專家警告稱，中國的補貼可能導致大量低質量的專利
中國在2019年的國際專利數量上超過美國，申請了將近59,000件
去年，中國提交的國際專利總數可能已經超過美國，但是法律專家警告說，這種增長的很大一部分是由國家支持的補貼推動的，這些補貼可能會使廉價專利充斥整個系統。
中國的科技巨頭尤其活躍，去年華為以4,411項專利申請名列榜首。根據《區塊研究》（The Block Research）的一份報告，就區塊鏈而言，去年中國互聯網巨頭騰訊和阿里巴巴合計占該技術專利申請的20％以上。
阿里巴巴是《南華早報》的母公司。
Rouse＆Co的知識產權律師，香港大學法學副教授道格·克拉克（Doug Clark）表示，中國不太可能放慢PCT申請的步伐，因為中國在人均專利申請方面仍大大落后于美國和日本。
中國在2010年超越日本成為世界上最大的國內專利持有人，但在意識到這些專利沒有太多價值之后，中國政策制定者便開始激勵國際專利，這些專利通常要經過更嚴格的審查并具有更大的價值。
盡管人們普遍認為，更多專利正在幫助改善該國的知識產權記錄（這一敏感問題一直是推動中美科技戰爭的一個因素），但一些人擔心政府的補貼會鼓勵更多低質量的專利。
JZMC專利和商標律師事務所和彭博社在2018年進行的一項研究發現，在中國，只有不到四分之一的國內新專利是新發明，其余為外觀設計和實用專利。此外，近91％的新外觀設計專利在五年內被廢棄，因為專利所有人顯然認為它們不值得續展。
香港科技大學公共政策副教授瑙巴哈爾·謝里夫（Naubahar Sharif）認為，中國專利被認為比日本或美國的專利價值低的另一個跡象是，非中國研究人員對中國專利的引用較少。
為應對大量低價值的國內專利，上海市政府去年將國際專利申請的最高年度補貼從100萬元人民幣（14.2萬美元）提高到1000萬元人民幣。上海的新政策還削減了對外觀設計和實用新型專利的補貼。
北京市政府在同年采取了類似的做法。PCT專利申請者現在可獲得最高2000萬元人民幣的補貼，而國內專利可獲得200萬元人民幣的補貼。
香港大學知識產權法助理教授賴恩·沃倫（Ryan Whalen）表示，中國對PCT專利申請的補貼鼓勵個人和公司僅對專利技術進行微不足道的改進-重復國內專利中的錯誤。
他說：“如果潛在的知識產權很有價值，其本身的專利應該是促使個人或公司申請專利的充分誘因，而補貼實際上冒著扭曲這些誘因的風險。”
克拉克說，中國的大多數專利申請補貼旨在幫助資金短缺的中小型公司，而不是大型科技公司。因此，他認為，大型科技公司所申請的專利數量激增，表明中國的技術實力日漸增強，并且在電信和生物技術等領域也發生了重大變化。
謝里夫說，專利補貼政策正在推動中國的創新，反過來，也將為中國專利逐步向價值鏈上游發展提供動力。
華為在向《華盛頓郵報》發表的一份聲明中說，華為在PCT申請方面的領先地位是由該公司“對研發的一致投資”推動的，占其收入的10％至15％。
聲明說：“自2002年以來，華為在專利申請數量上一直領先于中國公司，與其他跨國公司不相上下。”
關于補貼問題，華為表示這是各國共同的做法，并且“像其他專利申請者一樣，享受了中國專利申請政策的支持。”
騰訊和阿里巴巴沒有立即回復置評請求。
Dunlap Bennett＆Ludwig的專利訴訟人埃里克·羅賓遜（Erick Robinson）表示，中國專利激增的另一個因素是知識產權法院體系日益健全，從而提高了中國法院專利的價值。
“專利的唯一價值在于您可以獲得更多的錢，通過許可和訴訟獲得專利。”羅賓遜說。 “我認為，與在美國相比，現在在中國，您可以從許可和訴訟中獲得更多收益。”
“人們仍然認為，在中國，您可以輕松擺脫侵權，但事實是，情況已不再如此。”
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原文：
A flood of low-quality patents might result from Chinese subsidies, experts warn
2020.04.15 | South China Morning Post
China surpassed the US in number of international patents in 2019, filing nearly 59,000
China may have overtaken the US in total number of international patents filed last year, but legal experts warn that much of the growth is being fueled by state-backed subsidies that could flood the system with cheap patents.
The World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) recently reported that the number of filings by China under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) totaled 58,990 last year, compared with 57,840 from the US. The UN agency also highlighted that China’s figure was a 200-fold increase in just 20 years.
China’s tech giants have been particularly active, with Huawei taking the top spot last year with 4,411 patent applications. And when it comes to blockchain, Chinese internet giants Tencent and Alibaba together accounted for over 20% of patent filings for that technology last year, according to a report by The Block Research.
Alibaba is the parent company of the South China Morning Post.
Doug Clark, IP lawyer from Rouse & Co and adjunct professor of law at the University of Hong Kong, said China is unlikely to slow its pace of PCT filings because the country still significantly lags behind the US and Japan in terms of patents filed per capita.
China overtook Japan as the world’s biggest holder of domestic patents in 2010 but, after a realization that those patents do not hold much value, Chinese policymakers moved to incentivize international patents which are typically subject to much more rigorous examination and hold more value.
While the consensus is that more patents are helping improve the country’s record on intellectual property rights – a sensitive issue that has been one factor fueling the US-China tech war – some are concerned that the government subsidies encourage more low-quality patents.
A study by JZMC Patent and Trademark Law Office and Bloomberg in 2018 found that less than a quarter of new domestic patents in China were new inventions, with the rest being design and utility patents. Further, nearly 91% of new design patents wound up being discarded in five years because patent owners apparently deemed them not worthy of renewal.
Another indication that Chinese patents are deemed less valuable than those in Japan or the US is that they receive fewer citations by non-Chinese researchers, according to Naubahar Sharif, associate professor of public policy at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.
In response to the huge numbers of low value domestic patents, the Shanghai government last year raised the maximum annual subsidy for international patent filings from 1 million yuan (US$142,000) to 10 million yuan. Shanghai’s new policy has also cut subsidies for design and utility patents altogether.
The Beijing government adopted a similar approach in the same year. A PCT patent filer is now entitled to as much as 20 million yuan in subsidies versus 2 million for a domestic patent.
Ryan Whalen, assistant professor of IP law at the University of Hong Kong, said China’s subsidies for PCT patent filings encourage individuals and companies to patent technologies with only marginal improvements – repeating the mistakes made in domestic patents.
“Patents in and of themselves, if the underlying intellectual property is valuable, should be a sufficient incentive to push individuals or firms to apply for a patent,” he said, “Subsidies are really running the risk of perverting those incentives.”
Clark said most patent filing subsidies in China were aimed at helping cash-strapped small and medium sized companies – rather than big tech corporations. As such, he believes the spike in the number of patents filed by big tech companies is a sign of China’s growing technological prowess and the major shifts taking place in areas such as telecommunications and biotechnology.
Sharif said that the patent subsidy policies were fueling innovation in China and that, in turn, would create momentum for Chinese patents to gradually move up the value chain.
In a statement to the Post, Huawei said its lead in PCT applications was fueled by the company’s “consistent investment in R&D,” which represents 10% to 15% of its revenue.
“Huawei has been leading Chinese companies in the number of patents filed since 2002, rivaling other multinational companies,” the statement said.
On the issue of subsidies, Huawei said it was a practice common to various countries and that it has “enjoyed the support of China’s patent filing policies just like other patent filers.”
Tencent and Alibaba did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
Erick Robinson, patent litigator at Dunlap Bennett & Ludwig, said another factor in China’s patent surge was the increasingly robust IP court system that has bolstered the value of patents in Chinese courts.
“Patents are only valuable in that you can get more money out of a patent through licensing and litigation,” Robinson said. “I’d argue that you can get more money out of licensing and litigation in China now than you can in the United States.”
“People still have this perception that you can easily get away with infringements in China but the reality is that it is no longer the case.”
(Abacus is a unit of the South China Morning Post.)
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