Against the backdrop of increasingly strengthened intellectual property protection, the status of intellectual property has become the core threshold for the selection of science and technology awards. Indicators such as the number, quality, and rational layout of patents directly determine the advantageous position of achievements in award competition, highlighting the supporting role of intellectual property in scientific and technological innovation.

The completeness of patent layout has become a mandatory indicator for the initial review of technology awards. The guidelines for applying for national science and technology awards clearly require that core technological achievements must have independent intellectual property rights, and patent protection should cover key technological links. In the application for the the State Technological Innovation Award in 2024, 15% of the projects were eliminated due to the incomplete layout of core technology patents. The battery thermal management technology project of a certain new energy vehicle enterprise, with 28 invention patents covering the entire chain of materials, structures, control algorithms, etc., successfully passed the initial review and ultimately won the award. The expert reviewer pointed out that "a complete patent layout not only proves the originality of the results, but also reflects the awareness and ability to protect innovation, which is an important direction encouraged by science and technology awards

Patent quality replaces quantity as a key evaluation factor. The evaluation of technology awards no longer simply counts the number of patents, but focuses on examining the technological content, stability of rights, and market value of patents. As an award dedicated to the recognition of patent achievements, the China Patent Award will introduce a patent value evaluation system for the first time in 2024, which will be scored quantitatively from such dimensions as patent innovation, legal stability, technological progressiveness, and implementation efficiency. The 5G core network patent of a certain communication enterprise has won the China Patent Gold Award for its precise drafting of claims, coverage of over 30 countries and regions in the same family of patents, and billions of economic benefits generated after implementation. This evaluation orientation drives enterprises to shift from "patent quantity competition" to "quality improvement" and promotes high-quality creation of intellectual property rights.

The ability to apply intellectual property rights is included in the comprehensive evaluation of awards. Technology awards are increasingly emphasizing the intellectual property transformation benefits of achievements, including patent licensing, transfer, financing, and other applications. In the selection of the Science and Technology Progress Award in a certain province, an industrial robot technology achievement has become a highlight due to the promotion of technology upgrading in more than 100 small and medium-sized enterprises through patent open licensing, achieving a patent industrialization scale of over 2 billion yuan, and its intellectual property application effect has become a bonus point. Some technology awards also assess the ability to prevent and control intellectual property risks, implementing a "one vote veto" policy for projects with patent infringement disputes, and guiding research entities to strengthen their awareness of intellectual property risks.

Intellectual property services are deeply involved in the preparation of award applications. Professional intellectual property institutions provide patent layout optimization, infringement risk investigation, intellectual property value assessment and other services to the applying units, enhancing the intellectual property competitiveness of the application materials. A research team from a certain university conducted a patent quality diagnosis through an intellectual property company before applying for a technology award. They strengthened their patent layout and prevented patent invalidation risks in response to defects in their claims. Ultimately, the project was successfully awarded based on the optimized intellectual property status. Data shows that projects that have undergone professional intellectual property services have an average success rate of 25% in applying for technology awards.

Intellectual property has become the core threshold for technology awards, which not only enhances the authority and value of the awards, but also guides the deep integration of technological innovation and intellectual property protection, promoting the effective protection and application of innovative achievements.