Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to revisit the Chinese patent application upsurge among Japanese MNEs. Design/methodology/approach: The authors extended the sample provided by Nakata and Zhang, from the period of 1995 and 2003 to 1995 and 2007, and paid more attention to the market advantage of Japanese MNEs and competitive relationships such as those between Japanese MNEs and domestic as well as other foreign firms in China. Findings: The present findings indicated that after China revised its patent law for the second time and joined the WTO, patenting by Japanese MNEs became increasingly driven by those that operated diversified businesses in China. Competition in IPR measured by the technology proximity of Japanese MNEs with domestic as well as other foreign firms showed a positive correlation with regard to increased patenting. Originality/value: To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first paper that focused on the effects of Chinese IPR reform on the Chinese patenting behavior by Japanese MNEs. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited.