Chinese Biotechnology Patent Applicants Rank No. 1 Globally

The Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology and the Chengdu Library and Information Center, both under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, recently published a white paper on industrial biotechnology in China and a report on investments in the sector, which stated that from 2014-2016, applications for invention (utility) patents in the industrial biotechnology field from Chinese applicants made up 30% of all global applications, putting China in the top spot worldwide.

From 2014-2016 57,559 industrial biotechnology patent applications were published in China, a compound annual growth rate of 14.3%, and in total 21,947 invention patents were granted.

Of the 57,559 invention patent applications filed in the country in the field, 86% were from domestic applicants and 14% were from foreign applicants.

Among the 21,947 biotechnology invention patents granted, 78% were granted to Chinese applicants, while applicants from other countries were granted the remaining 22%.

Although Chinese applicants have applied for a large number of invention patents in the biotechnology sector, they’ve applied for very few patents in the sector overseas.

Chinese applicants have applied for 2,358 invention patents in the biotechnology field overseas from 2014-2016.

Shenzhen Introduces New Regulations to Protect IP and
Attract Talent

The Shenzhen city government recently announced Talent Acquisition Regulations for the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone, which went into effect on October 31. The regulations provide strict intellectual property protections for entrepreneurs who have founded their own companies, whilst at the same time providing more material incentives and protections for talent.

Shenzhen serves as the headquarters for several of China’s biggest innovators, including Huawei and Tencent. In 2016, there were almost 20,000 PCT applications in the city, making up 46.6% of applications across the entire nation.

The regulations include a comprehensive punitive damages system, establishing a credit rating system and putting a faith-breaking punishment mechanism in place; At the same time, the regulations encourage the securitization of intellectual property assets, and the creation of IP investment products.

Online Trademark Registration Applications Make Up 85% of All Registrations in China

The reform of the trademark system in China has been ongoing for more than a year, and the country has now enabled online services for trademark registration, trademark searches, publication and payments. Trademark fees have also been lowered 50%, which has reduced costs for businesses.

The pace of registrations in China has continued to grow as awareness of IP rights increases. From January to October of 2017, 4,413,000 trademark registration applications were received by the country’s trademark office, 722,000 more applications than the total number of applications received in the whole of 2016. Among these, 3,771,000 were online applications, making up 85.45%.

Binzhou City Government Sign Memorandum of Cooperation with Banks on Loans with Patents as Collateral

The Binzhou City Government in Shandong Province signed a memorandum of cooperation with banks on loans with patents as collateral worth RMB600 million (US$91.3 million). The vice mayor, Du Ping conferred pilot status for the mortgaging of intellectual property rights on 17 city government offices and 10 individual workers. The provincial intellectual property office, Binzhou Vocational College, and the city’s Department of Technology signed an agreement on the founding of a Binzhou Intellectual Property Institute. The institute will cultivate IP talent, as well as serving as an incubator for start ups.

Two agreements on the mortgaging of intellectual property rights were also signed. The Binzhou branch of Qishang Bank, along with two other financial institutions signed an agreement with the city’s department of science and technology, while several companies and financial institutions signed a memorandum of cooperation on the mortgaging of intellectual property rights.

Guangzhou SIPO Branch Invalidity and Reexamination Request Pilot Successful

The Guangzhou Office of the State Intellectual Property Office has been formally given the power to accept requests for invalidation proceedings and patent reexamination requests, after a year-long pilot run. It is the first office nationwide to be allowed to do so.

The pilot scheme ran from Sept. 23, 2016 until Aug. 31, 2017. In this time the Guangzhou office received 5,592 petitions for reexamination and 233 requests for invalidity proceedings. The Patent Reexamination Committee sent officials to Guangzhou to assess the pilot scheme at the end of September.

Heads of Chinese and South Korean Intellectual Property Offices Sign MOU

(China IP News) SIPO commissioner Shen Changyu shared insights on cooperation with Commissioner Sung Yunmo of the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) at the 23rd SIPO-KIPO Meeting in Hangzhou on November 17.

Shen labeled the cooperation achievements in the past 25 years between the two offices as fruitful and profound. He expressed the willingness of SIPO to deepen cooperation, furthering existing projects and cultivating new areas of growth aimed at promoting communication and cooperation between the two neighboring countries, which he stated were both integral players in the region.

Sung spoke highly of China's achievements in the IP field. He promised to deepen the cooperation between the two offices by exchanging experience in patent examination and other fields to tackle common challenges in IP development.

Several topics including IP policies, liaison officer exchanges, patent examination, automation, industrial design, patent reexamination and professional training were discussed.

The commissioners signed the Memorandum of the 23rd SIPO-KIPO Heads Meeting and Memorandum of SIPO-KIPO CSP at the meeting.

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