China Releases Intellectual Property Plan for Strategic Emerging Industries

Feb. 25 – China’s State Intellectual Property Office officially released the “2013 Intellectual Property Work Plan for Strategic Emerging Industries (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Plan’)” on February 18, which has been jointly prepared by 10 departments, including the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Education, and the Ministry of Science and Technology.

The Plan has specified 50 measures for the country’s intellectual property development in the following eight areas:

• Strengthening intellectual property analysis and appraisal capacity
• Improving intellectual property management capabilities
• Promoting intellectual property creation layout
• Strengthening intellectual property transformation and utilization capacity
• Enhancing intellectual property service capabilities
• Strengthening intellectual property information platform construction
• Optimizing the intellectual property development environment
• Strengthening foreign-related intellectual property work

On April 28, 2012, China’s State Council forwarded the “Opinions on Strengthening Intellectual Property Work in Emerging Strategic Industries (guobanfa [2012] No.28, hereinafter referred to as ‘Opinion’),” which puts forward the major development objectives of intellectual property in China by 2015 and 2020 respectively.

Major Objectives by 2015

• The capability to create intellectual property shall be enhanced: The number of patents for inventions and international patent applications in emerging strategic industries shall double that of 2010 and an array of world-famous trademarks, software and copyrights shall be created.
• The ability to utilize intellectual property shall be raised: An all-round and integrated intellectual property service system with a focus on consultation, evaluation, finance and law shall be formed.
• The capabilities of enterprises and R&D institutions in managing intellectual property shall be enhanced: An array of leading enterprises and R&D institutions with comparative advantages in intellectual property shall be cultivated, and a batch of multi-level and multi-field intellectual property alliances in emerging strategic industries shall be formed.

Major Objectives by 2020

• The ability of China’s emerging strategic industries in creating, utilizing, protecting and managing intellectual property shall be raised.
• Intellectual property shall effectively support the development of emerging strategic industries.
• An array of internationally-competitive and industrially-influential enterprises with intellectual property advantages shall emerge.
• Prominent intellectual property comparative advantages in emerging strategic industries shall be cultivated.

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