Action Plan to Become IP Powerhouse by 2020

The State Intellectual Property Office announced a plan on Monday to implement the National IP Strategy Outline, with more emphasis on IP use and protection.

The plan for 2014-20, rolled out jointly by 28 ministries and state-level organizations, has set a clear goal of building China into an IP powerhouse.

"We need to explore a suitable path towards the goal that promotes our social and economic development and at the same time enables China's IP work to reach the world's advanced level," SIPO Commissioner Shen Changyu said at a press conference.

The authorities will therefore put more emphasis on IP use and protection, the key issues during the period, Shen said.

China has made substantial progress in IP use, protection, management and services over the past five years since the national IP strategy was initiated in 2008, with the targets set for the first phase "basically realized", he said.

The country had topped the world in invention patent applications for three consecutive years by 2013. It had also retained its No 1 world ranking in terms of trademark applications for 12 straight years.

At the same time, copyright registrations of creations and software from China also set a record high in the country's history, he said.

The country needs to have a greater voice in making rules on the international IP landscape, the commissioner said. "We are now participating in and advancing international rule-making."

However, companies have yet to make their innovation and IP operations cutting-edge, and governments need to improve services further, he noted.

In the United States, 34.8 percent of GDP was generated by IP-intensive industries in 2010. In the European Union, the figure rose up to some 39 percent, according to a 2013 report.

In contrast, the contribution was around 27 percent in China, much less than those in the other two IP powerhouses, Shen said.

The plan encourages the growth of IP-intensive industries and the construction of a healthy eco-system for patent operations.

He cited use of patents to navigate research and large investment projects, IP collective management and an integrated IP network as highlights of the initiative.

He called on industries and local governments to seek their own recipe for improvement in innovation, based on the new plan.

(Source: China Daily)