BEIJING — With the continued growth of the number of invention patent applications, China will further shorten the process of patent review, the industry watchdog said on Feb 6.

By the end of 2022, the processing time for an invention patent application will be cut to about 16.5 months and for a high-value patent 13.8 months. The average time for processing a trademark application will be reduced to within four months, the fastest worldwide, according to a statement by China's National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA).

China has attached greater importance to increasing the efficiency of patent review. Last year, the average processing time for trademark registration was shortened to 4.5 months, compared with six months in 2018, and the processing time for high-value patents examination was reduced by more than 15 percent to 17.3 months.

In 2019, more than 1.4 million invention patent applications were filed in the country, with 453,000 invention patents granted. The total number of effectively registered trademarks surpassed 25 million, according to the CNIPA.

High-value patents have been acquired mainly in the fields of artificial intelligence, mobile communications, high-speed railways, and biomedicine.

Furthermore, the CNIPA has so far approved the establishment of 26 centers nationwide to solve the proof-providing difficulties and reduce the processing time and cost of intellectual property rights protection, the statement said.