Source: China IP News
The National Heads of IP Administrations Meeting was held in Beijing recently, announcing that the national IP system have accomplished every item on the 2023 objective list. Great, good things have kept happening to the IP community. Ongoing programs have maintained momentum of development with quality upgrade and harvested fruits along the way, exhibiting brilliant prospect all the time.
In the outgoing year, IP legislation had marked advancements. IP legal protection was strengthened. Legislative process was evidently sped up with the completion of the amendment of the Rules for the Implementation of the Patent Law, and the legislation and amendment of other policy and legal documents. Examination policy system was further improved with the amendment of the Patent Examination Guidelines and other agency regulations. In the meantime, legislation at local level were done as planned with Inner Mongolia and Chongqing enacting their IP regulations, and Zhejiang and Shandong releasing their administrative measures on data IP registration.
IP examination quality and efficiency was continuously upgraded resulting in growing satisfaction of innovators. Profited from better examination capacity, examination pendency has constantly declined with the average period for examination of invention patents cut to 16 months, the average period for examination of trademark registration holding at 4 months and the period for regular trademark registration remaining at 7 months. Examination quality also went up with examination completion accuracy rate for invention patent hitting 94.2%, patent examination satisfaction index reaching 86.3 reading points, staying within the satisfaction perimeter for 14 years in a row. Passing rate for trademark examination, opposition and review after sample check tapped above 97%, a great reflection of proven quality.
IP protection was heightened across the board. Social satisfaction stayed at a high level. Major tasks of IP protection were effectively implemented with the advancement of the construction of national IP protection demonstration areas under strict requirements, having started construction of 10 such areas and finished selection of other 15. Construction of the protection system went further with the IP administration leading the drafting of the Implementing Plan for the Construction Project of the IP Protection System. 8 IP protection centers and 7 rapid right enforcement centers were added, making the total lineup to 112. IP dispute online complaint and investigation service was offered at all provinces. Twenty more national geographical indication protection demonstration areas were approved for construction. Administrative protection capacity was elevated as well with the conclusion of 10 administrative adjudication cases of major patent infringement disputes and 65 early resolution mechanism cases for pharmaceutical patent infringement disputes. The entire system finished 14,000 patent dispute cases, up 50.1% year-on-year. The advisory system for handling oversea IP disputes grew more complete with the establishment of 21 local sub-centers and two oversea sub-centers, driving the total up to 45. Over 1,300 cases benefited from the system. Social satisfaction for IP protection scored an all-time high 82.04 reading points.
IP commercialization advanced on the fast track, making great contributions to rapid elevation of development efficiency. The IP administration led the drafting of the Special Action Program for Patent Transformation and Application. Market-oriented IP operation was constantly improved. The IP operation service platform system was optimized and upgraded. The value of all loans secured by pledging patents and trademarks as collaterals nationwide was 853.99 billion yuan, up 75.4% and aiding 37,000 companies. The trial program on patent open license had great results with 17,000 such licenses concluded. Some new IP services opened for innovators including patent navigation. Some companies were added to the list of demonstration companies with IP strength, making the grand total to 10,531. IP brought more visible value to owners. In 2022, added value of patent-intensive industry amassed 15.3 trillion yuan, accounting for 12.7% of the GDP. In the first 11 months of 2023, export and import value of IP royalties grossed 334.5 billion yuan.
IP public service system was constantly optimized, making the IP system easier for the public to use. IP public service public-interest projects started well. The trial program for the construction of the first group of IP public service standardized cities was executed. The numbers of the Technology and Innovation Support Centers (TISCs) of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), IP information public service outlets and regional city comprehensive service institutions were 151, 197 and 162 respectively. Service facilitation was constantly changed for better. The Guideline for IP Administrative and Service Affairs was published. The Ten-Thousand Kilometer Journey of IP Service was waged. Supply capacity for data and information was constantly upgraded with the launch of the public service system for IP data resources which included 59 types of data and 18 specialized databases. Quality development of IP service industry paid dividends with over 80,000 IP firms and nearly a million professionals in service nationwide, generating 270 billion yuan.
IP international cooperation expanded, playing a serious role in serving high-level open-up. Integrating into the nation's diplomatic grand scheme, three IP cooperation deliverables were included into the List of Multilateral Cooperation Deliverables of the Third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation. China was deeply involved in global IP governance and held international events with the WIPO. According to the Global Innovation Index (GII) 2023, China had the largest number of top 100 science and technology clusters. Other key achievements included research on IP issues related to China's accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement (DEPA), publication of the second group of 350 geographical indication products on the China-European Union mutual recognition list, patent prosecution highway (PPH) pilot programs expanded to 32.
