China patent transfers jump 15% year-on-year
University patent transfers and agreements have soared in last 10 years, according the state press agency | 12,000 students currently enrolled on IP undergraduate courses.
Patent transfers and licences in China hit 420,000 in 2021, driven by low-carbon industries, according to China’s National Intellectual Property Administration.
Reported in Xinhua (the official state press agency), patent transfers and licences nationwide grew 15% year on year. The growth rate in low-carbon industries such as green energy was more than twice the national average.
Universities and research institutes also contributed to the growth, with a year-on-year increase of 33.4% in patent transfers and licences. Of the transfers and licences, 30% of the patents belonged to strategic emerging industries.
University patent transfer and licensing agreements have soared from 2,357 in 2012 to more than 15,000 in 2021, with the monetary value of patent commercialisation amounting to CNY8.89 billion ($1.3 billion) from 820 million yuan during this period.
Lei Chaozi, head of the science and technology department of the Ministry of Education, attributed the progress to efforts in talent cultivation.
More than 100 Chinese universities have established IP undergraduate programmes, with more than 12,000 students enrolled, said the official.
"It is an achievement of both quantity and quality trending up simultaneously," Lei said.
In 2021, the country launched a three-year plan to offer monetary incentives to provincial-level regions that have "made achievements in fostering patent technology transfers from small and medium-sized enterprises”.
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