China has become the first country to receive more than 1m patent applications in a year — a record the World Intellectual Property Organisation¹ (Wipo) said reflected “extraordinary” levels of innovation in the world’s most populous² nation.

中国已成为首个在一年里受理专利申请超过100万件的国家；世界知识产权组织(WIPO)表示，这个纪录反映出全球人口最多的国家“非凡”的创新水平。

“[The Chinese] are making innovation a central part of their economic strategy,” Francis Gurry, director-general of the UN agency, said at a briefing in Geneva.

“（中国人）正在把创新作为其经济战略的核心部分，”这个联合国机构的总干事弗朗西斯.高锐(Francis Gurry)在日内瓦举行的一个简报会上表示。

While sceptics have long argued that China’s patent figures are skewed by state-driven filing targets, intellectual property lawyers argue they also reflect the country’s growing inventiveness.

虽然怀疑者一直认为中国的专利数据被国家驱动的申请指标所扭曲，但知识产权律师辩称，这些数据也反映了中国与日俱增的创造性。

“The Chinese government still wants people to file patents and they get explicit³ and implicit⁴ rewards for doing so,” said Erick Robinson, a Beijing-based patent lawyer. “But the quality of patents in China is improving at breathtaking speed.”

“中国政府仍然希望人们申请专利，专利申请者获得显性和隐性的奖励，”在北京工作的专利律师罗瑞克(Erick Robinson)表示。“但中国的专利质量正以惊人的速度提高。”

According to Wipo figures, China’s patent office received 1,101,864 applications in 2015 from both domestic and foreign filers, accounting⁵ for almost 40 per cent of the global total and more than the next three countries — the US, Japan and Korea — combined.

根据世界知识产权组织的数字，中国国家知识产权局2015年从国内外申请者受理了110.1864万件专利申请，占全球总量近40%，超过美国、日本和韩国三个国家的总和。

“Once again we see an increasing dominance by Asia as the origin of filing activity for intellectual property,” Mr Gurry added, noting that Asian countries had received more than 60 per cent of total patent filings last year.

“我们再一次看到亚洲日益成为知识产权申请活动的主要起源，”高锐补充说。他指出，亚洲国家去年受理了全球60%以上的专利申请。

“The Chinese government’s strategic policies are encouraging innovation,” said Zhang Xuemei at Janlea, a Beijing intellectual property agency. “Chinese companies are also more aware of the importance of protecting their IP.”

“中国政府的战略政策鼓励创新，”北京正理知识产权机构(Janlea)的张雪梅表示。“中国企业也更加意识到保护知识产权的重要性。”

Mr Robinson cited WeChat, the social media platform developed by internet group Tencent, as an example of Chinese innovation at its best. “WeChat took some functionality from a lot of other applications but just made it better,” he said.

罗瑞克提到互联网集团腾讯(Tencent)开发的社交媒体平台微信(WeChat)，称其是中国式创新的典范。“微信从其他很多应用程序借鉴了一部分功能，但就是做得更好，”他说。

However, Yang Yuzhou, a Shanghai patent lawyer at Dacheng Law, noted⁶ that China, unlike the US, recognised “utility model” patents, which are typically easier to secure, and protect inventions for a shorter period of time than standard patents. “It’s also much cheaper to file for patents in China than in the US and Japan,” he said.

然而，北京大成（上海）律师事务所的专利律师杨宇宙指出，与美国不同，中国承认“实用新型”专利，这类专利一般更容易获得，而且保护发明的期限比标准专利要短一些。“在中国申请专利的成本也比美国和日本要便宜得多，”他说。

China is also becoming a more attractive jurisdiction⁷ for patent infringement⁸ disputes, given the speed with which its court system processes cases. Companies whose intellectual property has been stolen can also secure bans that prevent the infringing⁹ party from selling in China’s vast market or exporting from the country — a crippling blow given China’s centrality to global supply chains.

考虑到中国法院系统处理案件的速度，中国还正在成为在处理专利侵权纠纷方面更具吸引力的司法管辖区。知识产权被窃取的公司还可以申请获得禁令，禁止侵权方在中国的巨大市场销售，或从中国出口——鉴于中国在全球供应链上占据的中心地位，这是一个沉重打击。

In terms of overseas filings, US patent holders¹⁰ lodged¹¹ the most applications, ahead of Japan and Germany. Mr Gurry said this reflected the importance of trade and foreign investment to the US business community.

在海外专利申请方面，美国专利持有人递交最多申请，其次是日本和德国。高锐称，这反映了贸易和外国投资对美国商业界的重要性。

President-elect Donald Trump¹² has, however, pledged to withdraw from President Barack Obama’s Trans-Pacific Partnership¹³ trade agreement, which would have bound the US more closely to 11 other Pacific trading nations.

但是，美国当选总统唐纳德.特朗普(Donald Trump)已承诺退出巴拉克.奥巴马(Barack Obama)总统推动达成的《跨太平洋伙伴关系协定》(TPP)，这个贸易协定本来会使美国与11个其他太平洋贸易国家更紧密地联系在一起。

Separately, Wipo said trademark¹⁴ applications surged 16 per cent worldwide to 5.9m last year, while industrial design applications increased 2.3 per cent globally to 873,000. China led the world in both categories as well.

另外，世界知识产权组织表示，去年全球商标申请飙升16%，达到590万件；全球工业设计知识产权申请增长2.3%，达到87.3万件。中国在这两个领域也都领先于世界。

Mr Trump recently won a protracted¹⁵ trademark case against a Chinese construction services company that had registered the Trump brand.

特朗普最近赢得一起拖延已久的商标案，对方是一家注册了特朗普品牌的中国建筑服务公司。