1. In 2019, the number of Chinese automobile patents published was 243,000, down 0.83% year on year.  Although the total number of patents disclosed decreased slightly, the number of invention patents disclosed increased from 121,000 in 2018 to 134,000 in 2019, up 10.48% year-on-year, while the number of utility model and design patents decreased by 11.85% and 12% year-on-year respectively.  In 2019, the number of patents authorized for automobile inventions in China was 61,000, up 12.98% year on year.  The increase in the number of invention patents disclosed and authorized reflects the substantial improvement in the quality of Chinese automobile patents in 2019.

2. In 2019, the total number of patents disclosed in traditional automobile fields such as engines and transmissions accounted for 70.4%, down 9% from the same period last year.  At the same time, the number of patents disclosed in various fields such as engines, transmissions, steering systems, transmission systems, brake systems, automobile bodies and accessories decreased year on year.  The proportion of patents disclosed by smart Internet automobiles was 11.6%, up 48.7% from the same period of last year, and the amount of patents disclosed increased significantly.  The proportion of patents disclosed for new energy automobiles was 17.9%, up 3.03% year on year.  It can be seen that under the impetus of the four development trends of "electrification", "intelligence", "networking" and "sharing", enterprises have gradually reduced their research and development investment in traditional automobile fields such as engines and transmissions. Intelligent networking and new energy automobiles have become research and development hotspots for major enterprises. At the same time, compared with the rapid growth in 2018, the patent growth rate of new energy automobiles slowed down in 2019.

3. Among the TOP20 applicants, there are 14 domestic applicants, accounting for 56.5% of the total number of patents, 6 foreign applicants, accounting for 43.5% of the total number of patents.  In terms of number, the number of domestic and foreign applicants is equivalent.  However, among the TOP10 applicants, there are only 4 domestic applicants, which shows that there is still a widening gap in the amount of patent disclosure between Chinese head independent enterprises and foreign enterprises.

In the TOP20 number of invention patents authorized, there are 6 domestic applicants, accounting for 24.7% of the total number of patents, and 14 foreign applicants, accounting for 75.3% of the total number of patents.  The number of invention patents granted by domestic enterprises on the list has increased compared with previous years, with BYD, BAIC New Energy and Great Wall Motors all increasing by more than 60% year on year.

4. SAIC, BYD and BAIC are in the top 3, and NIO Auto is outstanding in the new force of automobile making.  The patent disclosure volume of most enterprises has increased compared with previous years, with NIO, Xiaopeng, Aichi and other new automobile-making forces increasing significantly year on year. Xiaopeng, BYD, Yutong, Jianghuai, Aichi, NIO and other enterprise groups have relatively high invention patents and good patent quality.　

5. Domestic and foreign applicants have adopted the strategy of making the application public in advance in their application for invention patents so as to quickly confirm and safeguard the rights of patents.  Domestic enterprises, represented by Weichai Power, have received dividends in the rapid patent examination mechanism, with 35 invention patents applied for and authorized in 2019.

6. In 2019, the total number of patent applications for new energy automobiles in China increased by 3.5% year on year.  Among them, the secondary technology branch with the largest distribution of patents is the power battery system, accounting for 36%, followed by the charging system, accounting for 19%.

7. In 2019, among the TOP15 applicants for new energy automobile patent disclosure in China, domestic applicants occupied 10 seats, showing outstanding performance. Toyota topped the list with 857 patents, followed by CATL and BYD.  At the same time, NIO Auto, a new automobile maker, has also performed well in the field of new energy automobiles, ranking fourth.

8. In 2019, 64% of the public patents of China's intelligent Internet connection automobiles were intelligent patents for automobiles.  Among them, the layout of intelligent automobile technology patents based on intelligent sensing of sensors, control execution related to driving assistance and intelligent automobile technology is relatively large.  At present, 36% of the patents on automobile networking are difficult to apply commercially, including platform technologies of automobile-mounted platforms and cloud platforms.  V2X-related communication and network technologies are hot research and development topics for enterprises.  Domestic parts suppliers and third-party technology companies are more active in research and development in the field of intelligent Internet connection.  Most of them are at the top of the list.  Baidu occupies the first place in domestic enterprises with 618 pieces of publicity.  TSP service provider Shanghai PATEO ranks 9th.  Intelligent driving solution supplier Yuanzheng, communication company Huawei, sensor supplier Sagitar and Hesai, component supplier Desay SV, Idriverplus and Zebra also have good performance.

                                              From Intellectual Property Protection in China

February 24th, 2020