A total of 28 inventions from Anhui province recently were granted medals from the 21st WIPO-CNIPA Awards for Outstanding Chinese Patented Invention and Industrial Design, among which eight belong to Hefei National High-Tech Industry Development Zone.

The eight awards won by the patents of Hefei high-tech zone include one Chinese Patent Silver Award, six Chinese Patent Excellence Awards and one Appearance Design Excellence Award.

iFlytek's new personalized voice recognition system was granted the silver medal for invention, making it the first project from the province to win the award.

In this year's selection, 2,400 programs were recommended by academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering, topping the numbers from past years.

Hefei high-tech zone has been leading the province in scientific and technological innovation, especially in the field of intellectual property. It was awarded 38 patent awards in the 7th Anhui Province patent selection, ranking top in Anhui province.

To encourage patent applications, the zone's market supervision bureau has extended the funding scope for international intellectual property applications, raised the funding threshold for domestic invention patent authorization and increased the reward for high-quality invention patents.

From January to May 2020, Hefei high-tech zone applied for 5,345 patents (7.8 percent more than the same period last year), among which 2,446 were patents for inventions. The number of patents granted was 3,168, a large year-by-year increase of 22.5 percent.