Invention patent applications in China rose 24 percent to 653,000 filings last year, an indication that "quality-oriented policies have taken effect", Tian Lipu, commissioner of the State Intellectual Property Office, told a recent national IP conference in Beijing.

More difficult to acquire than other IP rights, such patents represent true inventions and innovative creation, said experts at the forum. About 217,000 were approved and granted last year.

"We encourage creators to value IP quality and efficiency rather than just pursuing quantity," Tian said.

Increased protection awareness and improved capacity for creation contributed to increasing quality in inventions, the experts noted.

For their part, enforcement officials handled 2,510 patent disputes and investigated more than 6,500 infringements last year, double the number in 2011.

Rapid growth in the IP service industry has also fueled patent quality and protection. The sector is now included in national plans for further development of service industries.

Last year nearly 16,800 people took the national patent agent qualification exam, an increase of 21 percent from 2011.

Five new training centers were added to existing facilities, which together benefited more than 500,000 participants.

"China is now at a key stage of changing its economic development model, which gives IP work historic opportunities," Tian said.

"Our country is still at the lower end of industry distribution globally, so we need new innovation-driven development to transform the industrial structure," he noted.

Sectors that bring high value such as R&D, marketing and services depend on the support and guarantees of the IP system, he said.

Yet current legal, market and cultural components cannot meet the growing demands of rapid social and economic development, he said.

"Putting the emphasis on change in the development model, we need to continue improving services, promote the healthy growth of advanced manufacturing and modernize traditional sectors," he said.

Collaboration

This year SIPO plans to strengthen collaboration with other emerging economies - including Brazil, Russia, India and South Africa - and enhance already well-established ties with major patent powerhouses such as the United States, Europe, Japan and South Korea, said the commissioner.

The top Chinese patent authority will also offer more technical aid to developing countries and expand cooperation with a range of African nations, Tian said, adding that it will encourage local offices to conduct direct international exchanges.

China signed 32 bilateral IP agreements in 2012, while its number of international patent applications filed through the Patent Cooperation Treaty increased 12 percent to 20,000 filings for the year.

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