By Xiong Weisheng

 

BEIJING, Dec 9 (China Economic Net) - China's intellectual property (IP) royalties reached a record high in the first nine months of 2024, with total import and export fees hitting 307.2 billion yuan, up 7.2% year-on-year, the country's top IP regulator announced during a recent regular press briefing.

 

This robust growth underscores China's growing emphasis on IP as a driver of economic growth. The China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) has spearheaded efforts to commercialise IP assets, conducting a value analysis of 1.35 million existing patents from universities and research institutions to create a resource pool for potential technology transfer to enterprises. 

 

Patent licensing and transfers among universities and research institutions grew 24.1% year-on-year, while financing through patent and trademark pledges soared by an impressive 60% to 792.23 billion yuan, CNIPA spokesperson Heng Fuguang said at the press briefing.

 

“This momentum in IP industrialisation has provided strong support for China’s industry transformation and upgrading,” said the spokesperson. Patent-intensive industries are playing an increasingly important role in China's economy, contributing 12.7% to the country's GDP with a value-add of 1.532 trillion yuan, a 7.1% year-on-year increase.

 

The solar energy sector, for example, sees encouraging progress in patent industrialisation, Chen Wei, executive deputy director of China's Photovoltaics Industry IP Operation Centre, told China Economic Net (CEN) in an interview.

 

Leading the efforts to bring solar patents to the market in the country under CNIPA, the centre has identified and assessed more than 2,000 solar patents with commercial potential from universities and research institutions over the past year, Chen told CEN. 

 

“This has paved the way for actions such as patent transfers or licensing, thus bolstering the role of patent operations in supporting the photovoltaic industry chain,” Chen said.