How Can a Sharp Rise in High-Value Invention Patents per 10,000 People Be Achieved?

Intellectual property is an important indicator of the level of innovative development. Recently, the State Council issued the Intellectual Property Protection and Utilization Plan for the 15th Five-Year Plan Period, setting the target for high-value invention patents per 10,000 people at more than 22, an increase of more than six from 16 at the end of the 14th Five-Year Plan period.

Strictly controlling the “entry gate” for patents and effectively guiding innovation resources toward key fields and key entities

In the frontier field of new energy, Yang Ming, a professor at the School of Electrical Engineering of Shandong University, has not only published nearly 200 high-level journal papers but also obtained more than 60 authorized invention patents.

Yang Ming explained that for technical mechanisms, model architecture designs and other technologies that can be disclosed and have industrial demonstration effects, the university systematically lays out core high-value invention patents; for application-level areas such as product implementation, engineering adaptation and scenario iteration, it supports these with peripheral patents and software copyrights, thereby building a rigorous intellectual property protection system.

At present, Shandong University has established a pre-application evaluation system for patent applications focusing on industrialization prospects. “Scientific research breakthroughs answer the question of whether there is a good technology; pre-application evaluation must answer whether it is worth applying for a patent,” said Mu Chunzhu, director of the Science and Technology Innovation Transformation Center of Shandong University’s Institute of Science and Technology. This has transformed patent creation from a “by-product” of research output into the starting point of technology transfer.

Currently, the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) has encouraged more than 1,200 universities and research institutions to establish pre-application evaluation systems for patent applications, strictly controlling the “entry gate” for patents.

Although China has a large number of patents, there was once a phenomenon of “emphasizing quantity over quality and emphasizing applications over use.” The indicator of high-value invention patents per 10,000 people reflects that China is placing greater emphasis on quality and value orientation in innovation and is shifting from pursuing quantity to improving quality.

Liang Xinxin, director of the Strategic Planning Department of the CNIPA, introduced that the statistical scope of high-value invention patents mainly covers four categories: invention patents in strategic emerging industries, invention patents with patent family rights overseas, invention patents maintained for more than 10 years, and invention patents that have won the National Science and Technology Award or the China Patent Award.

“By setting this indicator, we can effectively guide innovation resources to gather in key fields and key entities and promote the cultivation and growth of emerging industries and future industries,” Liang Xinxin said.

Providing stronger innovation support for upgrading and expanding emerging industries and for implementing future industry layouts

According to statistics, more than 70 percent of China’s high-value invention patents come from strategic emerging industries, concentrated in key fields such as artificial intelligence, advanced manufacturing, integrated circuits, biomedicine and new energy.

“It is expected that during the 15th Five-Year Plan period, this proportion will further increase, providing stronger innovation support for upgrading and expanding emerging industries and for implementing future industry layouts,” Liang Xinxin said.

Houmo Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd. has continued to strengthen the creation of high-value invention patents around compute-in-memory technology. At present, the company has cumulatively applied for about 200 patents at home and abroad, forming a full-chain intellectual property protection system covering chip architecture, advanced packaging and software toolchains.

Wu Qiang, CEO of Houmo Intelligent, said: “We place high-value invention patents ahead of the technological innovation process, truly integrating intellectual property work into the main line of R&D and forming a virtuous cycle in which R&D promotes patents and patents nourish R&D.”

Enterprises are the main body of innovation. By the end of 2025, 280,000 enterprises in China owned 1.764 million high-value invention patents, accounting for 77 percent, making them the “main force” in creating high-value invention patents.

“After scientific research achievements enter the industrial system in the form of intellectual property, the real feedback from enterprises in the market transforms originally scattered and vague scientific research exploration into technical demands with clear goals and realistic constraints,” said Yi Jiming, a professor at Peking University Law School.

In addition, as more and more enterprises “go global,” the global layout of high-value invention patents has become a manifestation of shaping new international competitive advantages through intellectual property.

For the shipbuilding and marine equipment industry, intellectual property plays a prominent role in protecting innovation and preventing and controlling risks.

“In the field of low-temperature gas carriers, we have built a high-value patent portfolio including more than 1,000 inventions and nearly 100 PCT (Patent Cooperation Treaty) applications. Related ship types have generated cumulative sales (export value) of 570 million yuan and more than 74 million yuan in additional profits,” said Yan Yusheng, deputy director of the Intellectual Property and Achievements Management Research Center of China State Shipbuilding Corporation.

In the first half of this year, PCT international patent applications, Hague System international design applications and Madrid System international trademark registrations submitted by Chinese applicants all ranked among the world’s top, with overall scale rising steadily; China’s exports of charges for the use of intellectual property reached 49.87 billion yuan, a sharp year-on-year increase of 44.3 percent.

Further releasing a clear policy orientation that continuously incentivizes and promotes innovation

In March this year, China Biopharmaceuticals reached cooperation with multinational pharmaceutical company Sanofi, exclusively licensing the global rights of a self-developed globally first-in-class drug to Sanofi, with a total transaction value of up to US$1.53 billion, setting the highest record for an outbound licensing transaction by a Chinese pharmaceutical company in the transplant field.

In recent years, intellectual property authorities have vigorously promoted faster patent authorization for innovative drugs, with the core direction being to shorten the review cycle, optimize the examination model and channel resources toward key innovative drugs. Efficient examination and strong protection have not only built “firewalls” for high-value patents but also enabled enterprises to unleash strong market competitiveness.

At the end of the 14th Five-Year Plan period, the average examination period for invention patents in China was reduced to 15 months, reaching the fastest international level under the same system. Public satisfaction with intellectual property protection rose to 82.81 points.

On the other hand, in 2025, the national transaction value of technology contracts involving patents reached 1.18 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 18.8 percent. A large number of high-value patents have “moved from bookshelves to shelves” and been tested in practical applications.

“Protecting intellectual property is protecting innovation, and in particular, it is necessary to protect valuable innovation. High-value invention patents cannot be viewed only from the perspective of application and authorization; the key is whether they can promote the development of new quality productive forces and achieve considerable economic value,” said Shan Xiaoguang, a professor at the Shanghai International College of Intellectual Property of Tongji University.

According to experts interviewed, in practical work, it is necessary to continuously optimize the intellectual property protection environment and accelerate the establishment of intellectual property protection systems in emerging fields; at the same time, deepen reform of rights and interests distribution, strengthen policy support and market services, and improve the effectiveness of transformation and application.

“Since the 12th Five-Year Plan, intellectual property indicators have been included in national five-year plans for four consecutive times, step by step promoting the continuous improvement of China’s innovation capacity and making China a veritable intellectual property power,” Liang Xinxin said. During the 15th Five-Year Plan period, continuing to set this indicator will further release a clear policy orientation that continuously incentivizes and promotes innovation and will also inject stable expectations into high-quality economic and social development.