China has captured the top spot in 2020 among international patent applications for the second consecutive year, a United Nations ranking released Tuesday shows, demonstrating once again how Asia is leading the tech innovation in the new normal, reported Caixin.
Chinese applicants submitted 68,720 patent requests last year, up 16% from 2019 despite the coronavirus pandemic, according to data from the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). China’s Huawei, remained the top applicant for the fourth straight year.
The US remained in second place, with filings inching up 3% to 59,230. The numbers show clear signs of peaking out. Japan stood in third place, although like the US, patent filings have plateaued. Applications declined by 4% last year to 50,520.
“It’s not as if filings from the traditional parts of the world like the US or Europe have decreased, it’s just that the rate, the acceleration, has become a lot stronger in Asia,” Daren Tang, WIPO director-general, said at a news conference.
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