The State Intellectual Property Office dealt with 825,000 applications for invention patents last year, an increase of 26.3 percent over 2012, and nearly 330,000 international filings via the Patent Cooperation Treaty, SIPO Commissioner Shen Changyu announced at an annual meeting where heads of local IP offices across the country gathered in mid-December. SIPO will continue to advance the national IP strategy initiated in 2008 and improve patent quality and efficiency, Shen said. Priorities in this year's work also include enhancing protection and market regulation, developing IP services and improving patent industrialization.

（Source: China Daily）