Rapid patenting growth by academic institutes in China
Simon M Pratt
Thomson Scientific
June 2005
Although patent activity in Chinese academic institutions does not yet rank among the global leaders, there has been very strong growth in recent years – and it is outpacing the growth in academic output as measured by journal articles. Recent changes in government policy, a growing economy that is powering increased research expenditure, and an increased emphasis on the commercialization of research at academic institutions are all contributing to China’s increased patent activity.
Introduction
Since 1980 there has been a ten-fold increase in the patent activity
of academic institutions throughout the world (figure
1). There are many reasons for this increase, but perhaps the largest driving
force has been changes in government policy.
Legislative changes
Since the 1970s governments around the world have placed more emphasis
on applied research that results in economic benefits for the state. The 1980
US legislation known as the Bayh-Dohl Act1 has been particularly
influential. The Bayh-Dohl act allows academic institutions to own the intellectual
property associated with discoveries based on federally funded research. Furthermore,
institutions are encouraged to collaborate with commercial concerns, and are
required to administer any patents associated with the intellectual property
derived from government-funded research. Other countries introduced similar
legislation throughout the 1990s.
Technology transfer
One of the outcomes of these changes in policy has been the introduction
of technology transfer/ technology licensing offices (TLOs). These are tasked
with managing and licensing the intellectual property rights of their research
institution. However TLOs perform a variety of functions, and their scope is
considerably broader than being purely administrative. In general TLOs have
had a very positive influence in terms of increased awareness of the patentability
of discoveries, increased collaboration with commercial enterprise, increased
focus on research that results in intellectual property, and increased legal
enforcement of existing intellectual property rights. All of these factors have
contributed to increases in the patent activity of academic institutions.
Material benefits of intellectual property
In a recent survey by the Association of University Technology Managers2
the 194 members of the AUTM reported that overall 2003 technology licensing
revenues exceeded $1.4 billion. This constitutes a significant proportion of
overall research funding, with 15 members reporting that more than 5% of their
total research funding comes from technology licensing. An additional benefit
of technology transfer is the timely utilization of discoveries by industry,
and the passing on of better products to the consumer; this is particularly
important in terms of the timely utilization of new medical therapies3.
Whose invention is it anyway?
However, the relationship between academic research and patent ownership
is sometimes not clear, with some researchers continuing to patent inventions
under their individual names, without any association to an institution. Furthermore,
the intellectual property associated with research that is performed at universities,
but funded by industry, is generally owned by the commercial organization that
provided the funding. An additional element of confusion is caused by patents
being assigned to TLOs which have names that are not easily associated with
the university they represent.
Increasing acceptability
Despite these drawbacks, and partly because of the benefits mentioned
above, the acceptability of patents by academic researchers has improved, and
today many researchers consider patents to be an important part of their publication
portfolio. In some regions, notably Japan, it is now common procedure to include
details of granted patents, along with articles in academic journals and society
meeting proceedings, when submitting an application for government funding.
Case Study – People's Republic of China
Economic and research growth
The People's Republic of China (PRC) has experienced rapid economic
growth in recent years4. This growth can, in part, be attributed
to the PRC’s entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001. However,
the PRC’s poor record on intellectual property rights was considered a
barrier to entry, and therefore the implementation of the TRIPS (Trade-related
Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) Agreement was stipulated as a condition
of entry5.
The rapid growth in the Chinese economy has driven increased research funding at Chinese academic institutes. Analysis has shown that the research output, measured by the number of articles published in international journals, has grown substantially since the late 1990s (figure 2). Additionally, citation analysis of these articles has shown that the influence of Chinese academic institution on the international community has also increased.
Commercialization
An increasing trend towards the commercialization of research at academic
institutes in China has led to the creation of many technology licensing organizations.
In May 2003 the Ministry of Science and Technology released “The Regulation
of Enhancing Intellectual Property Protection on National Scientific Programs”6
which encourages the creation of university departments dedicated to intellectual
property, and the investigation of existing patent literature to avoid research
duplication. Furthermore, this legislation provides government subsidies for
certain research projects if international patent applications have been submitted,
and requires training of researchers on intellectual property.
Quantifying growth in PRC patent activity
As described above, three factors have driven a sharp increase in
patent activity by PRC academic institutions:
1. The overhaul of the intellectual property policy and legislation that was
necessary to comply with the TRIPS agreement.
2. The large increase in research expenditure as a consequence of the growth
of the economy.
3. Increased emphasis on the commercialization of research at academic institutes.
This increase in patent activity has exceeded the increase in research output in terms of articles in academic journals (figure 2).
A more detailed look shows that a core group of universities are responsible for the majority of the patent applications (Table 1):
| Rank | Institution name | Number of patents |
| 1 | Tsinghua University | 2,219 |
| 2 | Zhejiang University | 1,281 |
| 3 | Shanghai Jiaotong U | 1,155 |
| 4 | Fudan University | 918 |
| 5 | Tianjin University | 688 |
| 6 | Wuhan University | 469 |
| 7 | Sichuan Universit | 455 |
| 8 | Nanjing University | 453 |
| 9 | Huazhong U of S & T | 399 |
| 10 | Peking University | 364 |
Table 1: Ranking list of academic institutions and the number of patent families published (source: Derwent World Patents Index)
An analysis based on Derwent Classifications (figure 3) shows that the majority of these patent applications fall into the fields of chemical sciences, life sciences and engineering.
Conclusion
Although the patent activity of Chinese academic institutions may
be small when considered on the global scale, there is very strong growth that
is outpacing the growth in academic output as measured by journal articles.
Furthermore, recent changes to government policy are encouraging the commercialization
of intellectual property at academic institutions. For these reasons it can
be expected that the patenting activities of academic institutions, and the
associated funding that is created by licensing this intellectual property,
will continue to grow in both the short and long term.
References
1. Bayh-Dole University and Small Business Patent Procedures Act of
December 12th, 1980; Public Law 96-517
2. Survey Summary; AUTM Licensing Survey: FY 2003; AUTM Survey, Statistics and
Metrics Committee
3. O’Shea, Dennis; A ‘Paradigm Shift’ for Tech Transfer; The
JHU Gazette; v34; #20
4. Asian Development Outlook, 2005; People’s Republic of China, Macroeconomic
Assessment 2004; p65
5. WTO news; WTO successfully concludes negotiations on China's entry; September
2001
6. Xinhua News Agency; Chinese Research Institutes Urged to Be More Patent-aware;
May 13, 2003