Chinese Firms Keen on Patent Application for WTO Entry

Chinese enterprises are taking an aggressive approach toward applying for patents as the country is waiting for entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO).

"This demonstrates that domestic enterprises regard intellectual property as a breakthrough to further develop their business after WTO accession," said Zhou Lin, an expert from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Statistics show that by the end of July, the State Intellectual Property Office had accepted 99,550 patent applications from home and abroad, up 24 percent from a year ago.

Domestic applications increased by 26.8 percent, up 15 percentage points from that of overseas applications.

Hong Dingyi, director of the Development and Research Center of the China National Petrochemical Corp (Sinopec), said that Sinopec had applied for over 2,470 patents in China and 294 patents in other countries, and it currently owns 1,270 patents.

Shanghai Joint Gene Technology Co. Ltd, the largest gene technology company in China, has applied for more than 3,700 gene patents including patents for medical research of genes causing cancer, obesity and hypertension.

"Owning intellectual property is one of our company's fundamental goals. If we had not owned intellectual property, we would not have our own gene industry after WTO accession," said Qin Yilong, vice president of the company.

The recently established Shanghai Intellectual Property Service center is the first of such centers in China that was funded by the government. It specializes in patent search, evaluation and use.

In the economically developed Guangdong province in south China, a number of competitive companies are making trial experiments on intellectual property management.

An international symposium on intellectual property protection for the information industry was held in the province recently, which attracted many well-known companies and organizations from home and abroad.

Experts predict that by the end of this year, the total number of patent applications by Chinese enterprises will surpass that of last year, a good sign before the WTO entry.

Mao Jinsheng, an official with the China State Intellectual Property Office, said that a large number of multinational companies will enter the Chinese market to compete with Chinese counterparts. Their rich experience in patent application will be a threat to domestic firms, Mao said.

He added that many Chinese enterprises have realized the challenge and are preparing for it. "That's why so many firms took such a positive attitude in applying for patents," he added.

Experts also predict that intellectual property will become the first highlight in international trade after China enter WTO.

Chinese enterprises will have to fight a defensive war of intellectual property with international counterparts in accordance with the common rules formulated by WTO, and will have to work hard to win.

Ma Lianyuan, deputy commissioner of State Intellectual Property Office, said that China's intellectual property organizations should not only focus on improving ability of protecting intellectual property of Chinese enterprises, but also stress the creation of a favorable environment for international enterprises to do the same.






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