China Ramps Up Semiconductor Patents As It Plays Catchup

Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:

China's semiconductor industry is speeding up in response to US export controls, according to research by a specialist in intellectual property.

According to IP firm Mathys & Squire, semiconductor patent applications worldwide spiked by 22 percent, jumping from 66,416 in 2022-23 to 80,892 in 2023-24. Leading the charge is China, whose filings surged by 42 percent from 32,840 to 46,591, outstripping every other region.

Why the rush? In short, Washington's export controls. With restrictions cutting China off from the world's most advanced semiconductors and concerns of further tightening on the horizon, China's domestic chip sector is on a mission. Beijing has made it clear - the tech sector must innovate to avoid getting caught in the semiconductor dependency trap. Semiconductors have been pushed to the top of the tech priority list, and the results are showing up in the patent numbers.

"The US-China semiconductor rivalry is heating up," said Dr Edd Cavanna, partner at Mathys & Squire. "Export restrictions are pushing China to invest more in homegrown semiconductor R&D, and this is now reflected in their patent filings." China appears to be in a hurry to innovate its way around US sanctions and ensure its semiconductor sector isn't left trailing in the dust.

China is still very much playing catchup, with local designs trailing the bleeding edge by several years.

Chinese chip designer Loongson last week teased products it claimed will deliver the same performance as AMD and Intel products from five years ago. Its chairman, Hu Weiwu, reportedly told senior government figures that it had an upcoming 3B6600 desktop processor in the works that "can reach the performance of the x86 processor under the 7nm process."

And a teardown of Huawei's Pura 70 smartphone by an IC research firm earlier this year revealed the Chinese tech giant is relying on Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp's HiSilicon Kirin 9010 processor, likely because US sanctions mean the Chinese company can't buy from other sources.

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