With the escalation of the trade war between China and the U.S. and the increasing attention of Huawei and 5G issues, “Intellectual Property and Patent” has gradually become a hot topic of public concern. On June 13, 2019, the Bluetech Clean Air Alliance launched a training event in Beijing on the subject of intellectual property in the field of clean technology to promote the high-quality development of the clean technology industry. The event invited several senior experts in intellectual property and clean technology as lecturers and discussion guests and organized representatives of nearly 40 technology companies, technology investment, and incubators in the field of clean technology to participate in training and exchanges.
Gu Yongjiu, deputy director of the Administrative Committee of Zhongguancun Haidian Science Park IP Office, delivered an opening speech. "This is the second times to participate in the Bluetech event. Last year, I was invited to participate in the “cultivating high-value patents for clean technology” Panel on the 4th Bluetech International Conference.” Mr. Gu said, “As an industry organization in environment protection field, It is precious for Bluetech Clean Air Alliance pay much attention to intellectual property and has formed a very professional and in-depth understanding of the patent system and the cultivation of high-value patents. Haidian district is promoting high-value patent cultivation. I hope Bluetech Clean Air Alliance could actively participate in the future.”
During the training session, Lyu Guoliang, Consultant and Former Deputy Director of WIPO Chinese Office, gave a detailed explanation of the contents of the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) and introduced the overall situation of WIPO's service system. Mr. Lyu pointed out in particular that “the PCT is a very favorable weapon for the formation of high-value patents. Not only can PCT extend the application period for high-value patents enter into other countries but also obtain valuable time for the applicant to assess and layout. The PCT preliminary review will also provide the applicants with critical intelligence to support their access to high-quality patents at the national level."
Director of the Bluetech Alliance, Tonny Xie, present a special lecture on “Patent Strategy of Technology Company.” Combined with relevant cases, the training content is focusing on some significant mistakes during the patent process, high-value patent mining and layout, and intellectual property management system of technology enterprises, financing, intellectual property due diligence and management and so on. Mr. Xie emphasized that "China's clean air market will create tremendous structural investment opportunities and become a new engine for China’s economic growth. By 2030, China's key areas of clean air industries will usher in more than 20 trillion market opportunities, and China will continue to be the world's largest demand market for clean air technology. With the improvement of patent awareness of companies in China and the enhancement of patent protection, cultivating high-value patents and patent portfolios will become the critical factors of clean technology companies’ success and the competence of clean technology industries.
"In the trade war that everyone concerns about, Huawei as a vanguard was suppressed by the United States. The main reason for Huawei could still walk sideways in the U.S. is that Huawei has become an opponent in business that the United States fears. Since 2012, Huawei begins to layout PCT patent applications, from the earliest around 1,800 applications to more than 5,400 last year, the application amount has gradually increased." Ms. Nan also pointed out that "the environmental protection industry is most like the communications industry. Both technical dimensions are at the top of the world and have China as one of the largest markets. Enterprises will encounter various problems overseas, which needs to be prepared in advance.” Ms. Nan Yining, the founding partner of Innotrack Intellectual Property Law Firm, suggested in training.
The number of applications is essential, but the quality of the patent is of capital importance. Director Liu Yuan of the Technical Department of China Association of Environmental Protection Industry introduced the "Global Environmental Technology Patent Topical Analysis Report (2008-2017)" which is jointly produced by China Association of Environmental Protection Industry and Hefei Institute of Physical Science，Chinese Academy of Sciences.
According to reliable data analysis, the number of global environmental technology patents applications has increased year by year, while the number of patent applications in China in the environmental field has reached 70% of the world, but the overall quality of patents is worrying. The fundamental patents account for less than 5%, and more than 96% of environmental technology patents are distributed in China. The importance of high-value patent cultivation in environmental technology areas and the internationalization arrangement of patents has become apparent. Ms. Hou Luyao, General Manager of the Intellectual Property Department, BCC Inc., agreed with other industry experts. Meanwhile, Ms. Hou raised the issues that need to be paid attention to the internal management of the enterprise. "Since 2018, the Intellectual Property Management System Certification market has undergone significant changes, establish internal hierarchical management of critical technologies is especially important to the enterprise. The demand for standardized patents in environment protection fields will become larger and larger. We do encourage every institution to establish an intellectual property system and conduct certification from a strategic macro perspective. "
The event also invited the representatives of technology enterprises, patent operation and maintenance experts, patent lawyers, and technology investors as guests to the panel to discuss the patent strategy of clean technology enterprises from different perspectives. Yan Sheng, the Founder and Acting CFO of Patent Alliance Innovation Fund (PAIF) and, non-executive Chairman of XINOVA China pointed out during the session, “the patent profits of Intellectual Ventures accounted for 53%. There are 82,000 patents in the peak period, and 46,000 patents can be profitable. The proportions of valuable patents for normal technology enterprises and research institutions are mostly under 20%, which is much lower than Intellectual Ventures. From Intellectual Ventures’ experience, how to form high-value patents and carry out the effective distribution is very critical.” Mr. Zhao Wentao, IP director of SJ Environmental Protection, also agreed that "Clean Technology Enterprises must think highly of the importance of intellectual property, establish professional institutions and improve the patent awareness of all staffs. SJ IP Departments and Technology Departments into an organic whole, it is imperative for patent departments to be familiar with the technology. If a start-up technology company cannot establish its professional patent department, the company could do the relevant works through professional institutions.”
The management of the patent becomes more mature and vital. Ms. Zheng Xiaoyue, senior partner of Huajin intellectual property services ltd. mentioned in the panel, “In clean technology areas, most patent litigation happens in the markets which have mature technologies, certain scale and profitable, such as wind energy, light-emitting diodes, hybrid electric vehicles, biofuels and so on. Fan Xiao, investment director of Tsinghua Technology Transfer Fund, believes that the needs to be protected is the underlying technologies in the subdivision field, which can stimulate a large market so that the mining and layout of high-value patents for these technologies are particularly critical.
Since 2017, to promote the high-quality development in clean technology industries, Bluetech Clean Air Alliance established patent strategy and a high-value patent cultivation module, introduce international patent experts, provide patent awareness improving training and high-value patent cultivation pilots to the science enterprises, investors, research organizations in clean technology fields. BCAA has also formed partnerships with many institutions in the intellectual property, investment, and technology incubation areas to jointly promoting the cultivation of high-value patents in the clean technology area.
The event was organized by the Innovation Center for Cleantech Solutions (Beijing), Innotrack Intellectual Property Law Firm, BCC Inc., supported by China Association of Environmental Protection Industry, Haidian District Intellectual Property Administration, Zhongguancun intellectual property bureau, Plug-and-Play, Beihang Tianhui Technology Incubator, Incubator Technology Service (Beijing) Limited, Tsing Capital, USTB Science Park, Tsinghua Technology Transfer Fund, and ECO Fund. The training is the concurrent events of the 17th China International Environmental Protection Exhibition & Conference (CIEPEC 2019), the venue attracts exhibitors and visitors from more than 20 countries and regions around the world.
