China strengthens patent examination for cutting-edge industries

BEIJING -- China's top intellectual property regulator on Thursday said it had stepped up examination efforts to better protect patents in the fields of artificial intelligence (AI), genetic technology and blockchain.

It has revised examination standards for these cutting-edge industries, expanding patent scope and providing higher examination quality and efficiency, said Wu Hongxiu, an official from the National Intellectual Property Administration, at a press conference.

To support sci-tech innovation and IP protection in emerging industries and new business forms, the administration has been more open on patent data, making 18 databases on frontier technologies accessible to the public, Wu added.

China has leveraged IP to drive innovation, particularly in meeting the demand for new technologies and industries in recent years. For example, by 2022, the country had secured the top position globally in terms of the number of patent applications filed for AI technologies, with the scale of the core AI industry surpassing 500 billion yuan (about $68.7 billion).