Knowledge-based Economy? China's Patent Filings are Far Ahead of India

According to the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), the number of patents filed from India dropped from 831 in 2006 to 686 in 2007. That represented a decline of 17.45 per cent. India retained the 20th position it had in 2006. On the contrary, applications from China grew 38.1 per cent from 3,951in 2006 to 5,456 in 2007, helping it overtake the Netherlands to the 7th position.

If the long-time trend is considered, application from China rised from 1,295 in 2003 to 5,456 in 2007, a whooping 421% increase. India's application decreased from 764 to 686 during the same period.

China's telecommunication gear giant, Huawei Technologies, is now listed as the No. 4 company in the applicant ranking of all the companies in the world, only after Matsushita Electric Industrial from Japan, Philips Electronics from Netherlands and Siemens from Germany.

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