Gansu saw its patent applications reach 5,287 in 2011, a 48.6% rise from a year earlier and ranking the 25th among provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government) in China, according to information released by the State Intellectual Property Office on January 18.

From 1985 to 2004, the annual patent applications in the province had always been under 1,000. However, since 2005, the province has achieved a rapid growth in this regard. The number of patent applications in 2011 was 3.3 times as many as that in 2007 and 5.8 times as manyas that in 2004.

Meanwhile, the quality of the applications in the province has also been greatly improved. Of all the 5,287 applications, invention applications amounted to 2,105, taking up 39.8% of the total filings, and the proportion ranked the 7th among all provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government) in China.

（Source:IPR in China）