This is a very good question often heard by patent practitioners. In order to try to answer this question. I believe that the graph above is very useful.
As clearly shown, the number of patent applications filed in this jurisdiction has been increasing a lot. In less than ten years, the number of patent applications filed there has been multiplied by 8! In 2007, this number is almost equal to half the number of patent applications filed every year at the USPTO. By just extrapolating this graph, it is clear that in a couple of years, the number of patent applications filed there will be much greater than the number of patent applications filed at the USPTO.
Furthermore, an interesting element is that the amount of patent applications filed by Chinese applicants is greater than the amount of patent applications filed by the foreigner applicants. This clearly shows that domestic applicants are confident in the Chinese patent system.
Another interesting element to consider are the most famous sub classes for patent applications filed there. This indication gives an idea of the type of technology for which patent protection is sought in this jurisdiction.
It is interesting to note that the top 7 sub-classes relates to information technology which shows that there is a big interest in that domain for applicants. I believe that this is an indication that China is now definitely seen as a market rather than just as a workshop.
While it is difficult to give general answers to complicated decisions. I believe that ignoring China, when considering patent protection in the globalized chess game, is a great mistake. This is particularly true especially considering that the life of patent is 20 years and that 20 years is a long time for regretting a "too quickly taken" decision.
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