The State Council Information Office held a press conference on promoting high-quality development on July 29, 2024, at which Mr. Shen Changyu, Commissioner of the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) in traduced the overview of reform and development in the field of intellectual property rights (IPR).

First, in terms of creation, more high-value intellectual property rights are emerging. As of June this year, the effective number of domestic invention patents in China had reached 4.425 million, and the proportion of invention patents with the right holder being an enterprise had risen to 72.8%, with more active enterprises innovation. The number of high-value invention patents per 10,000 people reached 12.9, realizing the expected goal of the 14th Five-Year Plan ahead of schedule. The amount of valid domestic registered trademarks reached 45.909 million, making a new record high again.

Second, in terms of utilization, intellectual property rights have effectively empowered economic innovation and development. In the first half of this year, with in-depth implementation of special actions for patent conversion and utilization, the number of patent transfer licenses of national universities and scientific research institutions increased by 22.2% year-on-year, and a batch of high-value patents accelerated the landing in the high-end intelligent and green industrial scenarios. The added value of patent-intensive industries has reached 15.3 trillion yuan, accounting for 12.7% of GDP. From January to May this year, the total import and export volume of intellectual property usage fees reached 180 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 14.1%, of which the export value increased by 17.7% year-on-year, higher than the growth rate of import value by 4.7 percentage points.

Third, as for services, the level of convenience for the public and enterprises has been comprehensively enhanced. Based on continuously improving the quality and efficiency of intellectual property examination, the average examination cycle for invention patents has been shortened to 15.7 months, with the examination accuracy rate of 94.2%, and the average examination cycle for trademark registrations has stabilized at 4 months, and the examination pass rate has been maintained at 97.7%, all of which have reached the international advanced level under the same examination system.

Fourth, concerning international cooperation, high-level opening-up to the outside world have been actively supported. China has been deeply involved in global intellectual property governance under the framework of WIPO, and has successfully acceded to the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs and the Marrakesh Treaty related to copyright, as well as promoted the conclusion of the WIPO Treaty on Intellectual Property Rights, Genetic Resources and Related Traditional Knowledge. The number of Chinese applications for PCT international patents, Hague system designs, Madrid international trademark applications, the World Intellectual Property Organization's three major business systems steadily take the lead in the world. As of June, this year, the number of valid foreign invention patents and valid registered trademarks in China had reached 919,000 and 2.135 million respectively with steady growth.

At present, China is in a critical period of transformation from a big country of intellectual property introduction to a big country of intellectual property creation, and intellectual property work is also transferring from the pursuit of quantity to the improvement of quality.

From SCIO

July 29th, 2024