Subject matter as patentable in Chinaisbasically thesamewith mostofthecountries.Although countries(regions)givedifferent names to utility model system, they sharetheobjectivesofprotecting small inventions. Subject matter as patentable in most countries is lim- itedtoinventionsinshapeand structureofaproduct,deviceor apparatus, so asto define clearly the extent of protection for utility model and to facilitate infringement judgment and right utilization. Chi- na爷sutilitymodelpatentsystem provides the regulations on subject matter as patentable for the same purpose. Like most countries, substantive examination is not carried out for utility model in China. Most of the countries adopt formal examination system instead of substantive exami- nation for utility model. Substantive examination is only adopted in lim- ited countries like Korea, Brazil and Poland.Chinaimplementsprelimi- nary examination system which con- tains obvious substantive defects ex- amination plus formal defects exam- ination and it is stricter than mere formal examination. Patentrightevaluationreport system in China isinconformity with that in most countries. In most countries adopting formal examina- tion to utility model, patentees or other stakeholders may request the patent authority to issue search re- port, documentation report and etc. Chinaalsoestablishedthepatentright evaluation report system as an important supplement to the prelimi- nary examination system. Inventiveness standard in China is in conformity with that in most countries.Mostofthemapplya lower inventiveness standard for u- tility modelthan inventionpatent, while some countries even do not have any specific inventiveness re- quirement.Theinventivenessstan- dard of the utility model in China is that野噎as compared with the prior art, 噎 the utility model has substantivefeaturesandprogress冶. Although it is lower than that of the invention patent, namely 野噎the invention has prominent substantive featuresandrepresentsanotable progress噎冶, it still belongs to the commonpracticestakenbymost countries in the world. Avoiding repetitive patenting to utility model in China is in confor- mity withthatinmostcountries. Inventionpatentrightandutility model patent right are not allowed to be granted to the same inven- tioninmostcountries.China爷s patent law clearly defines that 野for any identical invention creation, on- ly one patent right shall be grant- ed冶. China爷s novelty standard for u- tility model is comparatively higher than mostcountries.Mostofthe countriesadoptrelativenovelty standardforutilitymodelwhile China applies absolute novelty stan- dard which is the same as invention patent.3.China爷sUtilityModel Patent System Made Remarkable AchievementsChina爷sutilitymodelpatent system not only gives incentives to the SMEs for creation but also pro- motestheimplementationofthe patent system in China. It facilitates the circulation of patented technolo- gy, contributes to economic develop- ment,scienceandtechnology progress. At the same time, it also gives effective protection to foreign patentedtechnologiesandinterests of foreign enterprises in China. The present utility model patent system in China matches China爷snational development stage. 3.1China爷sUtilityModel PatentApplicationsExperienced Rapid Increase in Recent Years In 1997, China爷s utility model patent applications surpassed 50,000, ranking No. 1 in the world for the first time. The utility model applica- tionsexceeded200,000in2008, 300,000 in 2009, and 400,000 in 2010.In2011,itsapplications reached 585,000, which was 42.9% increase over the previous year. By 2000, China爷sapplications forutility modelpatentaccounted for 42%of the world爷s total. With the sharp growth of China爷s utility model applications, it accounted for 83% of the world爷s total by 2010. In 2011, SIPO granted in total 408,000 utility model patents, which were 18.6% growth over the previ- ous year. By the end of 2011, thevalid utility model patents granted by SIPO were 1,121,000. Despiteoftherapidgrowth and the large quantity of China爷s utility model patent applications, the per capital number of utility model applications in China is not high. In2011,China爷sutilitymodel patent applications per 10,000 per- sons only reached 4.5, which was much lower than that of Germany, Japan and Korea爷shistorical peak. Germany爷s utility model patent ap- plications were about 7 per 10,000 persons in the mid 1970s. Japan爷s utility model patent applications per 10,000 persons were nearly 17 in the mid 1980s. The figure for Ko- rea was about 14 in the mid and late 1990s. It is estimated that in thenearfuture,China爷sutility model patent applications will still keep a relatively high growth rate. 3.2China爷sUtilityModel Patents Enjoy Good Stability Accordingtostatistics,the PatentReexaminationBoardof SIPO received 10,044 requests for invalidation of utility model patents between2010and2011.Inthe same time, the number of granted utility model patents was 1,667,000. The requests for inv