Statizoid

China vs United States: Patent applications, residents

China
1.43 million
in 2021
United States
262,244
in 2021
China rank
1st
United States rank
2nd

Patent applications, residents over time

  • China
  • United States
0500.0k1.0M1.5M198020002021

How they compare

China currently reports 1.43 million against 262,244 in United States, a difference of 1.16 million.

That makes China's figure about 5.4 times United States's.

The two have swapped places 1 time across 37 shared years of data; in 1985 it was United States ahead.

Globally, China ranks 1st and United States ranks 2nd of 135 countries.

Individual pages

About this data

Indicator
Patent applications, residents
Source
WIPO Patent Report: Statistics on Worldwide Patent Activity, World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), note: The International Bureau of WIPO assumes no responsibility with respect to the trans
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage
147 places, 4,224 data points, 1980–2021
Last refreshed

Patent applications are worldwide patent applications filed through the Patent Cooperation Treaty procedure or with a national patent office for exclusive rights for an invention--a product or process that provides a new way of doing something or offers a new technical solution to a problem. A patent provides protection for the invention to the owner of the patent for a limited period, generally 20 years.