On April 22, 2024, the Pudong District of Shanghai, China released the Pudong New Area Science and Technology Development Fund Intellectual Property Funding Special 2024 Application Guide (浦东新区科技发展基金知识产权资助专项2024年度申报指南), which includes funding for the establishment of standard essential patent (SEP) pools. Fourteen other funding measures are also available including up to 2 million RMB for foreign invention patent funding/entity and foreign intellectual property rights enforcement.
China’s Supreme People’s Court Hold IP Press Conference and Releases Report on 2023 IP Protection
On April 22, 2024, China’s Supreme People’s Court (SPC) held a press conference for Intellectual Property Publicity Week, introducing the overall situation of judicial protection of intellectual property rights in courts across the country in 2023. The SPC also released the Status of Judicial Protection of Intellectual Property Rights in Chinese Courts (2023) (中国法院知识产权司法保护状况(2023年)). Some highlights from the press conference and report follow.
Chinese Utility Model Grants Down 30%, Invention Patent Grants Up Almost 55% in 2024 Q1
China’s National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) recently released first quarter grant data for 2024. For the first quarter, the number of invention patents granted was 251,882 , a year-on-year increase of 54.6%. The number of utility model grants was 419,451 , a year-on-year decrease of 30.1%. The number of authorized designs was 146,270 , a year-on-year decrease of 20.2%.
China’s Securities Regulatory Commission Proposes Increasing Patent Requirement for IPOs
On April 12, 2024 China’s Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) proposed increasing the required number of patents to list on the Shanghai Stock Exchange Science and Technology Innovation Board (somewhat analogous to NASDAQ). Specifically, the CSRC released the Guidelines for the Evaluation of Science and Technology Innovation Attributes (Trial) (科创属性评价指引(试行)) for commenting raising the number of patents related to the company’s main business to 7 from 5.