Patent Pledges Break CNY1 Billion Mark in Guizhou

In 2017 patent pledges in Guizhou broke the CNY1 billion mark, year on year growth of 32.7%, the first time it's broken the 1 billion mark, with over 30 companies being granted loans by mortgaging patent rights. The main drivers of the growth in patent pledges were the state-level patent pledge financing pilot schemes underway in the Qiandongnan Miao and Dong autonomous prefecture and in Helongli county. In order to encourage financial organizations to participate in the pilot, the cities of Guiyang and Liupanshui have established a patent pledge risk management pools in an attempt to lower the risks for banks. The patent pledge scheme is expected to be extended province-wide in 2018.

Taiwan Patent Linkage System Approved by Legislature

The Legislative Yuan recently passed amendments to the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act, which adds the patent linkage system, meaning that when generic drug manufacturers apply for a market approval for a new product, if the original manufacturer has concerns that it infringes its patent right, the Ministry of Health and Welfare must suspend the issue of the license by 12 months, but the generic manufacturer can get a period of exclusive sales if they win the lawsuit.

China's Patent Office Received Over 1.3 Million Patent Applications in 2017

China’s State Intellectual Property (SIPO) published patent statistics for 2017 on Jan. 18. In 2017 SIPO received 1.38 million invention patent applications, year-on-year growth of 14.2%. 420,000 invention patents were granted by SIPO in 2017, among them 327,000 were from domestic patent holders. As of the end of 2017, there were 1,356,000 effective inventive patents in China, which is 9.8 patents per 10,000 people.

Patent Assignments in China Grew 31.2% in 2017

In 2017 there were over 191,606 patent assignments in 2017, growth of 31.2% year on year. Among all these assignments, invention patents constituted 102,195, utility models constituted 73,627, and design patents constituted 15,784. Guangdong topped the ranking with 36,000 assignments.

China-Germany Patent Prosecution Highway Pilot Program Extended for Three Years

China’s State Intellectual Property Office and the German Patent and Trade Mark Office (DPMA) jointly decided to extend the SIPO-DPMA Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) pilot program for another three years from January 23, 2018 to January 22, 2021. There will be no change in the procedure.

The pilot program was launched on January 23, 2012 for a period of two years. The PPH pilot program had previously been extended twice on January 23, 2014 and January 23, 2016 and was due to expire on January 22, 2018.

Zhoushan Granted Maritime Intellectual Property Pilot Status

The coastal city of Zhoushan in Zhejiang has been named as a national intellectual property pilot city. It is the only one of the twelve intellectual property pilot cities which will focus on developing IP related to the maritime economy, according to the China Daily. Maritime-related industries contribute more than 70% to the city's GDP. Companies and individuals in the city applied for 3,313 patents in the first 11 months of 2017, a year-on-year increase of 10.4%.

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