The Hindu Business Line : Chinese cos increase domestic patent filing

New Delhi, June 20 Chinese companies, often lambasted for selling low cost and copycat goods in India, are increasing the number of patents they file in the domestic market.

Telecom and wireless communication companies such as Huawei Technologies, ZTE Corporation, Inventec (a notebook original design company) and FMCG giant Haier are some of the Chinese companies that have been filing patents locally.

Huawei Technologies that filed 60 patents, according to recent records at the Indian patent office, has been granted six from 2005 onwards. In the same period, ZTE Corporation, which filed 52, received three from the patent office. The other two players, Inventec and Haier, have filed a lesser number — five and three respectively — and have both received one each till now.

“We have two ways of filing a patent in India. One way is by PCT (patent cooperation treaty) application, the other is through the Paris Convention application. Currently, we have very few patents issued in India. While globally, last year, 7,693 patent applications were filed by the company, whether any of these should be applied in India depends on the market environment,” said a spokesperson for Huawei. The company, on an average, files 45-50 patent applications annually from its India R&D centre.

Realising market potential

According to data available at the Indian patent office, the number of patents that were first filed in India from the Republic of China increased from 32 to 45 in the financial year 2006-07. Patents filed in India that had been filed previously in another country rose to 80 from 64.

The highest surge was in the category of PCT applications that stood at 184 in 2006-07, from 132 the year earlier. PCT is a patent law treaty that allows individuals or companies to file applications at an international level, which after being examined is sent to the member countries who then grant it in their jurisdiction.

“Undeniably, Chinese companies recognise the potential of the Indian market by either importing goods or manufacturing here. And the only way to tap the market is by filing patents,” admitted Mr Navtej Saluja, Vice-President, Intellectual Property Research and Legal Process Services, Evalueserve, a data tracking firm.

However, though the number of Chinese companies filing here is growing, they are yet to be ranked among the top 15 foreign players who do so. But as these companies go global, their overseas filings would increase, said Mr Saluja.

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