Patent filings in China increased by more than sixfold in a decade, helping the country make a dramatic leap in catching up to the world leaders in patent activity, according to the United Nations agency that oversees intellectual property, The Wall Street Journal reported. More than 130,000 applications were filed with Beijing in 2004, the last year for which figures are available, aid the paper, quoted the World Intellectual Property Organization as saying. That catapulted China into fifth place in the total number filed, behind Japan, the U.S., the European Patent Office and South Korea. More than 65,000 of the applications were from Chinese, a sixfold jump from 1995, WIPO said. About the same number of foreign individuals and companies also applied in China, more than seven times the number nine years earlier.