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28 April 2023
The China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) released the Opinions on Accelerating the High-Quality Development of IP Services jointly with 17 other departments in December 2022. Setting development goals for IP services in the future, CNIPA suggested that China aims to reach revenue of more than RMB 500 billion (US$ 73 billion), service agencies of more than 2,000 and practitioners of more than 1.5 million for the IP industry by 2030.
The Opinions were proposed to achieve the visions laid out in the Guidelines for Building a Powerful Intellectual Property Nation (2021-2035), and the National Intellectual Property Protection and Use Plan for the 14th Five-Year Plan Period, both published by the State Council of the Chinese Central Government in 2021. They included more than 20 suggested development directions, ranging from industry integration and regional coordination to institutional governance.
Moreover, in the annual conference for 2022 IP work held in January 2023, CNIPA released figures on IP filings in China, announcing that China is the first country to pass the threshold of 3 million valid registered patents, with 4.21 million patents filed in 2022. The number of high-value patents rose by 24.2% to 1.32 million, constituting more than 40% of valid registered patents. According to World Intellectual Property Indicators 2022 released by WIPO, China was ranked number one with the highest valid registered patents globally.
Xia Zheng, founder of AFD China Intellectual Property Law Office in Beijing, believes that it is possible to realize the prediction of CNIPA, as the revenue situation and scale of the IP industry have always been under its attention. For crucial aspects that China should work on towards reaching this ambitious target, Zheng said: “First is to pay attention to the industrial ecology of IP, especially in the creation, application, protection, management, and service aspects, and do a good job in service.”
“On the one hand, there is a need to push and carry out supply-side reforms, improve the business capabilities, service levels, and industry standardization of the IP service industry; on the other hand, there is a need to pull and stimulate domestic demand, continuously guide enterprises to pay attention to IP, promote the construction of a closed loop for realizing the value of IP, and bring about environmental improvements and changes required for enterprise development.”
She also suggested that diversity is essential to the flourishing of the IP industry. “The IP industry should develop its diversity and integration, enrich the scope of work and positions in the IP industry, attract more practitioners, and expand the diversity of the ecosystem. At the same time, there should be an increasing penetration and integration with other industries and connection with other ecological systems, thereby making the entire ecosystem more stable.”
“It is necessary to strengthen the protection of the entire IP chain, optimize the innovation environment and business environment, and effectively promote the transformation and application of IP, supporting high-quality economic development.”
“Last but not least, stable international and domestic economic development is also the foundation for the development of the IP service industry.”
- Ivy Choi
