China has become the country with the world's largest distribution of security technology patents, according to a new IPRdaily report titled "Security Technology Patent Analysis Report."

At the end of April, China accounted for 54.4 percent of the world's total security technology patents, with 20,445 patents, and the U.S. processed 9,155 patents, making the two countries the primary innovators of such patents, said IPRdaily.

It also said the number of China's security technology invention patents was 2.23 times that of the U.S. and that Chinese companies accounted for seven out of the top 10 applicants globally.

What is a security technology patent?

IPRdaily is a leading global intellectual property (IP) technology media platform that focuses on IP services and the IP industry ecosystem.

In the report, for the first time, the IPRdaily research team analyzed security technology as a new generation technology cluster, summarizing its definition and connotation.

It defined security technology, also known as information security technology, as a technology and method involving the protection of information systems, networks and computer systems, and related data and information that covers many dimensions of system engineering.

The report also integrated three technical dimensions of business, data and system security, searching for and analyzing invention patents in the field of global security technology.

World's top 10 applicants

As the leading force in the development of the digital economy, technology-based enterprises have become the main players in security technology patent applications.

The top 10 applicants have 25,572 patent families, according to the report. 

China's Ant Group ranked No.1 with 3,806 security technology patent families, and IBM and Huawei ranked second and third with 3,545 and 3,433 security technology patent families, respectively.

Others among the top 10 applicants are Tencent, State Grid Corporation of China, Microsoft, ZTE, Intel, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) and China Mobile.