China joins WIPO’s Patentscope
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has added China’s national patent collection to its Patentscope database.
With the three million Chinese records, the patent database now provides access to 32.5 million Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) records from 34 countries and regions.
The move is another “big step forward” for Patentscope, which is a “unique world-wide service for players in the global race to conceive, produce and market new products”, said WIPO director general Francis Gurry.
“These documents will give users a fresh, important perspective on the workings of one of the world’s most-dynamic economies.”
Patentscope provides access to PCT applications in full text format on the day of publication. The information may be searched by entering keywords, applicant name, international classification and other search criteria in multiple languages.
Users now have access in English to Chinese patent applications from 1985 to 1995, and from 1996 onwards the submissions include data in English and Chinese, as well as descriptions and claims in Chinese.
Last year, the number of PCT applications from China was about 18,600, making China the fourth biggest filer overall. The US (51,625), Japan (43,660) and Germany (18,764) were the top three filers.
