The ＂gold content＂ of China patents is getting higher and higher.

In 2019, the number of PCT international patent applications in China jumped to the first place in the world for the first time.
The "gold content" of China patents is getting higher and higher.

In recent years, China has attached great importance to the cause of intellectual property rights, and has made a series of remarkable achievements-the steady growth of patent-intensive industries, the coming into force of the Beijing Treaty on Audiovisual Performances, the number of PCT international patent applications ranking first in the world for the first time, the basic realization of the objectives of the Outline of National Intellectual Property Strategy, and so on. The implementation of the strategy of strengthening the country with intellectual property rights has also promoted the acceleration of China’s manufacturing towards China’s "intellectual manufacturing".

April 20-26 is the National Intellectual Property Publicity Week. At the press conference of the State Council Office held on April 23, China National Intellectual Property Administration Director Shen Changyu revealed the remarkable achievements made in China’s intellectual property cause-in 2019, the number of PCT international patent applications in China jumped to the first place in the world for the first time; The Beijing Treaty on Audiovisual Performances, the first international intellectual property treaty concluded in China and named after our city since the founding of New China, will soon come into effect. China ranked 14th in the global innovation index in 2019, up three places from 2018, ranking first among middle-income economies.

The year 2020 is the closing year for the implementation of the Outline of the National Intellectual Property Strategy, and the goals set out in the Outline have been basically achieved.

Patent-intensive industries grew steadily.

Not long ago, China first released the added value of patent-intensive industries. The data shows that in 2018, the added value of China’s patent-intensive industries reached 10.7 trillion yuan, accounting for 11.6% of GDP, and the contribution rate to GDP growth reached 15.7%, which became an important support for high-quality economic development.

Relevant reports and data of the World Intellectual Property Organization also show that China’s ranking in the global innovation index in 2019 rose by three places compared with that in 2018, and rose to 14th place, ranking first among middle-income economies.

Patent-intensive industries refer to those industries whose invention patent density and scale reach the prescribed standards, which rely more on intellectual property rights to participate in market competition, conform to the innovation-oriented development, such as information and communication, new equipment manufacturing, new materials, medicine and medical care, environmental protection industries, etc., reflecting the new achievements of innovation-driven development.

Shen Changyu said that in recent years, developed countries and regions such as Europe and the United States have paid more and more attention to the development of patent-intensive industries. In 2019, the EU’s patent-intensive industries accounted for 16.1% of GDP. Compared with European and American countries, China’s proportion is temporarily 4.5 percentage points behind, but Shen Changyu believes that the scale of related industries in China is expected to continue to maintain steady growth in the future and play a greater role in promoting the development of the real economy.

Strengthening the protection of audio-visual performance property rights

On April 28th, the Beijing Treaty on Audiovisual Performances will come into effect. This is the first international intellectual property treaty concluded in our country and named after our city since the founding of New China, which shows the great progress made in intellectual property protection in our country.

This treaty is an international copyright treaty managed by the World Intellectual Property Organization. In 2012, the World Intellectual Property Organization held the Diplomatic Conference on the Protection of Audio-visual Performances in Beijing, China. The successful conclusion of this treaty provided a clear international legal framework for the protection of performers, strengthened their economic rights, and granted the performers the right to permit or prohibit others from using their images, actions, sounds and other performance activities while performing their works, so that the performers could share the benefits of audio-visual products with the producers.

At the same time, the treaty also fully reflects the requirements of the development of new technologies in the network environment, and provides protection for performers in the digital environment for the first time, so that the rights of performers can be further recognized and fully guaranteed.

Gao Rui, Director-General of the World Intellectual Property Organization, said: "The treaty strengthens the rights of audio-visual performers to their performances, which can translate into income growth and enhance the economic sustainability of the audio-visual industry that brings pleasure to all of us."

PCT ranks first in international patent applications.

On April 7, data released by the World Intellectual Property Organization showed that in 2019, China submitted 58,990 patent applications through the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) of the World Intellectual Property Organization, surpassing the United States (57,840) and jumping to the first place, becoming the country with the largest number of international patent applications.

Shen Changyu said that this development achievement is mainly due to China’s vigorous implementation of the innovation-driven development strategy and intellectual property strategy, the innovation ability and awareness of intellectual property protection of the whole society have been continuously improved, and enterprises have paid more attention to the distribution of intellectual property overseas.

PCT is an international cooperation treaty in the patent field. At present, there are more than 150 States parties. One PCT patent application can be protected by many countries, which is an important patent "armor" for enterprises in the process of going to sea.

According to the classification of PCT international patent applicants, the performance of enterprises and universities in China is very eye-catching. In 2019, Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. in China ranked first with 4,411 PCT international patent applications, and Guangdong, China Opal Mobile Communication Co., Ltd. ranked fifth (1,927). Among the top ten enterprise applicants, there are four enterprises in China. In colleges and universities, the University of California ranked first with 470 international patent applications, followed by Tsinghua University (265), Shenzhen University (247), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (230) and South China University of Technology (164). Among the top 10 universities, 4 are from China.

Shen Changyu said that the intellectual property department of China will strongly support the intellectual property protection of enterprises abroad. China has set up a guidance center to deal with overseas intellectual property disputes, which will help enterprises deal with a series of intellectual property rights protection issues overseas.

The strategy of strengthening the country with intellectual property rights was accelerated.

This year marks the end of the implementation of the Outline of National Intellectual Property Strategy. In 2008, China promulgated and implemented the Outline of National Intellectual Property Strategy, proposing to "build China into a country with a high level of intellectual property creation, application, protection and management" by 2020. Shen Changyu said that this goal has been basically achieved.

At present, China’s intellectual property ownership has increased substantially, and it has become a veritable intellectual property power. From 2007 to 2019, the number of valid invention patents in China (excluding Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan) increased from 84,000 to 1.862 million, and the total number of valid registered trademarks increased from 2.353 million to 25.219 million. The number of copyright, new plant varieties, geographical indications and layout design of integrated circuits has increased substantially at the same time. Core patents, well-known brands, fine copyright, excellent new plant varieties and so on continue to increase.

Secondly, the use of intellectual property rights has achieved remarkable results and effectively promoted economic and social development. In addition to the rapid development of patent-intensive industries nationwide, the total box office of national movies reached 64.3 billion yuan in 2019, nearly 20 times that of 2007. The total import and export volume of intellectual property royalties increased from $8.5 billion in 2007 to $41 billion in 2019, an increase of nearly four times.

More importantly, the awareness of intellectual property rights in the whole society has obviously improved. "A comprehensive legal system of intellectual property rights has been basically established in line with internationally accepted rules, administrative protection and judicial protection have been comprehensively strengthened, and the social satisfaction of intellectual property protection has reached 78.98 points, which has entered a good stage as a whole." Shen Changyu said that the public’s awareness rate of intellectual property strategy has increased from 3.7% in 2008 to 86.3% in 2017, and innovation and development, brand consumption and knowledge payment have become people’s habits.

Internationally, with the continuous expansion and deepening of China’s intellectual property cooperation with foreign countries, its international influence has been significantly improved. At present, China has established intellectual property cooperation relations with more than 80 countries and regions around the world and international organizations, and has become an important participant in the formulation of international rules and global governance of intellectual property rights such as the World Intellectual Property Organization and the World Trade Organization. More and more China enterprises are constantly increasing the overseas distribution of intellectual property rights. Not only did PCT international patent applications rank first in the world last year, but the number of international trademark applications submitted through the Madrid system also ranked third in the world.

Shen Changyu also revealed that China is working hard to formulate a strategic outline for strengthening the country with intellectual property rights in 2035. At present, the first draft has been basically formed, and it is planned to be submitted to the central government for deliberation in the second half of this year. (Reporter Yan Ying)