Rudong county in Nantong, Jiangsu province, has made significant progress in enhancing the creation, utilization, and protection of intellectual property rights in recent years.

As of 2023, the county boasted 3,502 effective invention patents, an 18.03 percent year-on-year increase, and 16,547 effective trademark registrations, including four well-known trademarks and 10 geographical indication trademarks, a 6.19 percent increase, according to Pan Fei, the director of the Rudong IP bureau.

"In Rudong, IP is no longer just about the rapid growth of patent applications but has become a crucial driver of enterprise transformation and upgrading and socio-economic development," said Pan.

A shining example is Advanced Materials Technology and Engineering (Nantong) Inc. AMTE is a high-tech enterprise specializing in etching process equipment and thin film deposition process equipment.

Liu Dan, general manager of the company’s thin film division, revealed that AMTE has filed a total of 122 patents, with 97 patents granted and 67 invention patents authorized. In recent years, the company's patented technologies have been utilized in almost all of its products, leading to over 300 million yuan ($41.42 million) in cumulative sales revenue in 2023.

He emphasized that AMTE will continue to leverage IP as a crucial driver of innovation-led development.

To date, Rudong has nurtured two national IP demonstration enterprises and seven national IP advantageous enterprises, identified seven patent-intensive products, and received one Silver Award at the first Jiangsu Patent Awards.

A factory of AMTE. [Photo/WeChat account: rudongfb]