSINGHUA UNIVERSITY

HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CO., LTD.

SILITEK ELECTRONIC (GUANGZHOU) CO., LT

D.

SHENZHEN FUTAIHONG PRECISION INDUSTRY CO., LT

D.

FOXCONN (KUNSHAN) COMPUTER INTERFACES CO., LTD.

HONGFUJIN PRECISION INDUSTRY (SHENZHEN) CO., LTD.

FUZHUN PRECISION INDUSTRY (SHENZHEN) CO., LTD.



0

2040

60

80100

Sh

are

of

tota

l p

ate

nt

ap

plica

tio

ns

ab

road

BYD CO

., LT

D.

FOXC

ONN

(KUN

SHAN

) COM

PUTE

R INTE

RFAC

ES CO.

, LTD

.

FUZH

UN PR

ECISI

ON IN

DUST

RY (S

HENZ

HEN)

CO., L

TD.

HONG

FUJIN

PREC

ISION

INDU

STRY

(SHE

NZHE

N) CO.

, LTD

.

HUAW

EI TE

CHNO

LOGIES

CO.

, LTD

.

SHEN

ZHEN

FUTA

IHON

G PR

ECISI

ON IN

DUST

RY CO.

, LTD

.

SILITE

K EL

ECTR

ONIC (G

UANG

ZHOU

) CO.

, LTD

.

SINOP

EC

TSIN

GHUA

UNIVE

RSITY

ZTE C

ORPO

RATIO

N

EP JP KR US US US US EP US JP US TW US EP JP KR US JP US EP JP US


Use of PCT

First direct filings are decreasing PCT national phase entries are increasing

0

20

40

60

80

100

Shar

e of

pat

ent a

pplic

atio

ns a

broa

d

1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009Year

First direct Subsequent direct PCT national phase



0

20

40

60

80

100Sh

are

of fa

mili

esus

ing

PCT

syst

em

ZTE CORPORATION

HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CO., LTD.

BYD CO., LTD.

SINOPEC

TSINGHUA UNIVERSITY

FOXCONN (KUNSHAN) COMPUTER INTERFACES CO., LTD.

HONGFUJIN PRECISION INDUSTRY (SHENZHEN) CO., LTD.

FUZHUN PRECISION INDUSTRY (SHENZHEN) CO., LTD.

SHENZHEN FUTAIHONG PRECISION INDUSTRY CO., LT

D.

SILITEK ELECTRONIC (GUANGZHOU) CO., LT

D.


Use of PCT: regression analysis Probit Probit Probit

(1) (2) (3)

IPR type (PI) 0.2*** 0.2*** 0.2***

Company -0.3*** -0.1*** -0.1***

Individual -0.1*** -0.03** 0.003

University -0.2*** -0.1*** -0.01***

Family size > 5 0.6*** 0.4*** 0.4***

Domestic application 0.4*** 0.3*** 0.3***

Year FE Yes Yes Yes

Firm FE No Top 100 Top 300

Industry FE Yes Yes Yes Note: *p<0.01 **p<0.05 ***p<0.001

Use of PCT: regression analysis Families originated through patent for invention

applications are more likely to be applied through the PCT route

Research Institutes are more likely to apply trough the PCT route compared to Companies, Universities and Individuals

The bigger the size of a family, the more likely it is to be applied trough the PCT route

Patent families that include applications with SIPO among other patent offices are more likely to use the PCT route

Use of PCT: regression analysis Industry Coefficient

Pharmaceuticals 0.13

Biotechnology 0.11

Digital communication 0.11

Macromolecular chemistry, polymers 0.08

Analysis of biological materials 0.06

Medical technology 0.06

Civil engineering 0.06

Organic fine chemistry 0.05

Engines, pumps, turbines 0.05

Environmental technology 0.04

Note: the table includes industries with positive and significant coefficients

Use of PCT: regression analysis

Digital communication, biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies are more likely to use the PCT route compared to companies in other technology fields

Preliminary findings

Chinese filings abroad increased dramatically after 2004

There is huge imbalance between Chinese companies for filing abroad

A few companies in the ICT sector dominate the abroad filing activity

Highly targeted filing strategy and limited foreign destinations for protection


Thank you. How can we improve?


country study - wipo...country study – how do chinese applicants file patent applications abroad?...

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