China profoundly participates in IP international cooperation

　　"China has always attached great importance and been actively committed to intellectual property (IP) protection, which provided effective support for improving innovation and advancing high-quality development. While stepping up its work on IP, China has been deeply engaged in international IP cooperation，" said Wang Wenbin, China's Foreign Ministry Spokesperson, at a regular press conference recently.

　　China continues to optimize IP protection. The proportion of patentees experiencing patent infringement sheds to a historical low. Only 7.7% of Chinese patentees had experience in infringement in 2022 - the second straight year with a sub-8% reading, according to China Patent Investigation Report 2022. Corporate patentees have a more diverse toolkit to enforce their right after being infringed. In 2022, 72.7% of them chose to respond after being infringed, maintaining on the plus side of 70% for the fourth consecutive year. In recent years, an increasing number of Chinese applicants have been making foreign countries destinations for their patent applications.

　　In addition, patent infringement cases with big-ticket damages awarded are mounting. In 2022, 7.0% of all patent infringement cases scored awards – whether through court decision, mediation or out-of-court settlement – bigger than 5 million yuan, sitting above 7% for the second straight year. With patentees on the way to be well versed in punitive damage system for patent infringement, the idea of strict IP protection has been finding home in people's hearts.

　　Innovation is booming in China with its constantly refined IP protection setting. WIPO's (World Intellectual Property Organization) Global Innovation Index 2022 ranks China 11th up from 34th in 2012. According to another WIPO finding - the World Intellectual Property Indicators 2022, China paces the world in number of valid patents in 2021.

　　China profoundly participates in IP international cooperation. China has officially acceded to the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs and the Marrakesh Treaty of the copyright sector. China and the European Union (EU) concluded an agreement on geographical indications (GIs) protection and cooperation, providing mutual recognition and protection of 244 GIs. The Chinese language is one of the working languages of the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants. China's IP global involvement greatly supported the Belt and Road Initiative. In 2022, 37.9% of the Chinese?companies which transferred or licensed patents to overseas partners did so with countries or regions along the Belt and Road. In 2022, the global IP governance index of China stood at 114.1, up 14.1 reading points over the previous year, according to 2022 Evaluation Report on China's IP Development.

　　In addition, China has become an important driving force for global green, low-carbon technology innovation, and ended up being the biggest green tech patenting destination along with the United States. From 2016 to 2021, the China National Intellectual Property Administration paced all its IP5 partners from the U.S., Japan, Europe and Republic of Korea with 379,000 or 41.2% green-tech patent applications published.

　　"These achievements show that China's efforts have paid off in enhancing IP protection and pursuing innovation-driven development, and contributed to global innovation. China will continue to speed up efforts to implement the innovation-driven development strategy, uphold the central role of innovation in the overall modernization drive, enhance international exchange and cooperation and share China's innovation with the rest of the world," Wang added.(by Jiang Tongtian)

　　2023年元旦前夕，中国外交部发言人汪文斌在主持例行记者会时提到，中国一贯高度重视并积极致力于保护知识产权，为提升创新发展水平，推动高质量发展提供了有效支撑。不仅如此，中国在加强自身知识产权建设的同时深度参与知识产权国际合作。

　　中国知识产权保护状况持续优化。这体现在专利权人遭遇过专利侵权比例处于历史低位，专利侵权行为得到了有效遏制。《2022年中国专利调查报告》显示，2022年，中国专利权人中遭遇过专利侵权的比例为7.7%，连续两年低于8%。企业遭遇专利侵权后维权方式更趋多元。2022年，中国企业专利权人遭受专利侵权后采取维权措施的比例为72.7%，已连续四年保持在七成以上。近年来，中国申请人不断拓展海外专利布局，且预期还将保持增长。

　　此外，中国专利侵权高额度赔偿比例总体处于上升趋势。2022年，中国专利侵权诉讼法院判定赔偿、法院调解或庭外和解金额超过500万元的比例为7.0%，连续两年位于7%以上。随着专利权人逐渐深入了解专利侵权惩罚性赔偿制度，知识产权“严保护”理念更加深入人心。

　　在知识产权保护环境不断优化的过程中，中国的创新氛围愈加浓郁。近期发布的多项数据均能证明中国取得的进展。其中，世界知识产权组织发布2022年全球创新指数排名，中国从2012年的第34位上升到第11位。《世界知识产权指标2022》报告显示，2021年中国有效专利数量排名全球第一。

　　中国深度参与知识产权国际合作。目前，中国已正式加入海牙协定和马拉喀什条约；正式签署中欧地理标志保护与合作协定，实现了244个中欧地理标志产品互认互保。中文已成为国际植物新品种保护联盟工作语言。知识产权国际化有力支撑共建“一带一路”建设，2022年向境外转让或许可过专利的中国企业当中，有37.9%向共建“一带一路”国家或地区许可或转让过专利。《2022年中国知识产权发展状况评价报告》显示，2022年，中国参与全球知识产权治理指数为114.1，较上年基期值增长14.1，成效显著。

　　此外，中国已成为全球绿色低碳技术创新的重要带动力量,并和美国一起成为全球绿色低碳专利布局最大目标市场。2016年至2021年，中美日欧韩五局绿色低碳专利申请公开量中，中国为37.9万件，占比全球总量41.2%。

汪文斌表示，这些成绩单充分说明，中国加强知识产权保护、坚持走创新发展之路取得实实在在的成效，同时也为全球创新发展作出了积极贡献。“中国将继续加快实施创新驱动发展战略，坚持创新在现代化建设全局中的核心地位，加强国际交流合作，同世界共享创新发展成果。”（姜同天）

　　（Editor Liu Shan）

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