Earlier of the year, SIPO published statistics relating to patent enforcement activities in 2017.

The statistics shows strengthened enforcement actions against patent infringement and counterfeit. In 2017, there were 66,649 patent administrative enforcement cases, up 36.3% over the previous year, among which there were 28,157 patent dispute cases (including 27,305 patent infringement cases), up 35%, and 38,492 counterfeit patent cases, up 37.2%.

The statistics also shows a wider geographical spread. Among the 31 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) nationwide, there were 15 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) with more than 1,000 enforcement cases in 2017, an increase of 3 compared with 2016; among them, Beijing, Heilongjiang and Liaoning enforcement cases exceeded 1,000 for the first time. Region-wise speaking, most cases were found in East China and Central China, and the fastest growth took place in Southwest and North China.

In terms of case structure, the ratio of patent dispute cases to counterfeit cases was approximately 1:1.37 in 2017, more optimized than the average ratio over the last five years, which is 1: 1.62.

Continuous improvement of enforcement efficiency has also been reflected by the statistics. In 2017, the concluding rate of all sorts of cases was 98.5%, up 1% over the previous year; among them, the concluding rate of patent infringement dispute cases was 96.5%, up 2.1%. 17 Express IPR Protection played an important role in accelerating the enforcement and helped mediating 2,983 patent infringement disputes with an average concluding term of 29 days.

In 2017, there were 19,835 patent enforcement cases in the field of e-commerce, up 51.1%, most of which were concluded within 2 weeks; there were 3,392 patent enforcement cases during trade fairs, up 18.6% over the previous year.

According to the published statistics, the proportion of invention patent disputes has further increased. Of the 28,157 patent dispute cases handled in 2017, 4,803 involved invention patents, accounting for 17.1% of the total, 8,894 utility model patents, accounting for 31.6%, and 14,460 design patents, accounting for 51.3%. The proportion of complicated patent cases has increased by 5.8%.

Meanwhile, the quality of patent administrative enforcement has been steadily improved. The win rate of overall patent administrative litigations from 2013 to 2017 was 83.7%, far higher than the general rate for all administrative litigations. (Source: SIPO website)