In July 2026, the State Council officially issued the “15th Five-Year Plan for Intellectual Property Protection and Utilization” (Guo Fa [2026] No. 30), setting out the “construction blueprint” for intellectual property work from 2026 to 2030. Hefei Zhihai Yida Patent Agency (Institution Code 34408) promptly republishes the full text of the Plan for you, and uses a Q&A format to help enterprises, inventors, and entrepreneurs quickly understand: what this Plan means for you, and what you should do now.
Note: The “Public Q&A Interpretation” below is written by our firm, and is for reference only and does not represent the official interpretation.
I. Full Text of the Plan (Source: Chinese Government Website / CNIPA)
**Source**: Issued by the State Council; the full text is published on the CNIPA official website (Guo Fa [2026] No. 30).
**Publication Date**: 2026-07-31 (signed by the State Council on July 27, 2026).
**Original Link**: CNIPA Official Website Original Text
**Note**: The official website stated “this article is abridged” upon publication; the full public text is provided below.
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Notice of the State Council on Issuing the “15th Five-Year Plan for Intellectual Property Protection and Utilization”
Guo Fa [2026] No. 30
To the people’s governments of all provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government, and all ministries and commissions of the State Council and their directly subordinate institutions:
The “15th Five-Year Plan for Intellectual Property Protection and Utilization” is hereby issued to you; please implement it conscientiously.
The State Council, July 27, 2026
(This text is abridged.)
15th Five-Year Plan for Intellectual Property Protection and Utilization
Intellectual property is a strategic resource for national development and a core element of international competitiveness. To accelerate the building of a strong intellectual property nation, this Plan is formulated in accordance with the “Outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development of the People’s Republic of China.”
I. General Requirements
Adhere to Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era as guidance, thoroughly implement the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and all plenary sessions of the 20th Central Committee, conscientiously implement the deployments of the Fourth Plenary Session, fully, accurately, and comprehensively apply the new development philosophy, with the theme of promoting the high-quality development of the intellectual property cause, with reform and innovation as the fundamental driving force, anchoring the goal of building a world-class intellectual property power with Chinese characteristics, comprehensively enhancing the levels of intellectual property creation, utilization, protection, management, and service, coordinating international cooperation and competition in the intellectual property field, accelerating the deep integration of intellectual property with economic and social development, and providing strong support for the realization of Chinese-style modernization.
By 2030, China’s overall intellectual property strength and international competitiveness will be further enhanced, intellectual property protection will be stronger, the market value of intellectual property will be more evident, intellectual property public services will be of higher quality, the comprehensive intellectual property management system will be more efficient, international intellectual property cooperation will be deeper, and decisive progress will be made in building a strong intellectual property nation.
Looking ahead to 2035, China’s comprehensive intellectual property competitiveness will rank among the world’s leading; the intellectual property system will be systematic and complete; intellectual property will vigorously promote innovation and entrepreneurship; a societal intellectual property culture awareness will be basically formed; an international cooperation pattern featuring all-round, multi-level participation in global intellectual property governance will be basically established; and a world-class intellectual property power with Chinese characteristics will be basically built.
II. Continuously Optimizing the Intellectual Property Protection Environment that Supports Comprehensive Innovation
(1) Improving the Intellectual Property Legal System
Improve intellectual property laws and regulations. Strengthen research on fundamental intellectual property laws, and improve the intellectual property protection and utilization system. Continuously improve patent-related legal systems. Promote comprehensive revision of the Trademark Law and its implementing regulations, and explore expanding the scope of trademark protection. Timely promote revisions to the supporting regulations of the Copyright Law, and improve the copyright collective management system. Revise regulations on integrated circuit layout designs. Continuously promote specialized legislation on geographical indications and coordinated inter-departmental protection. Accelerate the revision of the implementing rules for the Regulations on the Protection of New Plant Varieties. Improve the trade secret protection system. Improve the anti-monopoly system in the intellectual property field. Study special-procedure legal systems that conform to the patterns of intellectual property adjudication. Accelerate the revision of the Regulations on Customs Protection of Intellectual Property Rights. Issue regulations on the protection of traditional knowledge of Chinese medicine. Strengthen the building of systems for access to and benefit-sharing of traditional knowledge and folk literature and art.
Improve intellectual property protection systems in emerging fields and specific-domain protection rules. Improve rules for protecting intellectual property related to algorithms, AI-generated content, and platform economy development. Explore the construction of rules for protecting data intellectual property. Strengthen research on open-source intellectual property agreement rules, and support the building of domestic open-source communities. Improve copyright protection systems and transaction rules in fields such as online publishing, online audiovisual, and online literature and art. Continuously optimize the early resolution mechanism for pharmaceutical patent disputes. Improve rules for protecting intellectual property in space stations. Strengthen intellectual property protection in fields such as intangible cultural heritage and traditional Chinese medicine. Promote the sustainable use of and benefit-sharing from biological genetic resources, and strengthen risk assessment of the loss of important biological genetic resources.
(2) Improving the Intellectual Property Protection System
Strengthen judicial protection of intellectual property. Promote improvement of the appeal adjudication mechanism for intellectual property cases, deeply advance the reform of the “three-in-one” adjudication mechanism integrating civil, criminal, and administrative intellectual property cases, and promote the construction of an adjudication system featuring specialized case adjudication, centralized jurisdiction, and streamlined procedures. Promote unification of judicial adjudication standards and legal application for intellectual property. Continuously improve the punitive damages system for intellectual property infringement, and punish in accordance with the law serious acts of infringing intellectual property rights. Prevent and combat false litigation, malicious litigation, and abuse of intellectual property rights in the intellectual property field. Deeply explore a judicial confirmation system for administrative mediation agreements of intellectual property disputes applied for by parties. Strengthen judicial handling of anti-monopoly and anti-unfair-competition in the intellectual property field. Apply equal liability, equal crime, and equal punishment for acts infringing intellectual property rights of economic entities under all forms of ownership, and prevent and correct the use of criminal means to interfere in economic disputes in the intellectual property field. Assist in prosecutorial supervision and other work for intellectual property cases. Improve the “professional + mechanism + big data” new-model police operation model, severely crack down in accordance with the law on all types of intellectual property infringement crimes, strengthen police-enterprise contact services, and guide enterprises in strengthening intellectual property risk prevention.
Strengthen administrative protection of intellectual property. Focus on key products, key fields, key markets, and key links, and continuously carry out various special campaigns to combat intellectual property infringement, counterfeiting, and illegal acts. Strengthen intellectual property administrative law enforcement, administrative adjudication, and administrative mediation capacity. Strengthen professional guidance for intellectual property administrative law enforcement, and improve the benchmarks for administrative discretion in the intellectual property field. Strengthen anti-monopoly law enforcement, and investigate and punish in accordance with the law acts of abusing intellectual property rights to eliminate or restrict competition. Carry out standardized construction of administrative adjudication, formulate guidelines for handling and mediating patent dispute administrative adjudication and copyright dispute mediation, and improve infringement determination standards. Focus on key industries, promote rapid resolution of patent and copyright disputes through administrative adjudication, and efficiently enforce adjudication results. Strengthen the coordinated handling of patent dispute administrative adjudication and administrative right-confirmation cases. Strengthen the cultivation and management of intellectual property appraisal institutions, and enhance the standardization and professionalization of appraisal work. Continuously advance software legalization, and strengthen software legalization in key fields such as education, health, and hygiene. Continue to carry out actions to promote the protection and utilization of seed industry intellectual property. Deeply advance the national innovation pilot program for trade secret protection. Strengthen customs protection of intellectual property.
Improve coordinated intellectual property protection. Expand channels for resolving intellectual property disputes, and strengthen cross-regional and cross-departmental intellectual property protection collaboration. Improve the linkage mechanism between administrative and judicial protection of intellectual property, and promote the unification of administrative law enforcement standards and judicial adjudication standards. Promote the high-quality development of national-level intellectual property protection centers and rapid rights-protection centers, strengthen rapid intellectual property dispute resolution capacity, and increase rights-protection assistance. Establish and improve a working model for intellectual property dispute mediation that is organically linked, coordinated, efficient, and convenient. Continuously deepen the docking of online litigation and mediation for intellectual property disputes. Strengthen the standardized construction of intellectual property dispute mediation organizations. Promote notary institutions to provide notarization services in all links of intellectual property protection. Strengthen the capacity building of intellectual property arbitration institutions, promote the improvement of professional intellectual property arbitration rules, and establish a national recommended directory of intellectual property arbitration institutions. Guide key industries to issue intellectual property self-discipline conventions, and promote compliant operation and fair competition of enterprises.
(3) Strengthening Foreign-Related Intellectual Property Protection
Improve the handling of foreign-related intellectual property disputes. Improve the foreign-related intellectual property protection system, enhance risk prevention and control capabilities, and properly respond to international intellectual property disputes. Assist in the adjudication and prosecutorial supervision of foreign-related intellectual property judicial cases, strengthen response and disposal of foreign-related intellectual property administrative cases, and protect in accordance with the law equal treatment of all types of business entities. Strengthen monitoring and early warning of foreign-related intellectual property trade investigations, litigation, and other disputes, and deepen research on foreign-related intellectual property policies. Strengthen intellectual property protection for cross-border e-commerce. Build a case database of foreign-related intellectual property disputes.
Strengthen guidance on foreign-related intellectual property rights protection. Improve the mechanism for guiding responses to overseas intellectual property disputes, providing graded and classified guidance services. Encourage chambers of commerce, industry associations, cross-border e-commerce platforms, and other organizations to build overseas intellectual property rights-protection assistance platforms. Encourage insurance institutions to carry out foreign-related intellectual property-related insurance businesses in accordance with market-oriented principles. Support enterprises in establishing mutual-aid funds for foreign-related intellectual property protection and rights protection. Strengthen guidance on intellectual property rights protection at key overseas exhibitions, and increase assistance for enterprises’ overseas exhibition rights protection.
III. Vigorously Enhancing the Efficiency of Intellectual Property Utilization that Promotes High-Quality Economic Development
(4) Strengthening Intellectual Property Transformation and Utilization Capabilities
Cultivate a sound ecosystem for intellectual property transformation and utilization. Accelerate the cultivation and development of the intellectual property factor market, improve the national intellectual property operation platform system, and strengthen coordination and linkage with various platforms and carriers such as finance, education, science and technology, and industry. Rely on regional technology transfer and transformation centers of universities to strengthen precise matching of university patents and other scientific and technological achievements with enterprise needs. Actively promote transformation models such as “use first, pay later” and “transform first, then take equity” for patented technologies that are high-risk and difficult to transform. Comprehensively implement the patent open licensing system. Promote the construction of the national copyright trading service system, strengthen copyright right-confirmation, authorization, and trading capabilities, and enhance the level of international copyright trade services. Explore the statistical release of intellectual property transaction prices. Gradually expand the scope of implementation of the declaration system for patents formed by fiscally funded scientific research projects, and strengthen the tracking and monitoring of the quality and transformation benefits of related patents.
Deepen the reform of intellectual property rights and interests distribution. Deepen the reform of empowering professional scientific and technological achievements, establish a separate management system for professional scientific and technological achievement assets, improve the due-diligence liability exemption and fault-tolerance mechanism for patent transformation, and improve the intellectual property revenue distribution mechanism with equal rights and obligations. Strengthen the standardized management of intellectual property for industry-university-research collaborative innovation, and guide all parties to clarify the ownership and distribution rules of rights and interests. Strengthen quality and value orientation, and guide state-owned enterprises and public institutions to continuously optimize intellectual property-related incentive policies and assessment evaluations. Support scientific researchers to participate in the transformation of scientific and technological achievements through methods such as intellectual property contribution as equity and revenue sharing. Strengthen the long-term mechanism for transformation and utilization, improve the pre-application evaluation system for universities and research institutions with industrialization prospect analysis as the core, and strengthen the dynamic inventory and hierarchical management of patents.
Actively and steadily develop intellectual property finance. Carry out comprehensive pilots for the intellectual property finance ecosystem. Promote innovation in financial products such as intellectual property pledge financing, securitization, insurance, and funds, and strengthen the sharing of financial data and intellectual property data. Deepen the risk-sharing and compensation work for intellectual property finance operations, and promote the pre-positioning model of risk compensation for intellectual property pledge loans. Improve the intellectual property value assessment system, and refine the assessment guidelines for patents, trademarks, and copyrights. Make good use of the national intellectual property pledge information platform. Continuously advance the facilitation of intellectual property pledge registration, promote a reasonable growth in the cumulative amount of intellectual property pledge financing, and further increase the number of enterprises covered by and benefiting from intellectual property pledge financing. Encourage the conduct of pre-application evaluation for variety rights, and improve the management system for variety rights pledge registration and transfer registration. Explore the conduct of intellectual property pledge asset storage work.
(5) Increasing the Intellectual Property Supply that Promotes the Development of New Quality Productive Forces
Serve key core technology breakthroughs. Around key core technologies in key fields, cultivate and explore high-value patents and patent portfolios. Around basic software, cultivate and explore high-quality copyrights and copyright products. Strengthen patent layout and whole-process intellectual property management for major scientific and technological innovation projects. Strengthen patent-oriented R&D management for application-type major scientific and technological tasks. Strengthen the coordination of intellectual property analysis and layout with technology breakthroughs, and promote the deep integration of intellectual property management with key equipment project management. Promote enterprises, research institutions, and other units that master key core technologies to improve their scientific and technological confidentiality systems and measures.
Empower industrial innovation and development. Deeply implement the patent navigation project, focus on emerging industries and future industries, and continuously enhance the capacity of patent navigation services to serve industrial development. Guide the formation of industrial intellectual property innovation consortia, give full play to the role of industrial intellectual property operation centers, and guide the construction of patent pools for key industries. Vigorously develop patent-intensive industries, and increase the cultivation and promotion of patent-intensive products. Strengthen copyright services and guarantees for the development of new technologies and new industries such as blockchain, big data, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence. Further strengthen the fair and reasonable licensing and use of standard-essential patents, establish and improve a special database of international standard-essential patents, and actively promote the effective combination of patents with international standard setting. Adapt to new trademark registration demands, and do a good job in the classification of goods under new industries, new business forms, and new models. Strengthen the industrial application of digital technology and green technology patents, and promote the steady growth of the effective volume of invention patents in the core industries of the digital economy and green and low-carbon technology invention patents.
Cultivate and strengthen the intellectual property characteristic economy. Implement the trademark and brand strategy, strengthen policy guidance and support, and cultivate more well-known trademark brands and domestic trendy brands with international influence. Give play to the role of collective trademark and certification trademark systems, and promote the creation of industrial cluster brands and regional brands with distinctive features, strong competitiveness, and good market reputation. Innovate scenarios integrating intellectual property with commerce, tourism, culture, sports, and health, and actively develop “Intellectual Property (IP) + Consumption.” Promote the high-quality development of the copyright industry, guide national copyright trading centers (trade bases), national copyright innovation and development bases, and high-quality copyright enterprises to promote copyright transformation and utilization. Increase international promotion of copyrighted works, and promote more excellent works to “go global.” Actively promote geographical indication products and brands, facilitate the trading of geographical indication products, and promote the extension of the geographical indication product industry chain.
(6) Promoting the High-Quality Development of the Intellectual Property Service Industry
Enhance intellectual property service capabilities. Promote the optimization and upgrading of intellectual property service industry clusters. Support intellectual property service institutions in carrying out value-added services such as trading, transformation, custody, investment, and financing. Cultivate high-level foreign-related intellectual property service institutions, support qualified intellectual property service institutions in establishing branches or representative offices overseas, and encourage high-level foreign institutions to come to China to provide intellectual property services. Promote the construction of the intellectual property service industry standard system, and do a good job in standard implementation evaluation and dynamic improvement. Carry out graded and classified evaluation of patent and trademark agency institutions and their practitioners, and promote quality-oriented patent and trademark agency service tendering.
Strengthen supervision of the intellectual property service industry. Improve the intellectual property agency supervision system. Strictly control the entry threshold of the patent agency industry, and strengthen the filing management of trademark agency institutions. In accordance with laws and regulations, govern the low-price disorderly competition in the intellectual property service industry, and promote the formation of a market order featuring high quality at a high price and healthy competition. Strengthen cross-regional and cross-departmental regulatory coordination and law enforcement collaboration, and severely crack down on illegal and irregular intellectual property agency acts. Strengthen industry self-discipline, strictly implement the patent agent signature responsibility system, and guide patent agency institutions to operate in compliance and agency personnel to practice in a standardized manner. Improve the credit evaluation of patent and trademark agency institutions, and strengthen the application of results. Explore the conduct of graded management of copyright agency institutions.
IV. Continuously Improving the Comprehensive Intellectual Property Management System that Promotes High-Efficiency Governance
(7) Comprehensively Improving the Level of Intellectual Property Management
Enhance the collaborative efficiency of intellectual property work. Establish an efficient comprehensive intellectual property management system, and strengthen the whole-chain protection of intellectual property. Improve the inter-ministerial joint meeting system for the building of a strong intellectual property nation. Strengthen regional intellectual property work coordination, and deepen the paired assistance between eastern and western regions in intellectual property. Deeply carry out the demonstration work for building a strong intellectual property nation, and promote the building of strong intellectual property provinces with a “one province, one policy” approach. Support key regions in building regional intellectual property operation platforms. Support and guide free trade pilot zones and the Hainan Free Trade Port in carrying out pioneering and integrated exploration around intellectual property.
Improve the level of intellectual property examination management. Deeply advance the building of first-class patent and trademark examination institutions, improve the patent and trademark examination policies and management systems, optimize the examination collaboration mechanism, and continuously enhance the quality of authorization and right confirmation. Explore the reform of the utility model examination system. Improve the examination standards for collective trademarks and certification trademarks, and continuously optimize the examination and recognition of geographical indications. Improve the copyright registration system, and study the construction of a nationally unified copyright registration information service platform. Formulate and issue examination guidelines for new plant variety rights, and improve the examination model and testing system. Accelerate the implementation of the essentially derived variety system, and study and formulate relevant identification standards.
(8) Strengthening Intellectual Property Public Services
Strengthen intellectual property public service capabilities. Improve the intellectual property public service system, strengthen inter-ministerial coordination, central-local collaboration, and regional cooperation, strengthen the overall management of intellectual property public service institutions within provinces, and support qualified cities and districts in strengthening the building of professional public service teams. Strengthen the building of provincial-level copyright public service institutions, with emphasis on guiding and cultivating prefecture-level copyright public service institutions. Strengthen the supply-demand matching of intellectual property information public services, and promote the specialization and characteristic development of intellectual property information public services. Strengthen the guidance and cultivation of Technology and Innovation Support Centers and other institutions. Support qualified comprehensive overseas service ports to integrate intellectual property public services. Promote the construction of intellectual property public service workstations in key industrial parks.
Improve the quality and efficiency of intellectual property public services. Carry out pilots for optimizing the business environment in the intellectual property field, and form more replicable and promotable reform measures. Issue and implement national standards for intellectual property public services, and promote the non-discriminatory online and offline acceptance and same-standard handling of intellectual property matters. Improve the intellectual property data resource management system. Improve relevant standards and norms for intellectual property data, and enhance the level of development and utilization of data resources. Strengthen the building of the national intellectual property big data center and public service platform, and optimize functions such as foreign-related intellectual property protection and patent transformation and utilization. Carry out actions to assist enterprises and benefit the public through intellectual property public services. Strengthen the closed-loop management of “evaluation—feedback—optimization” for intellectual property public service institutions, and continuously improve the quality of intellectual property public services.
(9) Strengthening Intellectual Property Social Co-governance
Continuously advance the building of the integrity system in the intellectual property field. Study and formulate management measures for the building of the integrity system in the intellectual property field, and improve the systems for publicizing intellectual property credit information, punishing dishonesty, and credit repair. Promote the intellectual property credit commitment system, punish illegal and dishonest acts in the intellectual property field in accordance with laws and regulations, and increase the exposure of typical cases. Explore the conduct of intellectual property credit evaluation, study and formulate national standards for intellectual property credit evaluation, and cultivate third-party intellectual property credit evaluation service institutions. Continuously strengthen the normative guidance of researchers’ intellectual property awareness and the management of research integrity.
Strengthen intellectual property talent cultivation. Establish a whole-chain talent cultivation system, and accelerate the building of a high-level, compound, and application-oriented talent team. Strengthen the building of intellectual property law enforcement and judicial, administrative adjudication teams, strengthen talent cultivation and exchanges, and vigorously enhance the level of specialization and professionalization. Improve the technical examiner system, strengthen the selection, use, and management of technical examiners, and strengthen their application in intellectual property law enforcement and justice. Strengthen the building of intellectual property mediation, notarization, arbitration, and appraisal personnel teams. Strengthen the learning and training of leading cadres and state-owned enterprise leaders on intellectual property. Increase training and guidance for grassroots intellectual property administrative law enforcement personnel. Strengthen the building of international intellectual property academies. Vigorously develop national high-end intellectual property think tanks and characteristic think tanks. Strengthen the professional title review work for intellectual property professionals. Strengthen the building of intellectual property professional lawyer teams. Improve the patent agent qualification examination system.
Cultivate intellectual property cultural concepts. Deeply carry out intellectual property law popularization and publicity, and strengthen intellectual property universal education in primary and secondary schools. Innovatively organize brand publicity activities such as the National Intellectual Property Publicity Week, and do a good job in publicizing the achievements of building a strong intellectual property nation. Deepen the integration of traditional media and new media resources, build intellectual property converged media centers, and give play to the role of the intellectual property converged media communication matrix. Encourage the creation of various cultural works and cultural activities with the intellectual property theme. Encourage all regions to carry out intellectual property publicity and education in light of their own industrial characteristics and cultural heritage.
V. Actively Building a New Pattern of International Intellectual Property Cooperation that Serves High-Level Opening Up
(10) Deeply Participating in Global Intellectual Property Governance
Actively safeguard and develop the multilateral intellectual property cooperation system, strengthen cooperation within international frameworks and multilateral mechanisms such as the United Nations and the World Trade Organization, deeply participate in multilateral and bilateral intellectual property negotiations, constructively participate in the multilateral affairs of the World Intellectual Property Organization, and promote the improvement of the global intellectual property service system. Strengthen international cooperation in fields such as intellectual property arbitration and mediation, and enhance international dispute resolution capabilities. Actively conduct research and negotiation on intellectual property issues in multilateral and bilateral economic and trade agreements such as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement, and promote the signing of international agreements and geographical indication protection agreements containing intellectual property rules related to economy and trade with more countries and regions. Deepen research on and participation in the formulation of international rules and standards for emerging fields such as artificial intelligence, big data, and green and low-carbon.
(11) Continuously Deepening International Intellectual Property Exchange and Cooperation
Adhere to mutual respect, fairness and justice, and win-win cooperation, and deepen intellectual property cooperation with all countries. Promote the high-quality “Belt and Road” intellectual property cooperation. Deepen multilateral and bilateral cooperation with key countries and regions in the intellectual property field, and support the enhancement of intellectual property capabilities of Global South countries. Strengthen intellectual property cooperation consultations with major trading partners, and better serve the international cooperation of industrial and supply chains. Relying on multilateral and bilateral law enforcement cooperation mechanisms, actively participate in international joint law enforcement operations, and severely crack down in accordance with the law on transnational (cross-border) intellectual property crimes. Continue to consolidate and expand the “Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH)” international cooperation network. Guide domestic innovation entities to carry out high-quality overseas patent applications through multiple channels, promote the coordinated layout of patents and standards, and promote the steady growth of the effective volume of overseas invention patents. Promote more Chinese trademark brands and geographical indication products to “go global.” Actively give play to the role of non-governmental organizations in international intellectual property exchange and cooperation. Build international intellectual property forums and brand activities, and continuously enhance the international communication capability of intellectual property. Support local governments in carrying out pragmatic foreign intellectual property exchanges and serve high-level opening up.
VI. Strengthening Organizational Safeguards
Adhere to the Party’s overall leadership over intellectual property work, give full play to the role of the inter-ministerial joint meeting for the building of a strong intellectual property nation, and improve the work system featuring unified leadership, departmental coordination, and top-down linkages. All regions and relevant departments must attach great importance, strengthen coordination and cooperation, and implement this Plan in light of actual conditions. The China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) must strengthen overall coordination, work with relevant departments to do a good job in policy publicity and interpretation, formulate annual promotion plans, and conduct dynamic monitoring, mid-term evaluation, and final evaluation of the Plan’s implementation, to ensure the orderly advancement of the Plan’s implementation. Major matters shall be reported to the Party Central Committee and the State Council for instruction in accordance with procedures in a timely manner.
(Source: Chinese Government Website)
II. Public Q&A Interpretation: What This Plan Means for Enterprises
Q1. What exactly is this “15th Five-Year Plan”? And what does it have to do with me (enterprises, inventors)?
The “15th Five-Year Plan for Intellectual Property Protection and Utilization” is a national-level special plan issued by the State Council in July 2026 (Guo Fa [2026] No. 30), covering 2026–2030, and is the “construction blueprint” for the “Outline for Building a Strong Intellectual Property Nation (2021–2035)” in the next five years. It is directly relevant to you: every deployment in the Plan regarding patent authorization, trademark protection, copyright transformation, agency industry regulation, intellectual property financing, and overseas rights protection will affect enterprises’ innovation protection costs, eligibility for government rewards and subsidies, financing channels, and overseas operation risks. Simply put—it determines, for the next five years, “how your technology is protected, how it is used, how it is monetized, and how it goes global.”
Q2. What exactly is the “high-value patent” repeatedly mentioned in the Plan? And why is it important?
The Plan sets expected indicators such as “the number of high-value invention patents per 10,000 people,” and requires a further increase in the proportion of patents in strategic emerging industries. A so-called high-value patent usually has three characteristics: advanced technology that is difficult to circumvent, stable claims (able to withstand invalidation challenges), and a clear market and transformation prospects. For enterprises, only high-value patents can bring exclusive competitive advantages, pledge financing valuation, and licensing revenue; low-quality “filler” patents will become increasingly difficult to obtain funding and recognition under the Plan’s orientation. Patent-oriented analysis should be conducted from the R&D project initiation stage rather than added after authorization.
Q3. The Plan says “strictly control the entry threshold of the patent agency industry, high quality at a high price, and graded and classified evaluation”—what should be noted when choosing an agency?
The Plan explicitly states “strictly control the entry threshold of the patent agency industry,” “govern low-price disorderly competition and promote high quality at a high price,” and requires graded and classified evaluation of agencies and personnel and the implementation of the patent agent signature responsibility system. This means that agency quality will become a regulatory focus in the future, and the risks of low-price, low-quality agencies will be higher. When choosing an agency, enterprises should verify whether it has formal qualifications from CNIPA (such as the number of patent agents, the institution’s practice license, and institution code), and pay attention to whether it has substantive drafting and response capabilities, rather than merely comparing prices. A formal and transparent agency relationship is the first line of defense for patent quality.
Q4. What is “patent navigation”? Can small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) also use it?
Patent navigation is a method of using patent data to see through technology roadmaps, competitors’ layouts, and industry gaps, assisting R&D decision-making and patent layout. The Plan requires “deeply implementing the patent navigation project,” focusing on emerging industries and future industries. SMEs also apply: conducting navigation before project initiation can avoid others’ patent barriers, discover breakthrough technology gaps, and take fewer detours; conducting navigation before going global can predict the patent risks of target markets. It is not only a tool for large enterprises, but also a means for SMEs to “spend little to avoid big pitfalls.”
Q5. With the comprehensive implementation of “patent open licensing,” what practical benefits does it bring to my patents?
The Plan proposes “comprehensively implementing the patent open licensing system.” Open licensing means that the patentee declares willingness to license anyone to implement the patent under uniform conditions, with centralized publication by the official platform and simplified signing. For universities, research institutes, and enterprises holding idle patents, this can significantly reduce licensing negotiation and transaction costs, allowing “sleeping patents” to be transformed faster; for licensees, it provides access to technology at a lower threshold and with more certain conditions. It is an important mechanism for revitalizing patent assets and echoing the orientation of “intellectual property transformation and utilization.”
Q6. Should my technology be applied for a patent, or kept confidential as a trade secret?
The Plan deploys “deeply advancing the national innovation pilot for trade secret protection” alongside patent protection, indicating that both are moats for enterprises’ core assets. The judgment principle: if the technology is highly susceptible to reverse engineering (e.g., the product structure is leaked and immediately copied), a patent is more appropriate; if the technology is difficult to reverse from the product (such as formulas, process parameters, and algorithm logic), a trade secret is better; in many cases, the two are combined—using patents to protect the disclosable parts and trade secrets to lock in the core know-how. It is recommended to conduct a “patent–trade secret” combined evaluation before R&D finalization, to avoid “keeping secret what should be disclosed, and disclosing what should be kept secret.”
Q7. For enterprises engaged in foreign trade and going global, what content in the Plan protects me?
The Plan deploys “strengthening foreign-related intellectual property protection” in a dedicated section: improving the overseas intellectual property dispute response guidance mechanism and providing graded and classified guidance, strengthening rights-protection assistance at key overseas exhibitions, continuing to expand the “Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH)” cooperation network, and guiding innovation entities to carry out high-quality overseas patent applications through multiple channels. For going-global enterprises, the key is “advance layout”—applying for patents in advance in target markets, conducting Freedom-to-Operate (FTO) analysis, and establishing dispute emergency plans, rather than waiting to be sued before remedying. The signal released by the Plan is: national-level overseas rights-protection support will be more systematic, but the enterprise’s own layout remains the primary responsibility.
Q8. Can AI-generated content and algorithms also be protected by intellectual property rights? What does it mean for technology enterprises?
The Plan explicitly proposes “improving the protection rules for algorithms, AI-generated content, and matters related to platform economy development,” and continuously promotes AI-related intellectual property system innovation and timely revision of the “Guidelines for Patent Application Related to Artificial Intelligence.” For technology enterprises, this means: technical solutions generated with AI assistance and innovations related to algorithm models are being incorporated into patentability discussions and examination standards; but at the same time, higher requirements are placed on “sufficiency of disclosure, inventor identity, and subject matter of protection.” AI enterprises should move their intellectual property layout forward to the R&D stage, systematically excavate patentable innovation points, rather than adding them after the product goes online.
Q9. Can intellectual property really be “monetized”? What are pledge financing and securitization?
Yes. The Plan specifically deploys “actively and steadily developing intellectual property finance,” promoting innovations such as pledge financing, securitization, insurance, and funds, and advancing the facilitation of pledge registration. For enterprises, especially asset-light technology-based SMEs, patents and trademarks can be used as collateral to obtain loans from banks (intellectual property pledge financing), or assets can be revitalized through securitization when conditions are met. The premise is: your intellectual property rights are stable, the assessed value is clear, and there is a real application scenario. This in turn shows that—high-quality intellectual property is the “hard asset,” and low-quality patents are difficult to enter the financial channel.
Q10. Facing the “15th Five-Year Plan,” what intellectual property preparations should enterprises make in advance now?
It is recommended to start with six things: ① High-value patent layout—conduct patent-oriented analysis at the R&D project initiation stage, avoiding “applying for the sake of applying”; ② Choose a formal agency—verify qualifications and substantive drafting capabilities, and reject low-price, low-quality services; ③ Establish a trade secret system—implement confidentiality classification and agreement management for core technologies that should not be disclosed; ④ Pay attention to open licensing and transformation—sort out transformable idle patents; ⑤ Conduct FTO and overseas layout before going global—apply in advance in target markets and establish emergency plans; ⑥ Use patent navigation to assist R&D—avoid barriers and find technology gaps. The overall idea is: transform intellectual property from a “post-hoc certificate” into a “pre-hoc strategic asset.” If you need a landing evaluation on any of the above items, you may contact a patent agency with formal qualifications for assistance.
Q11. What does the Plan say about “irregular patent applications”? What pitfalls should I avoid when filing?
The Plan lists “continuously cracking down on irregular patent applications” as a focus of industry governance, emphasizing the high-quality orientation of intellectual property. For enterprises and inventors, this means: do not submit low-quality applications in batches just to make up numbers or obtain funding—such applications will be notified, required to be withdrawn, and not funded, and may also affect the agency’s credit evaluation. The correct approach is to layout patents around real R&D output, ensuring that novelty, inventiveness, and practicality have a substantive basis. If there have been suspected irregular applications before, they should be proactively cleaned up to avoid subsequent risks and damage to qualifications.
Q12. In terms of trademark and brand protection, what new orientations does the Plan have?
The Plan deploys “strengthening trademark and brand protection to help Chinese brands go global,” and strengthens the protection and utilization of geographical indications, time-honored brands, and industrial cluster trademarks. For enterprises and local specialty industries, trademarks are the core for differentiating from competitors and accumulating brand assets; going-global enterprises need to register trademarks in target countries in advance to prevent preemptive registration. The Plan also emphasizes trademark examination quality and facilitation, and the registration experience will be further optimized. It is recommended that brand building be advanced in sync with patent layout, forming a dual moat of “technology + brand.”
Q13. For emerging fields such as copyright and data intellectual property, how does the Plan make arrangements?
The Plan incorporates “improving the protection rules for emerging fields such as copyright and data intellectual property” together with AI-generated content into institutional innovation. For cultural and creative, software, and data-driven enterprises: software code and artwork can be automatically protected by copyright; qualified data sets can be registered as data intellectual property, becoming new-type assets. The signal released by the Plan is—the protection boundary is expanding from traditional patents and trademarks to the entire spectrum of “algorithm—data—content,” and enterprises should include digital assets in intellectual property ledgers for unified management.
Q14. What should I do if my intellectual property is infringed? What concrete measures does the Plan have for “strict protection”?
The Plan deploys “implementing the strictest intellectual property protection,” including improving punitive damages, strengthening the linkage between administrative and judicial protection, and building rapid rights-protection centers and diversified dispute resolution mechanisms. When infringed, enterprises can simultaneously make good use of administrative reporting (fast and low-cost) and judicial litigation (high compensation), and make good use of mediation and arbitration. The key is to fix evidence as early as possible (notarization, trusted timestamp). The Plan’s orientation shows: rights-protection channels will be smoother, but “stable rights and solid evidence” remain the prerequisite for winning a lawsuit.
Q15. What tangible benefits can SMEs and “little giant” (specialized, sophisticated, distinctive, and innovative) enterprises obtain from the Plan?
The Plan specifically emphasizes “strengthening the supply of intellectual property services to SMEs” and “supporting ‘little giant’ enterprises in enhancing intellectual property capabilities.” The benefits lie in: being able to preferentially enjoy patent pre-examination and prioritized examination channels, shortening the authorization cycle; obtaining government-purchased public services such as intellectual property custody, navigation, and training; and in “little giant” applications, technological transformation, and bidding, intellectual property is a hard indicator. It is recommended that SMEs establish basic patent and trademark layouts as early as possible, turning intellectual property into the “stepping stone” for application qualifications and financing.
Q16. What support does the Plan give for the transformation of achievements of universities and research institutes?
The Plan proposes “deepening the reform of intellectual property rights and interests distribution, and promoting the transformation and utilization of patents of universities and research institutes,” continuing the reform direction of “granting scientific researchers ownership or long-term use rights of professional scientific and technological achievements.” For institutes and researchers, sleeping patents will be more actively evaluated for investment, licensed, and transferred, with clearer revenue distribution. In implementation, it is recommended that institutes establish specialized technology transfer and operation departments, and conduct transformability evaluation at the R&D stage, rather than finding buyers after authorization.
Q17. What is “intellectual property public service”? What free resources are available to enterprises?
The Plan requires “improving the intellectual property public service system” and building a one-stop public service platform. Resources that enterprises can use for free include: the CNIPA patent search and consultation system (novelty search, invalidation search), patent publication and announcement query, online trademark search, intellectual property data open platform, local intellectual property protection centers and rapid pre-examination channels, as well as free policy briefings and rights-protection assistance. By making good use of these official free tools, SMEs can significantly reduce information costs and spend their budgets on substantive layout.
Q18. After this Plan is implemented, what changes will the intellectual property environment see in the next five years?
In summary, the next five years will see three changes: ① A shift from “quantity orientation” to “quality and value orientation”—the space for low-quality patents is compressed; ② A shift from “post-hoc protection” to “pre-hoc layout and transformation”—navigation, open licensing, and financial utilization become the norm; ③ A shift from “domestic” to “domestic-foreign coordination”—going-global protection and foreign-related dispute response become systematic. For enterprises, the earlier intellectual property is incorporated into strategy, the more initiative they can gain when the Plan concludes. Hefei Zhihai Yida Patent Agency (Institution Code 34408) will continuously track the implementation details of the Plan, providing enterprises with one-stop compliant services from layout and application to utilization and rights protection.