WIPO China: WIPO Green Contributes to Green and Sustainable Development in China

April 29, 2021

On April 27, the "IP Acceleration Camp for Green Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs)" was jointly organized by the WIPO Office in China (WOC) and the Beijing Municipal Intellectual Property Office (BMIPO) in Beijing in a hybrid form, with the assistance from the Zhongguancun Bluetech Clean Air Alliance. Ms. Liu Hua, Director of the WOC, Mr. Pan Xinsheng, Deputy Director General of the BMIPO and Mr. Liu Jian, Deputy Director General of the International Cooperation Department of the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) attended the event and delivered opening speeches.

In her speech, Ms. Liu Hua briefed the WIPO and referred the WIPO as a golden knowledge asset, which you may wish to use it via five sets of golden keys, i.e., the policy forum, registration systems, databases, cooperation platforms and WIPO Academy. The effective use of the five sets of keys of WIPO can empower the development of and generate economic value for the green technology small and medium-sized enterprises.

Talking about how WIPO helps small and medium-sized enterprises with green innovation, Ms. Liu Hua focused on introducing the WIPO GREEN - the Marketplace for Sustainable Technology. Established by WIPO in 2013, WIPO GREEN supports global efforts against climate change by connecting key actors in environmentally friendly innovation through its database and network. Its aim is to incentivize innovation in this field and spread it more broadly, and to contribute to the efforts of developing countries in addressing the global challenges of climate change, food security and the environment.

WIPO GREEN is an online sustainable technology trading market. The core of WIPO GREEN is a database of green technologies, inventions and patents, which come from a variety of institutions, including SMEs, multinational companies, innovators and universities around the world. It can be queried for free through online registration.

WIPO GREEN currently has more than 3,800 listed technologies, needs and experts, with over 100 partners ranging from small startups to Fortune 500 companies. There are more than 1,500 users worldwide and so far, more than 700 connections – leading to potential collaborations – have been made. There is a total of 145 technologies from China included in the WIPO GREEN database, ranking fourth among all countries uploading technologies. In China, there are currently eight WIPO GREEN partners including Hong Kong Trade Development Council (Asian IP Exchange), Bluetech Clean Air Alliance, China Technology Exchange, Haier, International IP Commercialization Council (Hong Kong), IP Nexus (Hong Kong), Tianjin TEDA Energy Group Co., Ltd., and the Green Technology Bank.

As an extension of WIPO in China, Ms. Liu said, the WOC will further strengthen its cooperation with Beijing municipal government and relevant authorities, promote and accelerate the innovation and transfer of green technologies, expand the uptake and use of environment-friendly technologies, and provide closer, timely and quality services for SMEs, and contribute more effectively to the protection of IP and enterprise development of SMEs in China.

Mr. Pan Xinsheng, Deputy Director General of the BMIPO, explained the central role of IP protection in helping SMEs and micro enterprises play their role in driving innovation and creativity, achieving green economic recovery and creating jobs, stressed that Beijing has always attached great importance to IP work, and various major indicators of intellectual property rights have been maintaining a leading position in the country. By the end of December 2020, Beijing had 336,000 valid invention patents and 155.8 invention patents per 10,000 people, ranking first in China. There were 565,000 trademark applications with 363,000 trademark registrations, 1,005,000 copyright registrations and 204,000 software copyright registrations, 564 applications for new plant varieties with 88 authorized, and 13 geographical indication products. It has also been awarded 7 China Patent Gold Medals in 2020. All these figures reflected the new improvements in the quality, structure and layout of IPR of Beijing.

Mr. Liu Jian, Deputy Director General of International Cooperation Department of CNIPA noted that the protection of nature is a matter of the future of mankind and that building a beautiful home is the common dream of people all over the world, and that WIPO, as a major specialized agency of the United Nations, has done a lot of work in this area, such as the establishment of the WIPO Sustainable Technology Exchange (WIPO GREEN) in 2013, and China supports and appreciates the efforts made by WIPO. He said that the Chinese Government had always attached great importance to IP work, continued to strengthen IP protection, strived to create a fair, transparent and predictable business environment, and actively participated in multilateral affairs under the framework of WIPO, making China's contribution to the building of a global IP ecosystem.

The event also invited Mr. Xie Hongxing, Director of the Zhongguancun Bluetech Clean Air Alliance, Ms. Marion "Amy" Dietterich, Director of the Global Challenges Division of the WIPO, and Mr. Zhao Lijie, Director of the IP Department of Beijing Yinghe Law Firm, and other relevant industry experts from home and abroad to deliver speeches and discuss topics such as IP strategies for green technology enterprises, how WIPO can help green technology SMEs to develop, IP management for SMEs, and financing, innovation and IP for SMEs.

"IP Acceleration Camp for Green SMEs" is one of featured events of World Intellectual Property Day, it is also the Third Event of "Innovation for a Green Future" Special IP Training Events in China, and part of WIPO GREEN local activities in China. Over 300 representatives from green technology enterprises, research institutions, renowned law firms, investment institutions and foreign-related IP service providers attended the event.