According to One Key Measure, China Just Increased Its Innovation Lead Over The US AFP 5 MARCH 2021 China, which last year overtook the United States as the world's top filer of international patents, a key measure of technical innovation, increased its lead significantly in 2020, the UN said Tuesday.
Even as COVID-19 took a vast human and economic toll, international patent applications continued to grow strongly, with China leading strong gains from Asia. A record 275,900 international patents were filed in 2020, marking a four-percent hike over 2019, the UN's World Intellectual Property Organisation said in its annual report. "Innovation remains resilient," WIPO chief Daren Tang told reporters.