Viewing the Future of Intellectual Property Through Five-Year Plans

"China's number of high-value invention patents per 10,000 population exceeds 22, the value added of intellectual property (patent)-intensive industries accounts for 14.6% of GDP, and public satisfaction with IP protection has risen to 83.9 points..." Recently, the State Council issued the 15th Five-Year Plan for Intellectual Property Protection and Utilization, which sets the target that by 2030, China's comprehensive IP strength and international competitiveness will be further enhanced, and decisive progress will be made in building a strong IP nation.

This substantial five-year plan, grounded in the contemporary characteristics and stage-specific requirements of IP development, outlines the priority tasks for China's IP endeavors during the 15th Five-Year Plan period, as well as a number of special projects such as IP protection in strategic emerging industries and IP promotion for the development of small and medium-sized enterprises. It covers the entire IP chain—creation, protection, utilization, management, services, and international cooperation—and responds to current needs while incorporating forward-looking strategic arrangements.

Formulating and implementing five-year plans for intellectual property has been a key driver behind the leapfrog development and historic achievements in China's IP sector. In December 2016, the State Council issued the 13th Five-Year Plan for National Intellectual Property Protection and Utilization, marking the first time an IP plan was promulgated and implemented as a national-level key special plan. In October 2021, the State Council issued the 14th Five-Year Plan for National Intellectual Property Protection and Utilization, which spurred both quantitative and qualitative growth in IP creation, continuous improvement in the protection system, accelerated transformation and application, and laid a solid foundation for building a strong IP nation.

For example, in terms of improving the quality of IP creation, for a period of time, China's patents suffered from the problem of being "numerous but not superior, large but not strong." During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, for the first time, "the number of high-value invention patents per 10,000 population" was included as a major economic and social development indicator, with a target of 12. By the end of the 14th Five-Year Plan period, this figure reached 16, not only exceeding the target but also raising the proportion of domestic high-value invention patents in total valid invention patents to 43.1%, an increase of 2.9 percentage points compared to the end of the 13th Five-Year Plan period.

The five-year plans have steered IP work from a focus on quantity to a focus on quality. In recent years, a large number of invention patents with higher technological content, greater market value, and more stable legal status have continued to emerge, laying a solid development foundation for industries such as artificial intelligence and biomedicine. Notably, for the 15th Five-Year Plan period, this indicator is set at greater than 22, an increase of more than 6 over the end of the 14th Five-Year Plan period, fully demonstrating China's confidence and determination to accelerate innovation capacity and innovation performance.

Another example is patent commercialization and utilization. There was once a tendency in the IP field to "emphasize protection while neglecting utilization." The 13th Five-Year IP Plan introduced targeted targets such as "the number of effective invention patents per 100 million yuan of main business revenue in manufacturing enterprises above designated size." The 14th Five-Year IP Plan proposed specific measures such as "guiding order-based R&D and targeted innovation" to promote in-depth IP cooperation among enterprises, universities, and research institutions. The 15th Five-Year IP Plan includes provisions to "improve the pre-patent-application evaluation system centered on industrialization prospect analysis in universities and research institutions, and strengthen dynamic patent inventory and tiered management." These targets, tasks, and measures have enabled an increasing number of scientific and technological achievements to move "off the bookshelf and onto the market shelf."

The stable succession, phased progression, and continuous implementation of the five-year plans have kept China's IP endeavors on the right track and maintained a high-quality development trajectory, which is of great significance and far-reaching impact. The 15th Five-Year Plan period is a critical phase for consolidating the foundation and making comprehensive efforts toward basically realizing socialist modernization, and it is also a crucial period for accelerating the building of a world-class, Chinese-featured strong IP nation. As the second five-year plan supporting the implementation of the Outline for Building a Strong Intellectual Property Nation (2021–2035), the 15th Five-Year IP Plan occupies a pivotal position bridging the past and the future. Looking ahead, we must adhere to the principle of "pursuing one blueprint to the end while answering two examination papers together," ensuring that long-term strategic resolve and the implementation of specific short-term plans advance in synergy and alignment, so as to secure decisive progress in building a strong IP nation.