China Intellectual Property News:

The establishment of an open licensing system has been added to the newly amended patent law. Why did the authorities create such a system? What positive outcomes have been achieved since the system took effect more than six months ago?

Hu Wenhui:

Thanks for your questions. I'd like to take the question regarding the open licensing system. As you said, it was revised according to China's national realities while also learning from the experience of foreign countries. The open licensing system was set up to promote the enforcement and application of patents, and it works in the following three aspects: 

First, it facilitates the transmission of patent license information. The CNIPA announcements regarding the patent licensing act as a bridge between patentees and licensees, making it easier for both parties to reach each other.

Second, it ensures patent licensing negotiations are more efficient. The removal of complicated negotiations makes it easier for patentees and licensees to reach an agreement over patent licenses, thereby lowering the patent licensing costs. 

Third, it reduces the risks amid patent license transactions. There are mechanisms to disclose patent license information and handle patent disputes in the open licensing system, allowing the licensees to comprehensively understand the licensing conditions and other information in advance.

The open licensing system has drawn the broad attention of the patentees and people from all walks of life over the past more than a half year. According to our statistics, the CNIPA has received 608 open patent license statements, 572 of which are invention patents filed by 110 patentees from 24 provinces and equivalent administrative units .

To ensure the implementation of the patent licensing system, the CNIPA has also made efforts such as releasing statistical data of the patent royalties and developing assessment criteria, laying a solid foundation for the smooth operation of the system.

Going forward, we will continue to promote the enforcement and application of patents and ramp up efforts in the following three aspects: First, we will ensure that services in terms of license statement submission, information disclosure, and filing will become more convenient. Second, we will improve the services regarding the pricing of patent royalties and the transfer of patent licenses under the framework of the special plan to promotes the application of patents, thereby encouraging more people to make better use of the system and patents. Third, we will strengthen regulation and supervision and crackdown on the practices of counterfeiting licenses to avoid or reduce the annual fees in accordance with the laws and regulations. Moreover, we will fulfill the duty of handling the patent disputes to create a favorable environment. Thank you.