[Photo/Guangzhou Daily]

The district of Tianhe in Guangzhou, capital city of South China's Guangdong province, has adopted multiple measures this year to promote the building of a national pilot scheme for intellectual property (IP) development and a services system for IP management. Some other measures have been adopted to optimize its business environment and improve the effectiveness of local innovation-driven growth in connection to IP services.

Tianhe Administration for Market Regulation (Tianhe Intellectual Property Administration) has stepped up its assistance to the high-quality development of IP industries and fully leveraged the roles of fiscal funds in stimulating and guiding the growth of IP sectors.

The district has reviewed over 1,200 out of about 3,800 administrative services affairs related to the approval and registration of patent rights, the cultivation of high-quality patents and brands, and IP finance in the first half of this year. It has also released 5.46 million yuan ($0.84 million) from a special fund over the same period to further promote the aspirations of local enterprises in innovation and accelerate the high-quality growth of local IP sectors.

Tianhe Administration for Market Regulation has taken advantage of local educational resources to strengthen cooperation between universities and services institutes on the commercial management of IP and to accelerate the application of IP research progress in the market.

The district nurtured two high-tech firms in major IP sectors in the first half of this year. It has accomplished the application of 43 patent rights in terms of transfer, franchise and the conversion of patents into corporate shares during the same period, with a total market value of 33.56 million yuan.

Meanwhile, the district has made notable achievements in the innovative growth of its IP-related finance. For instance, local authorities had held two meetings to explain to local firms the policies on IP pledge financing and help them raise cumulative funds of 600 million yuan under the special scheme as of this May. These measures have deepened the cooperation between financial institutes and IP services agencies, expanded the access of small and medium-sized firms to loans, and resolved any difficulties experienced in the application process for financial support.

So far, the district has built an initial multi-agent cooperation mechanism for IP commercial insurance, which is conducive to mitigating the risk of relevant firms in the application for, and the protection and commercial transformation of their IP rights, ensuring fairness and justice in market competition, and unleashing corporate vitality in innovation. As of this March, 67 firms had been covered with IP commercial insurance on 344 specific items, with a total value of 3.44 million yuan.

Tianhe Administration for Market Regulation will further optimize its policy support for patent application, extend more assistance to the commercialization and public services of IP, stimulate the enthusiasm of market players toward IP, advance the district's overall performance in the innovative growth of IP industries, and prepare for national assessment in the building of the district as a national demonstration area on IP.