According to the newest statistics by the State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO), patent applications in 2009 for Qinghai hit a record again with 499 pieces, 16% increased by comparing to the same period last year. Invention patents were 175, 19% increased, utility models were 147, 23% increased, industrial design were 177, 9% increased, and service inventions and non-service inventions were 252 and 247 respectively.

Patent applications for Qinghai Province keep growing and set up records in successive four years. Applications for invention patents grow fast, accounting for 35% of the total patent applications; service invention applications account for 51% of the total amount, higher than the proportion of non-service invention applications for the first time and 95% increased comparing to the same period last year. The quick growth of service invention shows the growing of innovation ability of enterprises, scientific research institutions, junior colleges; enterprises are attaching more and more importance to protect the independent innovation achievements through legal means, and have become leading role in the patent application.
                                                                                                   Source: IPR in China