On January 15th, the State Council Information Office held a press conference to introduce the progress of intellectual property work in 2024. Hu Wenhui, Deputy Director of the China National Intellectual Property Administration, said that in 2024, China will authorize 1.045 million invention patents, up 13.5% year on year; 4.781 million registered trademarks were registered throughout the year, a year-on-year increase of 9.1%; 11000 integrated circuit layout designs have been registered and certified.

As of the end of 2024, the effective number of domestic invention patents reached 4.756 million. Among them, the number of high-value invention patents reached 1.978 million, a year-on-year increase of 18.8%. The number of high-value invention patents per 10000 population has reached 14, achieving the expected target of the 14th Five Year Plan ahead of schedule. The number of domestic enterprises with valid invention patents reached 497000, an increase of 69000 compared to the same period last year.

In 2024, Chinese applicants will consistently rank among the top in the world in submitting PCT international patent applications, Hague system design applications, and Madrid trademark international registration applications. Among them, 4868 international design applications were submitted through the Hague Agreement, a year-on-year increase of 29.5%, ranking first in the world. Hu Wenhui introduced that there are 130000 high-value invention patents in China that have been authorized overseas, nearly doubling from the end of the 13th Five Year Plan; Involving 16000 innovative entities, an increase of over 6700 compared to the end of the 13th Five Year Plan period, more innovative entities are paying more attention to utilizing intellectual property rights to explore international markets and continuously enhance international competitiveness.

More patents are moving out of the 'laboratory' and towards the 'industrial chain'. Wang Peizhang, Director of the Intellectual Property Application Promotion Department of the China National Intellectual Property Administration, said that since the launch of the special action for patent transformation and application, 1.349 million outstanding patents in universities and scientific research institutions across the country have been checked, and 450000 enterprises have been organized to carry out precise docking and matching push. The plan to promote the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises through patent industrialization and the recognition of patent intensive products have been continuously promoted, achieving good results.

By the end of 2024, there were over 3.5 million valid invention patents for domestic enterprises in China, accounting for 73.7% of the total number of valid invention patents in the country, an increase of 2.6 percentage points from the previous year. The effective invention patent industrialization rate of domestic enterprises has maintained steady growth for five consecutive years. By 2024, the industrialization rate of enterprise invention patents will reach 53.3%, and the transformation of innovative achievements into real productivity will accelerate.

"While enterprises are active in innovation, their transformation and application capabilities continue to improve." Liang Xinxin, head of the Strategic Planning Department of the China National Intellectual Property Administration, said that in recent years, small and medium-sized enterprises and high-tech enterprises have shown outstanding performance in patent industrialization, and strategic emerging industries and future industrial patent transformation and application benefits are outstanding. The data also shows that nearly 50% of patent holders in Chinese enterprises have carried out or plan to carry out green technology innovation.

Property protection, especially intellectual property protection, is an important aspect in shaping a good business environment. At present, there are a total of 124 national intellectual property protection centers and rapid rights protection centers in China; The number of overseas intellectual property dispute response guidance centers has reached 80. In 2024, the intellectual property system handled a total of 72000 administrative cases of patent infringement disputes and guided intellectual property dispute mediation organizations to accept nearly 140000 mediation cases. The social satisfaction with intellectual property protection has increased to 82.36 points, reaching a new high.

At present, the average examination period for invention patents has been shortened to 15.5 months, and the average examination period for trademark registration has remained stable at 4 months, both of which have reached the international leading level under the same examination system. The accuracy rate of invention patent examination closure has reached 95.2%, and the pass rate of trademark examination, opposition, and review sampling is all over 97%. As of the end of 2024, China has recognized a total of 2544 geographical indication products. The total number of operating entities for geographical indication special indications is nearly 33000, and the direct output value of geographical indication products has exceeded 960 billion yuan, with stable growth for several consecutive years.

Guo Wen, Director of the Intellectual Property Protection Department of the China National Intellectual Property Administration, said that in the next step, the China National Intellectual Property Administration will continue to promote the high standard management of geographical indications, deepen the implementation of the unified identification system of geographical indications, and accelerate the realization of unified import and export of geographical indication product identification and trademark registration. Strengthen the integration and development of geographical indication protection with cultural tourism, "time-honored brands", "intangible cultural heritage" and other fields, providing impetus for the sustainable development of the geographical indication industry.