The Chinese State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) released invention ownership and patent grant data from 2013. BYD Company Ltd placed 5th in the China National rankings with over 2000 patents issued domestically and internationally— above other global giants such as Lenovo.
BYD was the only auto manufacturer to make the list. According to the data released by SIPO, BYD Company Ltd. acquired 2,099 patents in 2013 while Shenzhen neighbor Huawei dominated the top spot on this year’s list and global computer industry leader Lenovo rounded out the list in 10th place.
Since opening in 1995, BYD has built its company reputation around innovation and technology leadership – this is manifest in their patent generation rates. To date, BYD has amassed more than 12,000 domestic patents and more than 8,000 international patents in areas such as environmentally-friendly, fire-safe Iron Phosphate chemistries and advance electric vehicle drive and energy recovery systems.
A large part of this success can be attributed to the fact that BYD employs more than 15,000 staff engineers around the world significantly more than its competition. Another of BYD’s priorities since inception has been to keep a keen focus on being a voice for Intellectual Property protection and best practices globally. In 2013, BYD was awarded the World Intellectual Patent Organizations’ (WIPO) “Outstanding Patent Innovation and Industrial Design” medal. BYD’s patent for Electric Vehicle Batteries also received also the China Patent Association’s Award of Excellence.
| Chinese Company Valid Patent Ownership Top 10 in 2013 | ||||
| No. | Patent Ownership | Valid Quantity | ||
| 1 | Huawei | 18880 | ||
| 2 | ZTE | 12902 | ||
| 3 | China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation | 6416 | ||
| 4 | SMIC(Shanghai) | 2327 | ||
| 5 | BYD | 2099 | ||
| 6 | H3C Technologies Co., Limited | 1902 | ||
| 7 | HUNAN QIUZEYOU PATENT STRATEGY PLANNING CO., LTD | 1821 | ||
| 8 | CNPC | 1571 | ||
| 9 | Baosteel | 1436 | ||
| 10 | Lenovo | 1411 | ||
