China has dominated the transportation, infrastructure and logistics industries in terms of geographical dispersion. Credit: Sean Pavone/ Shutterstock.

Each week, Railway Technology journalists analyse data on patent filings and grants that illustrate innovation trends in our sector. These patent signals show where the leading companies are focusing their research and development investment, and why. We uncover key innovation areas in the sector and the themes that drive them. 

This new, thematic patents coverage is powered by our underlying Disruptor data which tracks all major deals, patents, company filings, hiring patterns and social media buzz across our sectors. 

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Based on geographical distribution, China has dominated the transport, infrastructure and logistics industry, according to GlobalData‘s patent analytics database.

The data shows that China gathered the largest number of publications across the globe with a total of 106,407 publications, which includes 43,681 grants and 62,726 applications.

According to the Disruptor data, the US was the second-largest region, falling shortly behind with a total of 99,042 total publications.

Source: GlobalData

In reference to leading assignees of the sector, companies in the Asian market took the lead, with the CRRC group placing second place with a total of 1,735 total publications.

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Chinese state-owned rolling stock manufacturer, CRRC Corporation Limited have highlighted that they put an emphasis on its patent strategy, so at present, it has already got 60 pieces, including 57 utility model and 3 patents for invention.

This is a continued effort from China, in Q1 2022 the region recorded the highest number of patent grants owing to a 29% growth in China’s utility model patents.

The record number demonstrates the highest grants numbers over the last five years on a like-for-like comparison, according to GlobalData.

According to GlobalData’s patent statistics and analysis of Q1 2022 reports, climate change-related innovation observed nearly 23% growth in filings, where China took the lead.

The report stated that “China seized the major share of patent grants and continued to exhibit its hegemony”.

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