Shanghai has mapped out an action plan to promote patent transformation and application as part of its efforts to leverage patents as a driver for innovation to spur the city's high-quality development.

The action plan encompasses 30 specific measures, focusing on optimizing the quality of patent supply, strengthening the connection between patent supply and demand, promoting the industrialization of patents for small and medium-sized enterprises, enhancing the role of patents in key industries, improving the intellectual property operation system, and advancing the quality and efficiency of intellectual property finance.

Several key industry intellectual property operation centers, intellectual property innovation consortiums, and operations promotion centers will be established based on the measures. The city also plans to conduct comprehensive inventories of existing patents in universities, research institutions, and medical and health organizations while establishing a local patent transformation resource pool.

According to the action plan, the annual output value of registered patent-intensive products in Shanghai will reach 70 billion yuan ($9.66 billion) by 2025 and the added value of patent-intensive industries will account for about 20 percent of GDP.

The city also aims to achieve a target of over 60 high-value invention patents per 10,000 people and approximately 7,000 Patent Cooperation Treaty international patent applications by the end of 2025.

Efforts will be made to accelerate patent transfers. By the end of 2025, the volume of patent transfers, licensing, and equity transactions is expected to grow by over 20 percent with the total transaction volume of technology contracts involving patents surpassing 150 billion yuan.

The city will also step up efforts on the construction of intellectual property trading institutions and operational systems and the development of intellectual property pledge financing to help tackle the financing difficulties of small and medium-sized tech startups.

By the end of 2025, the registered scale of patent and trademark pledge financing in Shanghai is anticipated to exceed 30 billion yuan, benefiting over 2,000 small and medium-sized enterprises.

By the end of 2023, the number of valid invention patents in Shanghai stood at 241,400, up 19.53 percent year-on-year. There were 50.2 high-value invention patents per 10,000 people, up 9.3 patents compared with the previous year.

In addition, Shanghai has stepped up the protection of intellectual property rights and strictly cracked down on patent infringement acts.

Source: shanghai.gov.cn