At the end of 2022, CNIPA issued “China Patent Investigation Report 2022” (hereinafter referred to as the report). The Report adopts a combination of random sampling and focused survey. The patent survey covered 24 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) across the country, and the survey targets patent owners of enterprises, universities and scientific research institutions that have valid patents by the end of 2021.
The report covers the situation of Chinese patent owners facing infringement, which is summarized as follows.
The proportion of Chinese patent owners suffering patent infringements in 2022 has remained at a relatively low level in the recent two years, the methods for enterprise patent owners to defend their patent rights have become more diversified, and the ability of patent owners to defend their patent rights has been further improved.
In 2022, the proportion of Chinese patent owners suffering patent infringement was 7.7%, which was less than 8% for two consecutive years in 2021 and 2022, the overall proportion of patent owners in China suffering patent infringements is on a decreasing trend, indicating that patent infringement in China has been effectively curbed.
[Proportions of Chinese patent owners suffering patent infringements in 2012-2022]
In 2022, the proportion of Chinese enterprise patent owners who took action to protect their rights after encountering patent infringement is 72.7%, an increase of 3.7 percentage points over the previous year, and more than 70% for four consecutive years. The proportion of enterprise patent owners taking two or more measures to protect their rights was 50.2%, an increase of 1.9 percentage points over 2021, indicating that the ability of Chinese patent owners to resolve disputes through multiple channels was further improved.
[Protection measures of enterprise patent owners after suffering patent infringement]
On the other hand, the overall proportion of high awards in Chinese patent infringement cases has increased. According to the survey, the proportion of cases with compensation of RMB 5 million or more, whether awarded by a court or obtained through court mediation or an out-of-court settlement, was 7.0%, which has remained at or above 7% for two consecutive years. The highest proportion was 3.1% during the "13th Five-Year Plan" period. From the perspective of trend, the proportion of high compensation in patent infringement cases in China has increased in recent years, and the proportion of high compensation patent infringement cases has increased significantly in recent two years.
[Amounts of compensation of court-awarded, court mediation or out-of-court settlement in patent infringement litigation cases of enterprise patent owners] (Unit:%)
Source:https://www.cnipa.gov.cn/art/2022/12/28/art_88_181043.html