Intellectual property rights help the tide of innovation surge in Ningbo and start again.
Ningbo, located in the southeast coast of China, is the second largest city in Zhejiang Province. As the economic center of the south wing of the Yangtze River Delta, it seized the development opportunity of manufacturing industry after the reform and opening up, and gave birth to eight billion-level industries such as automobile manufacturing, textile and clothing, and household appliances, and cultivated a large number of well-known enterprises such as Youngor, Fangtai, Bull, Deli and Oaks. In 2018, the number of patents granted in Ningbo reached 44,777, with 228,000 valid registered trademarks, and its GDP exceeded one trillion yuan, making it a veritable economic powerhouse supported by the manufacturing industry.
After the total economic output exceeds 1 trillion yuan, where is the next increment of 1 trillion yuan in Ningbo?
"The construction of intellectual property operation service system plays an obvious role in promoting innovation. It is an important support for intellectual property to help scientific and technological innovation and high-quality economic development in the future, and it is an important force to promote the transformation of Ningbo industry from manufacturing to creation." At the 10th annual meeting of China Intellectual Property held this year, Shen Min, vice mayor of Ningbo, answered this question. He said that as an important part of intellectual property work, the importance of intellectual property operation to scientific and technological innovation and even economic development will become more and more prominent.
Nowadays, under the background of the transformation of old and new kinetic energy, Ningbo will help realize innovation-driven development and promote the advancement of high-tech industries with the operation of intellectual property rights. The goal is to build a national first-class highland for innovation and entrepreneurship of private economy and take the lead in building a leading national innovation city. Strive to reach 3.4% of the city’s R&D investment in regional GDP by 2022, with more than 50,000 effective invention patents, and the added value of high-tech industries accounting for 50% of the industrial added value.
Government-led service platform
After being identified as a key city for the construction of intellectual property operation service system in 2017, Ningbo formulated and issued the Implementation Plan for the Construction of Intellectual Property Operation Service System in Ningbo (hereinafter referred to as the Plan). The "Proposal" proposes to speed up the construction of a "1+6+N" intellectual property operation service system with Ningbo public service platform for intellectual property operation as the carrier, comprehensive professional operating institutions as the main body, and related supporting services such as finance, law and evaluation as the support, coordinate and promote the deep integration of intellectual property rights and economic and social development, and give full play to the important role of intellectual property rights in promoting urban innovation and development.
The so-called "1" refers to the public service platform for intellectual property operation in Ningbo. The platform integrates the existing resources such as National Patent Technology (Ningbo) Exhibition and Trading Center and Tianyisheng Water Network, aiming at creating an industry-oriented public service platform that combines commonweal and marketization. At present, the platform contains nearly 1.2 conditional patent data and about 46.2 million trademark data from 23 countries, and integrates tools such as retrieval system, patent value evaluation system and information management platform. On the platform, users can find relevant institutions that provide intellectual property services, equity investment and financing, and insurance services, or submit online requests for handling or mediating patent infringement disputes to Ningbo Intellectual Property Office.
It is worth mentioning that in addition to providing special services such as training courses, the platform also customized more than 100 industrial patent characteristic databases around Ningbo’s "246" key development industries. Taking the automobile industry, the largest industry in Ningbo, as an example, the intellectual property operation service focuses on key sub-sectors such as new energy vehicles, intelligent networked vehicles, and key automobile parts, and establishes a database of Chinese and foreign patent characteristics in the automobile industry, and customizes the database of enterprise patent characteristics for many enterprises according to their individual needs.
It is understood that in order to support the implementation of the Plan, Ningbo has also issued supporting policies such as the Pilot Implementation Plan for Regional Distribution of Intellectual Property Rights in Ningbo, the Thirteenth Five-Year Plan for Scientific and Technological Innovation in Ningbo, and the Thirteenth Five-Year Development Plan for Intellectual Property Rights (Patents) in Ningbo, focusing on innovation, industry and talents, and organized research on related major topics such as Countermeasures for Cultivating High-value Patent Portfolio.
Focusing on the overall development of the industry, Ningbo continued to promote the regional distribution of intellectual property rights. Based on its own industrial base and the reality of economic development, Ningbo has set up a research team with the participation of more than 20 units, including operating institutions, scientific research institutes, universities and enterprises. Facing industrial clusters and innovative subjects, it has carried out investigations on R&D funds, patent creation, application and protection, grasped the layout of intellectual property innovation resources, made clear the direction and orientation of Ningbo’s industrial development by comparing the layout of international and domestic intellectual property innovation resources, and compiled an intellectual property-oriented catalogue for regional industrial development.
Market orientation promotes the transformation of application
One end of intellectual property is connected with innovation, and the other end is connected with the market. It is the meaning of building an intellectual property operation service system to turn sleeping patents into realistic kinetic energy for enterprise development.
Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences (hereinafter referred to as Ningbo Institute of Materials) has established the principle of "achievements should land, land and result" since its establishment, aiming to explore a new way of industrialization of scientific and technological achievements and serve the transformation and development of regional economy. In recent years, Ningbo Materials Institute has licensed, transferred or set up a company in the form of patent technology package to promote technology industrialization, realizing the industrialization of 45 major scientific and technological achievements such as diamond, soybean gum and graphene. By the end of 2018, Ningbo Materials Institute had transferred or licensed 412 patents, and the transfer and transformation of scientific and technological achievements drove investment of more than 2 billion yuan, including 32 scientific and technological projects settled in Ningbo.
For example, Ningbo Zhongke Bipras New Materials Technology Co., Ltd. is an enterprise founded by researchers of Ningbo Institute of Materials. In the form of three patent technology packages, Ningbo Materials Institute cooperated with external investment companies to invest in this enterprise by means of intangible assets, and devoted itself to promoting the industrialization of new energy-saving nanocrystalline materials. At present, the enterprise has built a constant pressure automatic belt production line with an annual output of 100 tons. In 2018, Bipras completed the A round of financing, and the market value premium of the company reached 6 times.
In addition to the spontaneous attempts made by innovators in the transfer and transformation of scientific and technological achievements, it has become normal to promote the use and transformation of intellectual property rights by means of government guidance and social follow-up during the construction of Ningbo’s intellectual property operation system. Ningbo Municipal Government invested and set up Ningbo Angel Investment Guidance Fund with a scale of 300 million yuan, and encouraged angel investment institutions (people) to invest in innovative start-ups with development potential through follow-up investment and phased equity participation. At present, the fund has invested 238 projects with the first phase of 200 million yuan, guiding a total of 2.632 billion yuan of social capital into start-ups, with a financial capital magnification of 12.3 times; 51 projects were withdrawn, 43 million yuan was recovered and 11 million yuan was earned.
Not only that, in order to make patents further help the development of enterprises, in 2018, the Measures for the Administration of Ningbo Intellectual Property Pledge Financing Risk Pool Fund (Provisional) was officially issued, and the first phase of intellectual property pledge financing risk pool fund with a scale of 30 million yuan was established. Ningbo Angel Investment Guidance Fund Co., Ltd. established Ningbo Tianjin Venture Service Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Tianjin) as a pledge institution, which is responsible for the daily management and operation of risk pool funds and helps enterprises obtain bank credit. Up to now, Tianjin Company has established sub-risk pools for intellectual property pledge financing with Hangzhou Bank, China Bank, Bank of Ningbo, Industrial Bank and Huaxia Bank, and each sub-risk pool has signed 9 financing projects with a credit amount of 14.5 million yuan and accumulated loans of 7.5 million yuan.
Established in 2015, Ningbo Pintai Optoelectronic Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Pintai) mainly develops and produces 3D digital dental diagnosis and treatment equipment products. In order to speed up the marketization process of its products, in July 2019, Pintai pledged eight core invention patents and obtained a loan of 2 million yuan from Ningbo Intellectual Property Pledge Financing Risk Pool to supplement the working capital of enterprises. In September of the same year, Pintai signed an intentional purchase contract with Brazilian buyers for 5,000 sets of products and began to produce the first batch of products. It is understood that the company’s products have received favorable feedback from relevant customers, and the initial cooperation intention is gradually ready to land. In 2020, the sales are expected to reach 10 million yuan and the net profit is about 1 million yuan.
Integrating resources and exploring high-quality patents
Zheng Jian, deputy director of Ningbo Intellectual Property Office, said at the "Training Course on High-value Patent Cultivation from Patent Invalidation Cases" held in Ningbo in 2018 that high-value patent cultivation is the core of the intellectual property operation system. Enterprises should pay attention to the integration of existing internal and external resources, and promote high-value products, high-value industries and high-value markets through high-value patents. It is necessary to promote the transformation and upgrading of Ningbo enterprises with the cultivation and application of high-value patent portfolio, and form a number of industries with international influence.
The "6" in the "1+6+N" intellectual property operation service system refers to the establishment of more than six operating institutions in Ningbo intellectual property operation public service platform, providing services such as high-value patent cultivation, patent navigation, analysis and early warning. In the construction of operation system, Ningbo focused on the major science and technology project of "Science and Technology Innovation 2025", carried out research and development of key and common technologies in eight key industries such as new energy vehicles and advanced materials, cultivated a number of high-value patent portfolios, and provided financial support for eight operating institutions and several enterprises.
"The ultimate goal of promoting intellectual property operation in Ningbo is to make patent operation operate in a market-oriented way, so that enterprises with patent operation needs can tap the real demand and form their own cycle." Ningbo Yongzhi Patent Agency Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Yongzhi) is one of the eight operating agencies, and it is also a national intellectual property service brand cultivation institution. Its head Li Yingchun told reporters that Yongzhi cooperated with Meikang Biotechnology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Meikang Bio) which produces in vitro diagnostic reagents and other products to cultivate high-value patents, and the agency intervened in the enterprise scientific research project establishment stage in advance to provide technical guidance for enterprises from the aspects of technical evasion and patent layout. After Meikang Bio tasted the sweetness, it also took the initiative to contact Yongzhi to provide operational services in the newly entered field of smart toilet R&D and manufacturing.
Another Ningbo enterprise intends to enter the new market. Yongzhi spent nearly half a year to help the enterprise understand the technical situation and technical loopholes of competitors in the same industry from the perspective of patents, find out the technical gaps in the industry, sort out the technical routes, and introduce an industrial design company to carry out patent planning together, and finally submitted 121 invention patents and utility model patent applications. "Every technology is a patent application submitted from the perspective of solving practical problems in combination with the actual situation of the enterprise." Li Yingchun introduced that after the completion of this cooperation, the enterprise and Yongzhi renewed the intellectual property service agreement for two consecutive years.
Ningbo Institute of Materials is also one of the eight intellectual property operators. The research team of the institute has continuously written the patent analysis reports of graphene technology in 2015, 2017 and 2019. On the basis of the above patent analysis and evaluation, Ningbo Materials Institute has laid out more than 200 related patents in the middle and lower reaches of the industrial chain around graphene powder and thin film preparation technology, and established three enterprises in the form of patent shareholding and patent license. The Institute was also approved to establish Zhejiang Graphene Innovation Center, focusing on the research and development, supply, transfer and diffusion and first commercialization of graphene industry technology.
Ningbo Shunyu Optoelectronic Information Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Shunyu Optoelectronic) is a company that develops and produces mobile phone camera modules and other products, and has many customers such as Huawei, Samsung and Xiaomi. The manufacturing and calibration methods for high-pixel camera modules have always been the focus of the company’s technology research and development, and Shunyu Optoelectronics has 20 invention patents in this field. Wang Bo, head of the company’s intellectual property department, told reporters that with the increase in the saturation of the mobile phone market in recent years, the overall growth space is decreasing, and the competitive pressure in the module industry is increasing. Shunyu Optoelectronics took the initiative to pay close attention to the development trend of the industry, the state of prior technology and the research and development direction of competitors, and carried out new project research and development, hoping to develop camera modules that better meet the needs of mobile phone manufacturers and consumers.
In the process of building an intellectual property operation service system in Ningbo, Shunyu Optoelectronics and the intellectual property operation organization declared a high-value patent cultivation project, focusing on the second generation technology of chip-level molding and packaging, lens miniaturization, optical multi-degree-of-freedom precision assembly and other unique technologies and processes of Shunyu Optoelectronics. Around these technologies, Shunyu Optoelectronics has made a layout and formed a high-value patent portfolio. "Through the implementation of the patent application portfolio and layout strategy, the accuracy and effectiveness of patent mining have been improved, the patent portfolio value of enterprises has been increased, and the number advantage of patent applications has been gradually reflected in the quality advantage of patent layout." Wang Bo said.
"Sometimes, when a new thing appears and many people are on the sidelines, pushing it out may be like a snowball, forming a momentum. We began to explore the operation of intellectual property rights spontaneously in 2012, and now we gradually feel that the time is ripe. Although it can’t be said that it is handy, it has slowly entered a state. " Li Yingchun said that with the promotion of the government, Ningbo’s intellectual property operation service has formed a good social atmosphere in recent years. While patent agencies are marching into high-end operation services, it is also conducive to enterprises to further use patents to enhance their competitiveness. He introduced that at present, more than 40 enterprises have taken the initiative to seek intellectual property operation services from Yongzhi.
Multi-party cooperation to build a protection system
The effective functioning of intellectual property rights can not be separated from Ningbo’s great efforts in intellectual property protection. In recent years, Ningbo Intellectual Property Court was established in Ningbo Intermediate People’s Court, China (Ningbo) Intellectual Property Protection Center was put into operation, and China (Ningbo) Intellectual Property Rights Protection Assistance Center was approved as the "first batch of capacity-building intellectual property arbitration and mediation institutions" in China National Intellectual Property Administration. In 2018, a total of 1,614 patent dispute cases were filed in Ningbo, a year-on-year increase of 4.7%; Ningbo Intellectual Property Court accepted 2188 intellectual property cases and concluded 1598 cases. In 2018, the third-party platform for comprehensive application and protection of intellectual property rights in Ningbo successfully mediated 427 cases, with a mediation success rate of 67.8%. More than 70% of disputes can be mediated within one month.
"In order to further strengthen intellectual property protection, we have also made some attempts in intellectual property insurance." According to the relevant person in charge of Ningbo Intellectual Property Office, Ningbo started the patent insurance subsidy project application last year, and organized a patent insurance bank-enterprise matchmaking meeting in January this year. In 2018, 250 high-tech enterprises in Yinzhou District of Ningbo insured patent execution insurance and patent infringement liability insurance, and 1817 domestic invention patents and 108 foreign invention patents were included in the insurance scope. In addition, China’s first trademark exclusive right insurance project landed in Ningbo, and has successfully underwritten 19 enterprises including Bull, Deli and Oaks, involving 1,364 trademarks, with a total guarantee amount of 7.3 million yuan, 9 cases of rights protection assistance and infringement compensation, and 3 cases of compensation have been completed.
In March 2018, China (Ningbo) Intellectual Property Rights Protection Assistance Center took the lead, and jointly established the Ningbo Foreign Intellectual Property Alliance with 18 units including Ningbo University, Haitian Group and Oaks Group to help enterprises develop patent distribution at home and abroad and actively respond to intellectual property disputes at home and abroad. In order to support the creation, application, management and protection of intellectual property rights in Ningbo, the following month, Ningbo Intellectual Property Institute was unveiled in Zhejiang Wanli University, aiming at cultivating a group of compound talents with "science, engineering and law", building an intellectual property innovation practice base and providing services such as diagnosis of intellectual property problems, countermeasures for intellectual property protection and analysis of brand and trademark protection.
"All intellectual property operations in Ningbo are closely combined with the actual needs of enterprises, and the work foundation of research institutes and operating institutions and the development of industries are promoted. Therefore, our intellectual property operation service system construction has achieved certain results, and it has received positive responses from enterprises in terms of cultivating high-value patents; The pledge work is also progressing smoothly. At present, the loan financing pledged only by patents has reached 30 million yuan; In addition, we constantly adjust and optimize the public service platform according to the feedback from enterprises, and strive to launch all services by the end of 2020. " The relevant person in charge of Ningbo Intellectual Property Office said that in the next five years, Ningbo will continue to solidly promote intellectual property work, strive to create a strong national intellectual property city, and further use intellectual property rights to promote industrial transformation and upgrading and help high-quality economic development. (Intern reporter Zou Biying of Intellectual Property News)