China's intellectual property talent increases to 860,000 by the end of 2023
As of the end of 2023, the scale of China's intellectual property (IP) talent has increased from 690,000 at the end of the "13th Five-Year Plan" to 860,000. Recently, the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) held a routine press conference to discuss the status quo of IP talent.
Building a talent hub, advancing to a higher standard
Zhang Zhicheng, Director General of the Personnel Department at the CNIPA, introduced the "14th Five-Year Plan for Intellectual Property Talent", which focuses on key talent projects in high-level IP talent hubs. Proactive efforts are being made to build high-level IP talent hubs in Beijing, Shanghai, and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Initial successes have been achieved in perfecting top-level designs, improving the autonomous talent training system, promoting closer talent exchange and cooperation, and facilitating clear career development paths for talent.
Cai Xin, Deputy Director General of the Beijing Municipal Intellectual Property Office, shared that Beijing has been conducting evaluations for advanced IP professional titles, with a hundred IP talents in various fields receiving advanced titles during the "14th Five-Year Plan". The focus has been on using the IP services industry as a breakthrough point, selecting talents from top patent agencies, and establishing a National Laboratory IP Expert Advisory Committee to issue national laboratory IP management guidelines and promote a list of 68 IP service tasks.
In Shanghai, Tongji University has regularly hosted the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) - Tongji IP Master's Program and the Chinese Government IP Master's Program with the support of the CNIPA, fostering close international talent exchanges. In Guangdong, the construction of a national IP training base has been completed, hosting administrative personnel retraining and key sector training in big data and integrated circuits.
"By the end of 2023, Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangdong each had a per capita high-value invention patent ownership more than double the national average," Zhang stated. The CNIPA will continue to squarely promote the construction of high-level IP talent hubs, leading and driving the development of high-level IP talent teams nationwide, contributing IP strength to high-level self-reliance and self-improvement in science and technology.
Cultivating specialized talent for higher level development
Since the "14th Five-Year Plan", IP talent training has been continuously strengthened, systematically carried out over 150 retraining sessions for local IP administrative personnel, and enhanced job performance capabilities. Focusing on cutting-edge topics, training in urgent talent needs has been intensified around new fields and business models such as big data and artificial intelligence, aiding in the cultivation and development of new quality productive forces. Training channels have been expanded, ongoing remote IP training course construction has been effectively carried out, and training coverage has been continuously extended, achieving significant results.
The China Intellectual Property Training Center, as the sole national-level training institution within the IP system, has played a crucial role. Liu Jian, Deputy Director General (Acting Head) of the China Intellectual Property Training Center, reported that in the past four years, the center has organized relevant training aligned with national major strategies, training nearly 2,000 participants; it has organized 19 types of international training sessions, extensively conducting grassroots exchanges on IP.
"Tsinghua University is currently exploring the establishment of a 'Professional Master's Program in Intellectual Property', integrating IP with science, engineering, management, and economics to cultivate interdisciplinary IP talents. Concurrently, we are actively enhancing the internationalization of our talent training efforts. In November 2023, in cooperation with the WIPO, we signed an agreement to launch a new 'Intellectual Property and Innovation Policy' joint master's program, which will start recruiting globally this year, with the first cohort of students enrolling in September," introduced Zhou Guangquan, Dean of the School of Law at Tsinghua University.
Leveraging think tank, highlighting high-end and distinctive features
Modern Chinese-style think tanks are an important component of the nation's soft power. The CNIPA fully utilizes the role of think tanks, continuously pushing for the specialization and high-quality development of high-end and distinctive think tanks.
In March of this year, the fifth session of the National Intellectual Property Expert Advisory Committee was established, comprising 48 renowned experts, including nine academicians from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chinese Academy of Engineering. These experts come from various IP fields, and a new batch of experts in new fields and business models such as big data, artificial intelligence, new materials, and new energy have been incorporated.
"This session of the expert committee further established a mechanism for expert advice, and has formed multiple expert recommendations around cutting-edge hot topics such as policies on standard-essential patents and traditional Chinese medicine IP protection," Zhang explained. "Since the '14th Five-Year Plan', committee members have participated in over 700 various IP tasks involving nearly 1,200 person-times, supporting the comprehensive work across the entire IP chain." (by Li Yangfang)
截至2023年底，中国知识产权人才规模已从“十三五”末的69万人增长至86万人。近日，中国国家知识产权局举办例行新闻发布会，介绍了知识产权人才工作有关情况。
建设人才高地，向更高水平跃升
中国国家知识产权局人事司司长张志成介绍，《知识产权人才“十四五”规划》部署实施知识产权人才高地重点人才项目，主动谋划在北京、上海和粤港澳大湾区建设高水平知识产权人才高地，已经在完善顶层设计、健全人才自主培养体系、促进人才交流合作更加紧密、畅通人才职业发展路径4个方面取得初步成效。
北京市知识产权局副局长蔡鑫介绍，北京开展知识产权专业高级职称评价工作，已有百名各领域知识产权人才在“十四五”以来获评知识产权高级职称；以知识产权服务业为突破口，从头部专利代理机构中遴选引进人才；成立国家实验室知识产权专家咨询委员会，专门出台国家实验室知识产权管理指引，推送68项知识产权服务事项清单。
在上海，同济大学在中国国家知识产权局的支持下常态化举办世界知识产权组织—同济大学知识产权法硕士项目、中国政府知识产权硕士项目等，力促国际人才密切交流。在广东，中国国家知识产权培训基地落地建设，举办行政管理人员轮训和大数据、集成电路等重点领域人才培训。
“截至2023年底，北京、上海、广东三地每万人口高价值发明专利拥有量均超过全国平均水平的两倍以上。”张志成表示，中国国家知识产权局将继续大力推进知识产权人才高地建设，引领带动全国各地建设高层次知识产权人才队伍，为高水平科技自立自强贡献知识产权力量。
培养专门人才，向更高层次发展
“十四五”以来，知识产权人才培训工作不断加强，系统开展地方知识产权行政管理人员轮训150余期，提升履职能力；着眼前沿热点，围绕大数据、人工智能等新领域新业态知识产权保护工作加强急需人才培训，助力培育发展新质生产力；拓宽培训渠道，持续做好知识产权远程培训课程建设，不断拓展培训覆盖范围，取得了良好成效。
中国知识产权培训中心作为知识产权系统唯一的国家级培训机构，发挥了重要的功能作用。中国知识产权培训中心副主任（主持工作）刘剑介绍，近4年来，培训中心围绕国家重大战略实施组织相关培训，累计培训学员近2000人次；共组织各类涉外培训19期，广泛开展知识产权民间交流。
“清华大学目前正在探索设立‘知识产权专业硕士项目’，把知识产权与理工、管理、经济等学科交叉，培养复合型知识产权人才。同时，我们积极提升人才培养工作的国际化水平，于2023年11月与世界知识产权组织联合签署了协议，新设‘知识产权与创新政策’联合硕士项目，今年就会面向全球招生，第一批学生将在9月入学。”清华大学法学院院长周光权介绍。
发挥智库作用，突出高端与特色
中国特色新型智库是国家软实力的重要组成部分。中国国家知识产权局充分发挥智库作用，持续推进高端智库和特色智库专业化建设和高质量发展。
今年3月，由48名知名专家组成的第五届国家知识产权专家咨询委员会成立，其中两院院士9名。这些专家来自知识产权各领域，同时新吸纳了一批大数据、人工智能、新材料、新能源等新领域新业态的专家。
“本届专家委员会进一步建立起专家建言机制，已围绕标准必要专利政策、中医药知识产权保护等前沿热点、焦点问题形成多项专家建言。”张志成介绍，“十四五”以来，委员们累计参加各类知识产权工作700余项，涉及委员近1200人次，全方位支撑了知识产权全链条工作。（李杨芳）
（编辑：晏如 责任编辑：吕可珂 审校：冯飞）
