Patent Conversion and Application Special Action "Report Card" Shines Bright, Four Departments Provide Detailed Explanation

Colleges and universities are vital forces in promoting patent commercialization. Revitalizing existing university patents is also a key task of this special initiative.

During the 2023–2025 period, approximately 80,000 invention patents from universities and research institutions nationwide have been successfully industrialized. Patent transfer and licensing registrations reached 1.458 million, a 48% increase year-on-year. Over 3,000 small and medium-sized enterprises have been cultivated as models of patent industrialization. By 2025, the total import and export of intellectual property rights licensing fees is expected to reach 425.35 billion yuan, with exports increasing by 26.3%.

On March 23, the State Council Information Office held a press conference where the National Intellectual Property Administration, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and the State Administration of Financial Regulation introduced the implementation of the patent transformation and utilization special campaign and released these figures.

Hu Wenhui, Deputy Director of the National Intellectual Property Administration, stated that over the past three years, departments including the National Intellectual Property Administration have targeted key issues with precision and focused efforts, advancing the revitalization of existing patents, supporting the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises, and strengthening industrial chains to improve efficiency. The goals of the special campaign have been successfully achieved, injecting new momentum into cultivating innovative productivity and promoting high-quality economic development.

Hu Wenhui added that moving forward, efforts will be made to establish a long-term mechanism to promote patent transformation and utilization, further optimize policy guidance, solidify quality foundations, unleash comprehensive benefits, and create a healthy ecosystem. The patent system will continue to serve as a catalyst for innovation and an accelerator for economic growth, providing stronger support for building an innovative country and a modern socialist nation.

Addressing the “Five No’s” Challenges

In 2023, the State Council launched the patent transformation and utilization special campaign.

Data released by the National Intellectual Property Administration show that over the past three years, more than 1.349 million existing patents from over 2,700 universities and research institutions across the country have been inventoried. Out of these, 680,000 patents with good transformation prospects have been selected, and precise matchmaking has been made with 460,000 enterprises. Over 16,000 roadshow activities such as “Intellectual Property Service Tour” have been organized, resulting in patent transaction volumes exceeding 15 billion yuan.

In practice, issues such as disconnection between patents and market demand, and insufficient motivation for transformation, often arise. Hu Wenhui explained that from these years of experience, many difficulties and bottlenecks exist in patent transformation, summarized as the “Five No’s”: cannot transfer, unwilling to transfer, dare not transfer, do not know how to transfer, and inconvenient to transfer.

Since the implementation of the campaign, the National Intellectual Property Administration has worked with relevant departments to coordinate efforts and implement targeted policies, mainly focusing on solving these “Five No’s.”

For example, to address “cannot transfer,” efforts have been made to improve systems such as pre-application evaluation, dynamic inventory, graded management, and navigation R&D to strengthen the quality foundation of patent transformation. To tackle “unwilling to transfer,” reforms have been advanced to empower technological achievements from official positions, establishing sound mechanisms for profit-sharing from intellectual property rights, effectively stimulating endogenous motivation and innovation vitality. For “dare not transfer,” reforms are being explored to manage assets like technological achievements separately, adopting management models different from those for tangible assets.

Revitalizing University Patents

Universities are vital for promoting patent transformation. Revitalizing university patents is also a key task of this campaign.

As valuable sources of innovation, universities harbor a wealth of成果 that serve national economic and social development. However, university technological成果 often are at the forefront, characterized by originality, disruptive potential, and relatively low technological maturity.

Zhou Dawang, Director of the Department of Science, Technology, and Informatization at the Ministry of Education, said that in response to these characteristics, the Ministry is working to streamline the chain of transforming scientific and technological成果, accelerating turning university patents into industrial benefits. The work focuses on three areas: source management to ensure patents are “born for transfer”; ecosystem construction to empower and enhance transfer; and evaluation reform to ensure transfer yields both reputation and profit.

In the past two years, the Ministry has established regional technology transfer and transformation centers at universities, creating platforms for government-industry-university-research-finance collaboration. These platforms promote the effective integration of original innovation capabilities of universities, market-oriented enterprise capabilities, and financial support. Organized efforts are underway to advance technological成果 transfer. Currently, four regional centers have been set up in Jiangsu, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, Beijing, and Fujian, covering key industries such as biomedicine, information communication, advanced materials, and artificial intelligence. By providing one-stop public transformation platforms, they enable rapid concept validation and pilot testing, continuously improving technological maturity.

Through a series of reforms, the quantity and quality of university patent transformation have both increased. The latest statistics show that in 2024, university patent transfer and licensing contracts reached 34,000, with a contract value of 12.86 billion yuan, representing year-on-year increases of 15.7% and 9.3%, respectively.

Accelerating Key Manufacturing Sectors

The campaign emphasizes “strengthening industrial chains and increasing efficiency through intellectual property.” Wei Wei, Director of the Science and Technology Department at the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, explained that intellectual property is not only a safeguard for innovation but also a key driver of development. To unlock more new productive forces, the Ministry has implemented a “combination punch” strategy aimed at speeding up patent creation and technology implementation.

Over the past three years, the Ministry has supported over 60 projects under its intellectual property promotion plan, addressing key issues such as building technological barriers in overseas markets and enhancing the resilience and security of key industrial chains.

In terms of boosting innovation capacity, the Ministry has launched an accelerated review process for patent applications in key manufacturing sectors. Nearly 1,000 patents were selected last year for this fast-track, reducing examination time by more than half compared to regular applications. The high-value patent annual growth rate in major manufacturing enterprises has exceeded 15%, with significant improvements in core technology patent布局能力.

To improve service effectiveness, the Ministry has established 245 public service platforms for industrial technology基础 nationwide. Wei Wei noted these platforms function like “convenience stores” at enterprise doors, providing professional services such as intellectual property and industry information, with over 11 million annual service visits and serving more than 950,000 enterprises. They also support universities and research institutions in cultivating high-level technology transfer centers and推广机构, further推动科技服务业的高质量发展。

Financial Support for Patent Transformation

Financial support is a crucial guarantee for patent transformation. Du Mo, head of the Regulations Department at the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, stated that promoting intellectual property financial support is significant for realizing the value of intellectual property rights and facilitating patent transformation.

The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission has actively promoted the role of IP finance in supporting tech enterprises and industrialization, taking strong measures to improve the quality and efficiency of IP financial services.

Together with the National Intellectual Property Administration and the National Copyright Administration, they issued the “Work Plan for the Pilot of the IP Financial Ecosystem.” Starting from March 2025, pilot programs are being carried out in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong, and other regions, focusing on key links such as registration, valuation, disposal, and compensation, with targeted measures to lead the development.

Over the past three years, IP financial services have maintained steady growth. In 2023, banking institutions issued nearly 200 billion yuan in IP pledge loans, and the number of borrowers exceeded 20,000 for the first time. By 2025, total IP pledge loans are expected to reach 297.9 billion yuan, with 28,700 borrowers—growth of 56% and 33%, respectively, compared to 2023.

Du Mo stated that future efforts will further promote the full-process paperless registration of patent pledges, guide financial institutions to leverage digital intelligence to better identify enterprise needs, and improve financing efficiency through intelligent matching of products and services. They will also continue to guide local efforts in bank-enterprise matchmaking and deepen the pilot work of the IP financial ecosystem.