Xiamen Torch Academy, entrusted by the Administrative Committee of Xiamen Torch Development Zone for High Technology Industries, held two sessions of a "special training course on patent practice improvement" from July to September this year. The goal was to elevate the quality of patent property practices in the high-tech zone.

Zhang Yun, general manager of Xiamen Intellectual Property Investment Co., Ltd., took the needs of IP practitioners in the Xiamen Software Park as the starting point, focusing on practicality and improving the professional quality of trainees. The course covered the basic theory of patent documentation, search strategy construction, and the introduction of commonly-used search tools. Through various practical cases and retrieval practices, it has effectively improved the trainees' patent retrieval capability, promoting park enterprises' IP output and the high-quality economic development of the park.

In recent years, Xiamen Torch High-tech Zone has comprehensively promoted the efforts to grow as national intellectual property demonstration park and took the IP strategy implementation as an important measure to enhance the enterprises' core competitiveness and to push the pursuit of IP development from quantity to quality.

In 2021, Xiamen Torch High-tech Zone had 2,166 newly-authorized invention patents, accounting for 57.3% of the city's total, and 172 new PCT patent applications, accounting for 35.6% of the city. By the end of 2021, it had 11,678 valid invention patents, a year-on-year increase of 23.58%, accounting for 59.76% of the city, and 3,111 high-value invention patents, accounting for 35.1%. The number of high-value invention patents per 10,000 people reached 103.7, more than six times that of the city.

The National Intellectual Property Administration announced the winners of the 23rd China Patent Awards. The Torch High-tech Zone won five China Patent Excellence Awards. So far, enterprises in the high-tech zone have won nearly 200 patent awards at all levels, of which 29 were China Patent Awards.

In August this year, Xiamen Torch High-tech Zone was selected as a National Intellectual Property Pilot Park according to an announcement on the website of the National Intellectual Property Administration. 

Moving forward, the zone will launch various services in terms of IP personnel development, high-standard IP protection, high-quality creation & high-efficiency application, etc., to continuously improve its IP services and better serve the development of industries. It will strive to build a core area of the influential regional innovation center and provide support for Xiamen to become a high-quality, beautiful, and modern metropolis.