2007 PATENT APPLICATION STATISTICS

03/01/2008

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The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) announced statistics on the distribution among different technical fields of patent applications filed in 2007, as follows：

Technical field	Corresponding IPC subclasses	2007
		Domestic applicants		Foreign applicants		Subtotal
		Inventions	Utility models	Inventions	Utility models
Instruments 1 (optical)	G01-G03, (except G01N33)	2,445	649	1,788	11	4,893
Semiconductor devices	H01L	2,173	287	2,041	11	4,512
Basic electronic circuitry; electric communication	H03, H04	1,802	420	1,604	28	3,854
Data processing	G06F (except 17/60)	1,625	566	500	6	2,697
Generation, transmission and conversion of electric power; electric heating	H02, H05	1,210	860	576	11	2,657
Instruments 3 (semiconductor applications)	G09-G12	1,205	279	769	8	2,261
Basic electrical and electromechanical elements	Ｈ01, (exceptH01L)	987	1,394	672	48	3,101
Forming	B21-B32, (except B31)	848	1,084	538	11	2,481
Transportation	B60-B68	668	1,825	375	48	2,916
Healthcare and leisure	A61-A63, (except A61K及A61P, A61Q)	648	1,080	395	36	2,159
Instruments 2 (measurement)	G04-G08, (except G06F, G06Q)	452	263	223	3	941
Lighting; heating	F21-F28	406	880	147	13	1,446
Daily use items	A41-A47	403	1,949	153	45	2,550
Building	E01-E06	327	927	88	8	1,350
Engineering in general	F15-F17	292	586	161	8	1,047
Electronic commerce	G06F17/60, G06Q	287	33	54	1	375
Separation and mixing	B01-B09	237	317	312	3	869
Engines and pumps	F01-F04	216	288	74	6	584
Inorganic chemistry, wastewater treatment	C01-C05, C30	204	79	339	0	622
Printing	B41-B44	170	280	111	3	564
Metallurgy, surface treatment of metals, electroplating	C21-C23, C25 (except C22K)	166	34	246	5	451
Biotechnology	A01H, A01K67, A0IN, A61K35/66-35/76, 38, 39, 47/42, 48, 49/14, 49/16, 51/08, 51/10, A61P, C07K, C12, G01N33, A01P, C40B	162	22	309	0	493
Dyestuffs, petroleum, animal and vegetable oils and fats	C09-C11	149	18	499	0	666
Macromolecular compounds	C08	148	3	635	0	786
Pharmaceutical preparations	A61K(except 35/66-35/76, 38, 39, 47/42, 48, 49/14, 49/16, 51/08, 51/10), A61Q	142	1	350	0	493
Foodstuffs; tobacco	A21-A24	107	109	73	1	290
Textiles and flexible materials not otherwise classified	D01-D07	104	201	121	2	428
Agriculture; forestry; animal husbandry; fishing	A01, (except A01H, A01K67, A0IN, A01P)	67	329	23	3	213
Microstructural technology; nanotechnology	B81-B82	55	2	23	0	80
Organic chemistry	C07, (except C07K, C07M)	40	0	940	0	980
Nuclear engineering	G21	15	3	21	0	39
Weapons; blasting	F41-F42, C06	14	14	23	1	52
Papermaking; making paper articles	D21, B31	14	59	9	0	82
Mining	E21	6	7	3	0	16
Sugar industry; leather	C13-C14	4	3	2	0	9

Due to the time required for processing the "patent classification" work, there are more than 27,000 patent applications filed in 2007 which were not classified at the time when the above statistics were compiled, and are not included in the above table.

The IPO stated that the number of patent applications filed continue to grow in 2007, reaching 81,820 as compared with 80,988 in 2006. According to the International Patent Classification, the top 10 technical fields for invention patent applications filed by domestic applicants are: instruments (optical); semiconductor devices; basic electronic circuitry and electric communication; electric power (generation, transmission, conversion, and electric heating); instruments (semiconductor applications); basic electrical and electromechanical elements; forming; transportation; and healthcare and leisure. Optical instruments, semiconductor devices, and basic electronic circuitry and electric communication remained the top invention fields, as they have been for the past years.