CHINA TOUTS UPSWING OF IP FILINGS - the People's Daily News is reporting (take from it what you will) that the Chinese State Intellectual Property Office is anticipating a banner year in IP filings.

More than 2.3 million applications have been handled in the area of practical novelty patents, industrial design patents and trade marks since 1985 when the country launched this service. 90 percent of the filings are submitted by domestic applicants.

One interesting tidbit was that China took 15 years to issue 1 million patent applications but only 4 years to issue another 1 million.