The Evolving Innovator
or Continuing Imitator?
by Dan Watson
China Correspondent
watsoncw@rodpub.com
Week after week we read head- lines pronouncing that China is about to overtake the U.S. and
other advanced economies and become
the number one global economic force.
Recently there have been a number of
high profile announcements that China
will also overtake the U.S. and other coun-
tries in the area of innovation. China pun-
dits tell us that patent filings in China are
at an all-time high. China is exporting
high-tech goods that owe their existence
to Chinese ingenuity. In essence we are
being told that the West is doomed to be-
come a mere follower of China. Our day
in the global spotlight is over. Really?
2010 was 40 percent higher than in 2009,
receiving over 1.2 million patent applications and approving 814,825 requests
among them. The application number for
2010 was over 25 percent more than that
in 2009. Using this strong 2010 position
China became the world’s top patent filer
in 2011, surpassing the United States and
Japan as it steps up efforts to improve its
intellectual property rights track record.
The number of patent applications filed to
SIPO in 2011 surged 33. 63 percent from
2010 to 1.63 million, according to data
released by SIPO. The SIPO data indicates
that it granted 961,000 patents last year,
up 17. 91 percent from a year earlier.
It should be noted that China offers incentives to businesses to prepare and file
patent applications in an effort to increase
the total number of patent applications.
50 | Coatings World
www.coatingsworld.com
April 2012
