Intellectual property is a key indicator of a nation's capacity for innovation-driven development.
Recently, the State Council issued the "15th Five-Year Plan for Intellectual Property Protection and Utilization," setting the target for the number of high-value invention patents per 10,000 people at more than 22, an increase of more than 6 from the 16 recorded at the end of the 14th Five-Year Plan period.
How can this substantial leap in high-value invention patents per 10,000 people be achieved? A reporter conducted interviews on the subject.
Tightening the "Entry Gate" for Patents and Effectively Guiding Innovation Resources Toward Key Fields and Key Players
Deeply engaged in the frontier field of new energy, Professor Yang Ming from the School of Electrical Engineering at Shandong University has not only published nearly 200 high-level journal papers but has also obtained more than 60 authorized invention patents.
Yang Ming explained that for technologies with disclosure potential and industrial demonstration effects, such as technical mechanisms and model architecture designs, the university systematically lays out core high-value invention patents; for application layers such as product deployment, engineering adaptation, and scenario iteration, it supports these with peripheral patents and software copyrights, thereby building a rigorous intellectual property protection system.
At present, Shandong University has established a pre-application evaluation system for patents that focuses on industrialization prospects.
"Scientific breakthroughs answer the question of whether there is good technology; pre-application evaluation must answer the question of whether it is worth applying for a patent," said Mou Chunzhu, director of the Science and Technology Innovation Transformation Center at Shandong University's Institute of Science and Technology. This shifts patent creation from a "by-product" of research output to the starting point of technology transfer.
Currently, the China National Intellectual Property Administration has promoted more than 1,200 universities and research institutions in establishing pre-application evaluation systems for patents, strictly controlling the "entry gate" for patents.
Although China has a large number of patents, there was once a phenomenon of "emphasizing quantity over quality and emphasizing applications over utilization." The indicator of high-value invention patents per 10,000 people reflects that China is placing greater emphasis on quality and value orientation in innovation, shifting from pursuing quantity to improving quality.
Liang Xinxin, director of the Strategic Planning Department of the China National Intellectual Property Administration, explained that high-value invention patents mainly include four categories in the statistical scope: invention patents in strategic emerging industries, invention patents with patent family rights overseas, invention patents maintained for more than 10 years, and invention patents that have won the National Science and Technology Award or the China Patent Award.
"By setting this indicator, innovation resources can be effectively guided toward key fields and key players, promoting the cultivation and growth of emerging industries and future industries," Liang Xinxin said.
Providing Stronger Innovation Support for the Upgrading and Expansion of Emerging Industries and the Implementation of Future Industry Layouts
According to statistics, more than 70% of China's high-value invention patents come from strategic emerging industries, concentrated in key fields such as artificial intelligence, advanced manufacturing, integrated circuits, biomedicine, and new energy.
"It is expected that during the 15th Five-Year Plan period, this proportion will further increase, providing stronger innovation support for the upgrading and expansion of emerging industries and the implementation of future industry layouts," Liang Xinxin stated.
Houmo AI Technology Co., Ltd. has continued to strengthen the creation of high-value invention patents around integrated storage and computing technology.
At present, the company has cumulatively applied for approximately 200 patents domestically and overseas, forming a full-chain intellectual property protection system covering chip architecture, advanced packaging, and software toolchains.
Wu Qiang, CEO of Houmo AI, said: "We place high-value invention patents ahead of the technological innovation process, allowing intellectual property work to truly integrate into the main line of research and development, forming a virtuous cycle in which research promotes patents and patents nourish research."
Enterprises are the main body of innovation.
By the end of 2025, 280,000 enterprises in China owned 1.764 million high-value invention patents, accounting for 77%, making them the "main force" in creating high-value invention patents.
"After scientific research achievements enter the industrial system through the form of intellectual property, the real feedback from enterprises in the market transforms originally scattered and vague scientific exploration into technological demands with clear goals and real-world constraints," said Yi Jiming, a professor at Peking University Law School.
In addition, as more and more enterprises "go global," carrying out a global layout of high-value invention patents has become a manifestation of shaping new advantages in international competition through intellectual property.
For the shipbuilding and marine equipment industry, intellectual property plays a prominent role in protecting innovation and preventing and controlling risks.
"In the field of low-temperature gas carriers, we have built a high-value patent portfolio including more than 1,000 inventions and nearly 100 PCT (Patent Cooperation Treaty) applications. Related ship types have generated cumulative sales (export value) of 570 million yuan and added profits of more than 74 million yuan," said Yan Yusheng, deputy director of the Intellectual Property and Achievement Management Research Center of China State Shipbuilding Corporation, as an example.
In the first half of this year, PCT international patent applications, Hague System international design applications, and Madrid System international trademark registrations submitted by Chinese applicants all ranked among the world's top, with the overall scale rising steadily; China's export value of intellectual property royalties reached 49.87 billion yuan, a substantial year-on-year increase of 44.3%.
Further Releasing a Clear Policy Orientation That Continuously Encourages and Promotes Innovation
In March this year, China Biopharmaceuticals reached a cooperation agreement with multinational pharmaceutical company Sanofi, exclusively licensing the global rights to a globally first-in-class drug independently developed by the company to Sanofi, with a total transaction value of up to 1.53 billion US dollars, setting the highest record for an outbound licensing transaction by a Chinese pharmaceutical company in the transplantation field.
In recent years, intellectual property authorities have vigorously promoted the acceleration of patent authorization for innovative drugs, with the core direction being to compress review cycles, optimize examination models, and tilt resources toward key innovative drugs.
Efficient examination and strong protection not only build "firewalls" for high-value patents but also enable enterprises to unleash strong market competitiveness.
By the end of the 14th Five-Year Plan, the average examination period for invention patents in China had been reduced to 15 months, reaching the fastest level internationally under the same system.
Public satisfaction with intellectual property protection rose to 82.81 points.
On the other hand, in 2025, the national transaction value of technology contracts involving patents reached 1.18 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 18.8%. A large number of high-value patents "came off the bookshelf and onto the shelf," having been tested in practical applications.
"Protecting intellectual property is protecting innovation, and among this, it is especially important to protect valuable innovation. High-value invention patents cannot be viewed only from the perspective of applications and authorizations; the key is whether they can promote the development of new quality productive forces and achieve considerable economic value," said Shan Xiaoguang, a professor at Tongji University's Shanghai International College of Intellectual Property.
In the view of the experts interviewed, in practical work, it is necessary to continuously optimize the intellectual property protection environment and accelerate the establishment of intellectual property protection systems in emerging fields; at the same time, deepen the reform of rights and interests distribution, strengthen policy support and market services, and improve the efficiency of transformation and utilization.
"Since the 12th Five-Year Plan, intellectual property indicators have been included in national five-year plans for four consecutive times, step by step promoting the continuous improvement of China's innovation capacity and making the country a veritable intellectual property power," Liang Xinxin stated. During the 15th Five-Year Plan period, continuing to set this indicator further releases a clear policy orientation of continuously encouraging and promoting innovation, and also injects stable expectations into high-quality economic and social development.
Comments