Report on Intellectual Property System for the Future Released
On January 27, 2022, the China Development Research Foundation (CDRF) held a press conference on the Intellectual Property System for the Future: China's IP Protection and Development in time of Great Change in Beijing. The titular report brings together the reflections and insights of experts and scholars on the protection and development of intellectual property in China. It summarizes the evolution of China's IP system and the achievements of IP development since the reform and opening up and analyzes the great challenges posed by the new global geopolitical pattern and the new scientific and technological revolution to the existing IP cooperation model and institutional arrangements, thus proposing suggestions on the IP System for the future.
In the past 40 years, China's patent applications, trademark applications, utility model patent applications, and other indicators have ranked first in the world. Moreover, China's intellectual property is also going abroad at a faster pace, forming a "double circulation development pattern" in the IP field. Based on the report, the constant improvement of China's IP protection system, the rapid growth of total R&D investment, the continued enhancement of scientific and technological R&D and innovation capacity and improvement to the innovation ecosystem, the increased awareness of intellectual property and innovation in the whole society and other factors drove to the explosive development of the intellectual property.
The report points out that China's IP development in the future will face two key challenges. The first is the geopolitical changes and the reshaping of the IP landscape brought by the collective rise of developing countries, which will profoundly influence the international IP cooperation model in the future. The second is the rise of new technologies and new business formats. As the economy become more digitized and intelligent, and new technologies such as 5G, big data, and artificial intelligence gradually diffuse, and the object, subject, rights and liability of intellectual property are all facing adjustment.
China is expected to become the most important global IP stakeholder in the next two decades. In the time of great changes, the report calls for further improvement of the IP system, greater strengths and effectiveness of IP protection, enhanced international IP cooperation, and the formation and improvement of an IP system oriented to future technologies and industrial forms.
The report suggests that intellectual property development, from a national strategic perspective, should be placed in a prominent position in the construction of a new double circulation development pattern, constantly improving rule of law in IP protection, improving the IP management and service system. We should encourage innovation in IP protection, strengthen commercialization, and form an institutional environment that encourages innovation. Meanwhile, we should also coordinate the promotion of international cooperation and competition in the IP field, enhance IP protection in the process of Chinese enterprises going global, and safeguard national security in the IP field.
