Patenting has never been more popular. Applications have reached record levels at the world's main patent offices, fuelled by a sustained increase in applications from Asia.

专利申请从未像现在这样流行过。受益于亚洲申请数量的持续增长，世界几个主要专利局的专利申请数量均创历史新高。

The boom is an encouraging sign for future economic growth, as companies intensify¹ their efforts to turn the results of research into innovative² products and services.

对于未来经济增长而言，这一专利申请热潮是一个令人鼓舞的迹象，因为企业都在加倍努力，将研究成果转化为创新产品与服务。

The European Patent Office (EPO) received 160,000 applications last year, up 4.8 per cent on 2014. The World Intellectual Property organisation³ (WIPO) reported a 1.7 per cent increase to 218,000 in filings under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) which provides some international harmonisation.

去年，欧洲专利局收到16万份专利申请，较2014年增加4.8%。世界知识产权组织称，依照《专利合作条约》提交的申请数量增加了1.7%，至21.8万份。

The top seven companies most active in the patenting arena⁴ are all based in Asia, according to the OECD's analysis of corporate⁵ patents between 2010 and 2012.

经合组织对2010年至2012年公司专利的分析显示，在专利申请上最为积极的前7家公司都在亚洲。

Within Asia, the big story is China. Patent filings by Chinese companies outside their home country have risen 30-fold so far this century.

在亚洲，表现突出的是中国。本世纪以来，中国企业在境外提交专利申请的数量增加了30倍。

Statisticians at the OECD have analyzed⁶ the distribution of patents filed in the world's five most important IP offices (Europe, US, Japan, China and South Korea) - so-called IP5 patents. In 2000, just 331 IP5 applicants⁷ were based in China; this had risen to 9,767 in 2012.

经合组织的统计人员分析了在世界上五个最重要的专利局(欧洲、美国、日本、中国和韩国)提交的专利申请——所谓IP5专利——的分布情况。2000年，来自中国的IP5专利申请者仅有331个；2012年，这一数字已升至9767个。

"While the Chinese growth rate in patenting since 2000 does stand out, it started far behind its competitors," says Mariagrazia Squicciarini, OECD patent specialist. MainlandChinahad not caught up withTaiwanby 2012 and the Asian powerhouses ofJapanandKoreaare still well ahead in absolute numbers.

"尽管自2000年以来中国专利申请数量增速确实很突出，但中国的起点远远落后于竞争对手们，"经合组织专利专家玛利亚格拉兹亚·斯奎恰里尼说。截至2012年，中国大陆还没有追上台湾，亚洲专利强国日本和韩国目前在绝对数字上仍远远领先于中国大陆。

"Japanhas always had a positive attitude towards IP rights embedded⁸ in its business culture," she adds.Chinadoes not have such a tradition but "there is an active policy by the Chinese government to foster patenting".

"日本历来对深入其商业文化的知识产权抱有积极态度，"她接着说。中国并无这样的传统，但是"中国政府实行了鼓励专利申请的积极政策"。

Analysis of different fields demonstrates an increase of IP5 patenting in most physics-based sectors⁹, such as computer technology and digital communication. But patents based on chemistry and biology are in decline, including pharmaceuticals¹⁰ and biotechnology.

对不同领域的分析结果表明，在大部分基于物理学的领域，如计算机技术和数字通信，IP5专利申请数量有所增加。不过药物和生物技术等基于化学和生物学的专利申请数量正在下降。

These differences stem partly from faster technical advances and market growth in information and communications technology (ICT) than in the life sciences — and partly because of structural¹¹ differences between them.

这些差别的部分原因在于，信息与通信技术领域的技术进步和市场增长快于生命科学领域。还有部分原因在于，两个领域之间存在结构性差别。

"ICT products are becoming ever more complex," says Ms Squicciarini. "To get a smartphone on the market you may need hundreds of patents. And think about the digitisation of the economy — think of all the electronics going into cars, for example."

"ICT产品正变得越来越复杂，"斯奎恰里尼说。"若想把一款智能手机推向市场，你或许需要数百项专利。想想经济的数字化--比如正在集成到汽车中的所有电子系统。"