China became the second-largest origin of international patent applications filed through WIPO in 2017, approaching the United States. WIPO’s patent, trademark and design services again recorded strong use.
Huawei and ZTE were the largest PCT applicants, followed by Intel, Mitsubishi Electric and Qualcomm.
Selected Chinese applicants’ published PCT application totals for 2015 / 2016 / 2017 were as follows:
Huawei Technologies: 3,898 / 3,692 / 4,024.
ZTE: 2,155 / 4,123 / 2,965.
BOE Technology Group: 1,227 / 1,673 / 1,818.
LE Holdings (Beijing): 2015 not stated in the original table / 9 / 1,397.
Shenzhen China Star Optoelectronics Technology: 710 / 1,163 / 972.
Alibaba Group Holding: 16 / 452 / 707.
Tencent Technology (Shenzhen): 981 / 172 / 560.
Yulong Computer Telecommunication Technologies (Shenzhen): 71 / 256 / 517.
Guangdong OPPO Mobile Telecommunications: 27 / 80 / 474.
Xiaomi: 126 / 298 / 354.
Japan also grew strongly but was narrowly overtaken by China. On the trends reported in 2018, China was projected to overtake the United States within three years. The PCT system had been operating for 40 years.
Worldwide PCT filings reached 243,500, up 4.5%, driven by China and Japan. Madrid System trademark applications rose 5% to 56,200. Designs contained in Hague System international applications increased 3.8% to 19,429. This was the eighth consecutive year of growth across all three filing systems.
The five leading technology fields in the original publication chart were computer technology (19,122; 8.6%), digital communication (18,400; 8.2%), electrical machinery, apparatus and energy (15,228; 6.8%), medical technology (15,024; 6.7%), and measurement (10,082; 4.5%).
Source: https://www.wipo.int/pressroom/en/articles/2018/article_0002.html