High-value patents are an important “engine” for cultivating and developing new productive forces. They play a key role in enhancing the core competitiveness of enterprises, driving industrial transformation, promoting economic transition, and achieving high-level scientific and technological self-reliance.

In recent years, the Shanghai Intellectual Property Office has adopted multiple measures, focusing on key areas such as patent creation, utilization, and management. It has revitalized existing resources, nurtured new ones, addressed bottlenecks, strengthened industrial chains, and increased efforts to bridge the “last mile” in realizing patent value.

First, strengthening policy guidance.
The “Measures for the Administration of Shanghai Intellectual Property Special Funds” were revised to optimize performance targets for supported projects, guiding innovation and market entities to enhance the creation and utilization of high-value patents. An incentive mechanism was improved by upgrading the Shanghai Intellectual Property Innovation Award to a provincial-ministerial level commendation. The Shanghai Municipal Government issued the “Evaluation and Commendation Measures for the Shanghai Intellectual Property Innovation Award” to further recognize outstanding patents with high technical standards and effective implementation. High-quality development indicators such as the number of high-value invention patents per 10,000 people and PCT applications have been incorporated into the performance evaluation system for district-level Party and government leadership teams, fostering synergy between city and district governments and between government and enterprises.

Second, strengthening project cultivation.
A high-value patent cultivation program has been vigorously implemented. Shanghai has supported the establishment of 26 high-value patent cultivation centers and launched 40 patent upgrade projects in strategic emerging and leading industries. High-value patent operation competitions have been held in the Yangtze River Delta and within Shanghai to guide innovation entities in strengthening their patent portfolios and accelerating the cultivation of high-value patent portfolios. Relevant universities have been guided to implement pre-application patent evaluation systems and patent classification and grading management systems, strengthening the upstream supply of high-value patents from universities and research institutions.

Third, strengthening utilization empowerment.
The city has deeply implemented a special action plan for patent transformation and utilization. Comprehensive inventories and revitalization of existing patents held by universities and research institutes have been organized. A patent transformation resource database has been launched, along with the development of integrated intellectual property operation service hubs, service clusters, promotion centers, and “patent supermarkets” — forming a multi-level infrastructure for patent utilization and transformation. Efforts have been encouraged to foster patent creation with the purpose of utilization, promoting the transformation of high-quality innovation achievements into new productive forces. To date, a total of 72,600 existing patents from universities and research institutes have been inventoried, with 49,000 patents included in the national database of transferable patents and over 9,600 patents having been transformed and utilized. Over 1,900 enterprises have filed records for more than 7,000 patent-intensive products.

Source: The Paper (Shangguan News)