中國有望兩年內領先國際專利申請

Chinese patenting applications surged 45 per cent in 2016, according to the World Intellectual Property Organisation, putting the country on track to overtake Japan and the US to become the largest user of the international patent system within two years.

據世界知識產權組織(WIPO)統計，2016年中國專利申請數量激增45%，使其有望在兩年內成爲國際專利制度的最大用戶，超越日本和美國。

ZTE and Huawei, two of China’s largest telecoms and electronics companies, topped the 2016 rankings for corporate patenting compiled by the Geneva-based UN agency.

中興通訊(ZTE)和華爲(Huawei)——中國最大的兩家電信電子設備製造商——在總部位於日內瓦的這家聯合國機構編制的2016年企業專利申請排行榜上名列榜首。

“China-based filers are behind much of the growth in international patent and trademark filings?.?.?.?as the country continues its journey from ‘Made in China’ to ‘Created in China’,” said Francis Gurry, Wipo director-general.

“中國申請人是國際專利和商標申請很大一部分增長背後的推手……目前中國繼續從‘中國製造’轉向‘中國創造’，”世界知識產權組織總幹事弗朗西斯?高銳(Francis Gurry)表示。

Wipo’s analysis covers international applications through the patent co-operation treaty, which tend to be of higher quality than purely domestic filings. If trends continue, China will move ahead of Japan this year and the US within two years to become the leader in the international patent system.

世界知識產權組織的分析覆蓋通過專利合作條約提交的國際申請，這些申請往往比單純的國內申請具有更高質量。如果當前趨勢延續下去，中國將在今年超越日本，在兩年內超越美國，成爲國際專利制度中的領先者。

Chinese inventors made 43,000 international applications in 2016, while domestic filings make China’s patent office much the busiest in the world, handling more than 1m applications a year.

中國發明家在2016年提交了4.3萬件國際申請，同時國內申請使中國專利機構成爲世界上遙遙領先的最繁忙專利主管機構，每年受理100多萬件申請。

Since Huawei and ZTE started filing international patents in 2000 and 2002 respectively, their applications have risen quickly to take them comfortably to the top two positions in the global patenting table.

自華爲和中興分別在2000年和2002年開始申請國際專利以來，他們的申請數量迅速上升，使他們輕鬆地在全球專利申請榜單上佔據前兩位。

“The two Chinese companies are still in a big catch-up race with competitors elsewhere in the world,” said Frank Tietze of Cambridge university’s Centre for Technology Management. “They are filing, filing, filing to build up a big patent portfolio that they can use as a bargaining chip when negotiating with other companies.”

“這兩家中國公司仍在與世界其他地方的競爭對手進行一場大規模追趕比賽，”劍橋大學(Cambridge University)技術管理中心(Centre for Technology Management)的弗蘭克?蒂策(Frank Tietze)表示。“他們正在申請、申請、申請，以便打造一個龐大專利組合，在與其他公司談判時用作議價籌碼。”

Japan and South Korea have also increased their international patent applications more rapidly than most European and North American companies, though not at the same pace as China. As a result, Asia accounted for 47.4 per cent of all applications last year, just short of the combined share of Europe (25.6 per cent) and North America (25.3 per cent).

日本和韓國也比多數歐洲和北美公司更快地增加了他們的國際專利申請，儘管不像中國那樣快。其結果是，去年亞洲佔所有申請的47.4%，僅略低於歐洲（25.6%）和北美（25.3%）的份額之和。

“Japanese domestic filings have been declining for eight or nine years while international filings continue to grow strongly,” said Mr Gurry. “There is a clear strategy in Japan to concentrate on patenting and exploiting the best inventions as widely as possible.”

“日本的國內申請已經連續8、9年下降，而國際申請繼續強勁增長，”高銳表示。“日本有一套明確的戰略，專注於專利申請，並且儘可能廣泛地利用最好的發明。”

The US share of global patent activity has been falling since 2000, when it was 34 per cent of the total. Mr Gurry does not expect Donald Trump’s election to affect American intellectual property policy or practice.

美國在全球專利活動中的份額自2000年以來一直在下降；那年它佔總量的34%。高銳不認爲唐納德?特朗普(Donald Trump)的當選會影響美國的知識產權政策或實踐。

“You might say that President Trump represents the old economy of real estate, manufacturing and energy but the US remains very science and technology oriented,” he said. “I would be surprised to see big changes, even with increasing protectionism.”

“你可能會說特朗普總統代表着房地產、製造業和能源這些舊經濟產業，但美國在很大程度上仍是以科學技術爲導向的，”他說。“即使有越來越多的保護主義，我也會對大的變化感到意外。”

Among large industrialised countries Canada has experienced the largest declines in patenting in recent years. Wipo linked this to the woes of two of the largest Canadian technology companies, with Nortel in liquidation following bankruptcy in 2009 and Research In Motion / BlackBerry making big cuts in research and development.

在大型工業化國家中，加拿大近年來經歷了最大的專利申請下降。世界知識產權組織將其與兩家最大的加拿大科技公司的困境聯繫起來：北電(Nortel)在2009年破產後已被清盤，而黑莓(BlackBerry)背後的Research In Motion大幅削減了研發。