The 14th edition of the Business of IP Asia Forum (BIP Asia) was held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre on December 5-6, 2024, marking another successful gathering of intellectual property professionals and business leaders from around the globe. This year’s forum was themed “Reimagining IP for Impact and Growth” and focused on the transformative potential of IP in fostering innovation, entrepreneurship and sustainable economic development.

“We all face the same problem, namely how to address this global trend. Are they going to still use the traditional way to think and approach, or can we be more imaginative and even more innovative in thinking about how we should address our issues?” said Binying Wang, deputy director-general of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), during the “Policy Dialogue - Reimagining IP for Impact and Growth” session. This session explored how IP can drive innovation and entrepreneurship and provided insights into the future of IP policies and their impact on business and society.

“In 2023, we have observed significant shifts in innovation trends, with global filings showing mixed results. There was a 2.7 percent growth for patents, 3.9 percent for utility models, 2.8 percent for industrial designs and 2 percent for trademarks,” said Wang.

Improving IP financing is crucial for addressing current trends, particularly for high-risk, high-potential startups and emerging technologies. Notably, emerging technologies saw a significant drop of 60 percent in 2023 compared to their peak in 2021. According to Wang, this drop is partly attributed to setbacks in venture capital deals due to various factors. Despite some growth in the value of these deals in the second quarter of 2023 and into 2024, a research report indicated that high interest rates are likely to lead to a more conservative approach to building IP portfolios and investing in innovation. This cautious stance reflects the broader investor sentiment in uncertain economic times.

The shift towards a more balanced geographic distribution of innovation continued in 2023. Offices in Asian countries accounted for around two-thirds of the global value of patents, trademarks and industrial designs. Among the top 100 science and technology clusters in 2024, China led with 26 clusters, while South Korea had four and Japan had three. Hong Kong, maintained its position as the second leading science and technology cluster globally, as highlighted by WIPO’s Global Innovation Index (GII) report. This ranking also includes contributions from Guangdong and the Greater Bay Area.

The insights shared at BIP Asia 2024 highlighted the critical role of IP in shaping the future of business and society and the need for continued growth and innovation in the region.

- Cathy Li