China has become the first country to receive more than 1 million patent applications in a single year – a record the World Intellectual Property Organisation said reflected “extraordinary” levels of innovation. However, according to the Financial Times, skeptics have long argued that China’s patent figures are skewed by state-driven filing targets, intellectual property lawyers argue that they also reflect the country’s growing inventiveness. According to Wipo figures, China’s patent office received 1,101,864 applications in 2015 from both domestic and foreign filers, accounting for almost 40% of the global total. However, Yang Yuzhou, a Shanghai patent lawyer at Dacheng Law, noted that China, unlike the US, recognises “utility model” patents, which are typically easier to secure and protect inventions for a shorter period of time than standard patents.