Intellectual property is a key gauge of the level of innovative 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 at least 6 from the 16 at the end of the 14th Five-Year Plan period.
How will this sharp jump in high-value invention patents per 10,000 people be achieved? A reporter conducted interviews on the matter.
Strictly controlling the patent entry gate and effectively guiding innovation resources to key fields and key entities
Deeply engaged in the frontier field of new energy, Yang Ming, a professor at the School of Electrical Engineering of Shandong University, has not only published nearly 200 high-level journal papers but also obtained more than 60 authorized invention patents.
Yang Ming explained that for technical mechanisms and model architecture designs that can be disclosed and have industrial demonstration effects, the university systematically lays out core high-value invention patents; around application layers such as product implementation, engineering adaptation and scenario iteration, it arranges supporting peripheral patents and software copyrights, thereby building a strict intellectual property protection system.
At present, Shandong University has established a pre-application evaluation system for patents that focuses on industrialization prospects.
"Scientific research breakthroughs solve the question of whether there is good technology, while pre-application evaluation must answer whether it is worth applying for a patent," said Mu Chunzhu, director of the Science and Technology Innovation Transformation Center of Shandong University's Science and Technology Research Institute. This has turned patent creation from a by-product of research output into the starting point of technology transfer.
At present, 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 patent entry gate.
Although China has a large number of patents, there was once a phenomenon of emphasizing quantity over quality and application 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, introduced 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 to gather in key fields and among key entities, promoting the cultivation and growth of emerging industries and future industries," Liang Xinxin said.
Providing stronger innovation support for improving the quality and expanding the capacity of emerging industries and for implementing future industrial layouts
According to statistics, more than 70 percent 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 rise further, providing stronger innovation support for improving the quality and expanding the capacity of emerging industries and for implementing future industrial layouts," Liang Xinxin said.
Houmo Intelligent 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 about 200 patents at home and abroad, forming a full-chain intellectual property protection system covering chip architecture, advanced packaging and software tool chains.
Wu Qiang, chief executive officer of Houmo Intelligent, 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 percent, making them the main force in creating high-value invention patents.
"After scientific research achievements enter the industrial system in the form of intellectual property, the real feedback from enterprises in the market transforms originally scattered and vague scientific exploration into technological demand with clear goals and realistic constraints," said Yi Jiming, a professor at Peking University Law School.
In addition, as more and more enterprises go global, the global layout of high-value invention patents has become a manifestation of shaping new international competitive advantages through intellectual property.
For the ship 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 applications. Related ship types have generated cumulative sales, or export value, of 570 million yuan and more than 74 million yuan in additional profit," said Yan Yusheng, deputy director of the Intellectual Property and Achievement Management Research Center of China State Shipbuilding Corporation.
In the first half of this year, PCT international patent applications, Hague System international design applications and Madrid international trademark applications 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 sharp year-on-year increase of 44.3 percent.
Further releasing the clear policy orientation of continuously encouraging and promoting innovation
In March this year, China Biopharmaceuticals reached cooperation 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 U.S. 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 faster patent authorization for innovative drugs, with the core direction being to shorten the review cycle, optimize the examination model and tilt resources toward key innovative drugs.
Efficient examination and strong protection have not only built firewalls for high-value patents but also enabled enterprises to unleash strong market competitiveness.
At the end of the 14th Five-Year Plan period, the average examination period for invention patents in China was 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 percent.
A large number of high-value patents have moved off the shelf and onto the market, and have been tested in practical application.
"Protecting intellectual property is protecting innovation, and among this, valuable innovation in particular must be protected. High-value invention patents cannot be viewed only from the perspective of application and authorization; 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 reform of rights and interests distribution, strengthen policy support and market services, and improve the efficiency of transformation and application.
"Since the 12th Five-Year Plan, intellectual property indicators have been included in national five-year plans for four consecutive times, advancing step by step and promoting the continuous improvement of China's innovation capacity, making the country a veritable intellectual property power," Liang Xinxin said. During the 15th Five-Year Plan period, continuing to set this indicator will further release the clear policy orientation of continuously encouraging and promoting innovation and will also inject stable expectations into high-quality economic and social development.
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