International patenting by Chinese residents: Constructing a database of Chinese foreign-oriented patent families

- Roughly speaking, for every 16 domestic Chinese patents, there is currently only one Chinese patent abroad.

This paper analyzes Chinese patenting abroad by constructing a novel database of foreign-oriented patent families (1970-2012) and by distilling stylized facts about China's international patenting strategies. Patent families are a set of related patents filed in one or more foreign jurisdictions to protect the same invention. We find that by the turn of the century China emerged as major actor in terms of international patenting. Nonetheless, the share of Chinese patents which get filed abroad is still a fraction of patents filed at home; most patents abroad also only target one foreign country. Moreover, China's foreign patents are concentrated in a few technology fields and in a few firms, mostly the information technology sector. A shift is underway however to an increased proportion of filings abroad. The paper finds that the main drivers for this change are the desire to facilitate collaboration, to license IP, and to further the firm's reputation as true innovator.