The State Intellectual Property Office has started trial operations of an online patent information system that offers free updates and downloads of patent data from China and abroad.
The system enables users to access patent documents stockpiled in the world's five largest IP offices - China, the United States, the European Union, South Korea and Japan - which account for 80 percent of the total worldwide.
After agreements on exchanging patent data were signed by the five offices in June, China made the first move by tapping into the countries' databases for free distribution over the new SIPO system.
Qian Hongying, head of SIPO's automation department, said the majority of the data on the new system will be updated weekly.
Users need to sign an agreement for the initial use of the patent data and will get a reply within three to five working days.
Making patent information open to the public is expected to advance the national IP strategy that started in 2008, helping China evolve from a large producer of patents to a strong IP powerhouse, said SIPO Deputy Commissioner Gan Shaoning at a press conference.
China now faces challenges amid the period of shifting gears in economic growth as industries are restructured and the impact of previous incentives are absorbed, Gan said.
The key to dealing with them is innovation-driven development, he added.
He called on innovators to make full use of the patent data, learn the latest developments in global R&D and industry, and sharpen their edge in creation and running high-tech startups.
Statistics from the World Intellectual Property Organization show that 90 to 95 percent of inventions are patented technologies.
About 70 percent of them first came to public light in patent filings.
Providing easy access to high-quality patent data helps reduce time and costs in exploring information, which will in turn encourage new breakthroughs, Gan said.
China's per capita GDP reached $6,767 in 2013, an indication that it has joined the ranks of middle-income countries, the deputy commissioner said.
To become a high-income country, a change is needed in the industrial structure to focus on the service industry, he added.
IP-related services, which are closely related to high-tech industries and listed as one of the four pillar service sectors designed by the central government, will play a crucial part in the change, he said.
"The sector is a knowledge-intensive industry that highly relies on information resources," he said. "Open patent data is a primary condition to foster market-driven IP service providers and ensure they grow larger, stronger and more professional."
At the same time, the freely available data also helps increase transparency and the authority of the patent examination process, and advances the country's development based on the rule of law, he noted.
Since China set a target in 2006 to become an innovation-driven country by 2020, SIPO had granted more than 5 million patents by the end of2013 at a 25.5-percent average annual growth.
The country became the largest patent filer in the world in 2011 and ranked third globally in international patents filed through the Patent Cooperation Treaty in 2013.
The PCT filings surpassed 11,000 in the first half of this year, an increase of 20.5 percent year-on-year.
Despite the marked rise, China ranks 32nd in the global innovation index, according to a 2013 WIPO report.
And only 35 percent of patent information in China is actually used, much lower than the 92 percent in Japan, according to SIPO officials.
As a result, SIPO has launched a series of online systems to facilitate effective use of patent information with more than 70 data platforms running nationwide.
Deals signed in technology markets across the country had a total valued of 746.9 billion yuan ($120.6 billion) in 2013, including 67 billion yuan in transactions for patented technology.
wangxin@chinadaily.com.cn
