Since the inception of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), China has continued to enhance IP cooperation with BRI countries. As of now, China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) has signed IP cooperation agreements with 57 BRI countries and has established Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) cooperation with 18 IP administrations in BRI countries. Additionally, China has become an International Searching Authority and International Preliminary Examining Authority for Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) applications in 10 BRI countries.

According to the statistics, from 2013 to 2023, the number of cumulative patent applications and authorizations of Chinese enterprises in BRI countries and related organizations had reached 70,000 and 35,000, respectively, with an average annual growth rate of more than 20%. The number of cumulative patent applications and authorizations of BRI countries in China had reached 285,000 and 182,000, with an average annual growth rate of 5.6% and 8.0% respectively. By the end of 2023, the number of valid invention patents owned by enterprises of BRI countries in China had reached 153,000.

In recent years, China has continued to carry out international cooperation represented by BRI IP cooperation and has continuously improved the global IP partnership network. China has established stable cooperation relationships with more than 80 countries and regions globally. Over 200 IP cooperation agreements have been signed, shaping a new international IP cooperation landscape of "multilateral, neighboring, plurilateral, and bilateral" coordinated progress.

The Third Belt and Road High-Level Conference on IP will be held from September 11 to 13, 2024. This conference will promote of several practical cooperation projects in the four areas of patents, trademarks, geographical indications, and copyright, as well as promote quality upgrading and deepening the expansion of BRI IP cooperation.

Original headline: Promoting Patent Technology Exchanges with BRI Countries and Deepening BRI IP Cooperation

(Source: excerpted from Xinhua News)