China leads trademark applications

China has ranked first in the world in trademark applications for the past four years, according to official statistics from the China Achievements Exhibition for Intellectual Property Protection. The eight-day exhibition, which is part of China's 2006 Intellectual Property Rights Protection Week, is organized by China's 11 IPR-related governmental organizations. Figures show trademark applications filed in China grew by 25.2% annually from 2000, reaching 400,000 last year. A total of 2.499 million trademark applications had been filed in China by the end of 2005, including 442,000 from other countries. Trademark registration was first implemented in China in 1981. World Intellectual Property Organization figures show overseas trademark applications reached 1,334 last year, climbing 31.4% from 2004, and up from only four in 1989.