China's economic powerhouse province steps up integration of AI, IP protection

BEIJING, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- East China's economic powerhouse Jiangsu Province on Wednesday outlined efforts to integrate artificial intelligence (AI) and intellectual property (IP) protection, aiming to foster innovation and improve efficiency.

According to provincial IP authorities, Jiangsu has 68,000 invention patents in the AI sector. By 2025, the province had 292,000 high-value invention patents, accounting for 12.7 percent of China's national total.

Jiangsu has strengthened IP protection for AI research and businesses. IP protection centers across the province have established expedited pre-examination procedures for AI patent applications, reducing the average approval time from 22 months to just three months. It has also issued guidelines to help AI companies operated by one person, or OPCs, comply with IP-related requirements.

Meanwhile, Jiangsu is applying AI to improve IP services. It has developed AI infrastructure, such as a digital innovation laboratory, and created AI models and application scenarios to boost the efficiency of IP-related work.

"We should both make good use of AI as a powerful tool and provide institutional support for the development of the AI industry," said Zhang Chuanbo, a senior provincial IP official, at a press conference held by the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) in Beijing.

Jiangsu has long been a major manufacturing and foreign trade hub in China, while several of its cities have emerged as centers of technological innovation. Suzhou, Nanjing and Zhenjiang were included in the World Intellectual Property Organization's ranking of the top 100 innovation clusters this year.

The 15th China International Patent Fair will be held in Jiangsu's Wuxi in November, according to the CNIPA.