The National Intellectual Property Administration responds to Everyman's questions: actively exploring reforms for the separate management of intellectual property rights as occupational scientific and technological achievements assets, implementing a management model for intangible assets such as intellectual property that differs from that of general tangible assets.

Every reporter｜Zhou Yifei Every editor｜Huang Bowen

On March 23, the State Council Information Office held a press conference. At the meeting, the National Intellectual Property Administration introduced the implementation of the Special Action for Patent Transformation and Utilization (2023-2025) (hereinafter referred to as “Special Action”).

Currently, what difficulties and bottlenecks are faced by patent transformation and utilization in our country? How is this Special Action addressing these challenges?

Hu Wenhui, Deputy Director of the National Intellectual Property Administration, answered questions from the “Daily Economic News” reporter on site, stating that there are many difficulties and bottlenecks in patent transformation and utilization, mainly the “five ‘nots’,” namely “cannot transfer,” “unwilling to transfer,” “dare not transfer,” “do not know how to transfer,” and “inconvenient to transfer.” In the next steps, the National Intellectual Property Administration will build on the achievements of this Special Action, continuously deepen the reform of the system and mechanism, optimize the ecology of transformation and utilization, further address these critical difficulties and bottlenecks, and enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of patent transformation.

Photo from the press conference site: Daily Economic News reporter Zhou Yifei

Exploring the Mechanism for Liability Exemption and Error Correction in Patent Transformation

Hu Wenhui told the “Daily Economic News” reporter that there are many difficulties and bottlenecks in patent transformation and utilization, mainly the “five ‘nots’,” namely “cannot transfer,” “unwilling to transfer,” “dare not transfer,” “do not know how to transfer,” and “inconvenient to transfer.”

Specifically, “cannot transfer” is due to the disconnection between some patent applications and industrial applications in our country, lacking transformation prospects, and insufficient supply of high-value patents that can be transformed; “unwilling to transfer” is because the transformation cycle of patents is long, with high uncertainty and risk, leading to insufficient motivation and willingness of researchers to engage in transformation; “dare not transfer” is due to the current inadequacy of the liability exemption and error correction mechanism, with participants in the transformation worried about improper pricing during the patent evaluation process causing loss of state-owned assets; “do not know how to transfer” is because universities and research institutions in our country generally lack specialized intellectual property institutions and personnel, resulting in insufficient transformation capabilities; “inconvenient to transfer” is due to the current poor supply-demand connection between universities, research institutions, and enterprises, with the ecology serving patent transformation and utilization not being sufficiently sound.

Hu Wenhui pointed out that since the implementation of the Special Action, the National Intellectual Property Administration has collaborated with relevant departments to work together and implement targeted measures to solve the problems of the “five ‘nots’.”

Specifically, regarding “cannot transfer,” efforts have been made to improve systems and mechanisms such as pre-assessment of patent applications, dynamic inventory, hierarchical management, and navigational R&D to solidify the quality foundation for patent transformation and utilization.

Regarding “unwilling to transfer,” the focus is on deeply promoting the reform of the empowerment of occupational scientific and technological achievements, establishing and improving the intellectual property revenue distribution mechanism, effectively stimulating the intrinsic motivation and innovative vitality for patent transformation.

Regarding “dare not transfer,” there is an active exploration of the reform regarding the separate management of assets from occupational scientific and technological achievements, implementing a management model for intangible assets such as intellectual property that differs from that of general tangible assets; at the same time, exploring a liability exemption and error correction mechanism for patent transformation, where personnel who have fulfilled their due diligence obligations and have not sought improper benefits will be exempted from responsibility if transformation fails or does not meet expectations due to market risks or other factors, effectively alleviating concerns about “daring not to transfer.”

“For example, we have implemented the separate management reform of occupational scientific and technological achievements in a certain university in the northwest region, dispelling researchers’ concerns about the loss of state-owned assets, turning ‘dare not transfer’ into ‘actively transfer.’ Currently, this university has priced over 300 patents at 630 million yuan, and the transformation revenue has exceeded 3.2 billion yuan,” Hu Wenhui introduced.

Regarding “do not know how to transfer,” the main focus is on promoting universities and research institutions to establish specialized technology transfer agencies, cultivating a team of technology managers to provide services for the entire process of transformation and utilization, including achievement mining, incubation, evaluation, promotion, trading, as well as financial and legal services.

Regarding “inconvenient to transfer,” the aim is to promote the implementation of transformation models for patents such as “open licensing,” “pay after use,” and “patent industrialization + stock options,” to facilitate the interconnectivity of intellectual property operation platforms and accelerate the removal of barriers to “inconvenience to transfer.”

Hu Wenhui emphasized that in the next steps, the National Intellectual Property Administration will build on the results already achieved in this Special Action, continue to deepen the reform of the system and mechanism, optimize the ecology of transformation and utilization, further address these critical difficulties and bottlenecks, and enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of patent transformation.

Further Enhance the Coverage of Paperless Online Processing for Patent Pledge Registration

Financial support is an important guarantee for patent transformation, and various regions have also made many explorations in the intellectual property financial ecosystem. What are the next work plans of the National Financial Regulatory Administration in promoting diversified intellectual property financial support?

Du Mo, head of the Legal Affairs Department of the National Financial Supervision and Administration, stated that the National Financial Supervision and Administration will continuously improve the quality and effectiveness of intellectual property financial work.

First, promote financial institutions to continuously optimize management mechanisms. Further enhance the coverage of paperless online processing for the entire patent pledge registration process. Guide financial institutions to fully explore enterprises’ financial needs using digital intelligence methods, intelligently match product services based on enterprise profiles, and improve financing efficiency.

Second, in conjunction with the National Intellectual Property Administration and other departments, guide local areas to continue to carry out bank-enterprise docking activities. Through the establishment of a “white list” bi-directional push mechanism for intellectual property enterprises, carrying out “in-park benefits for enterprises” for intellectual property financial services, and holding various activities such as intellectual property forums, increase policy promotion and bank-enterprise docking efforts.

Third, deepen the comprehensive pilot work for the intellectual property financial ecosystem. Timely evaluate pilot results, summarize innovative measures and good experiences formed during the pilot work, issue promotional typical cases, and promote replicable development models. At the same time, based on the progress of the work, research will be conducted to expand the scope of the pilot.