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In The 34 Years Since The Implementation Of The Patent Law, The Textile Patent Application Has Increased By More Than 200 Times.

2019/10/12 16:21:00 0

Textile Patents

The 70th anniversary series report on the founding of new China, released recently by the National Bureau of statistics, shows that the patent application volume of China's invention patents has ranked first in the world for 8 consecutive years at the end of 2018. The number of patent applications and authorized number was 4 million 323 thousand and 2 million 448 thousand respectively. At the same time, the quality of patents has been improved synchronously. For example, in 2018, the number of invention patent applications amounted to 1 million 542 thousand, accounting for 35.7% of the total number of patent applications, 12.9 percentage points higher than that in 1991. At the time when the founding of new China was 70th anniversary, the report used a series of real data to show that after years of deep rooted planting, China's intellectual property business has made considerable progress.

Taking the textile industry as an example, the textile industry is a highly competitive and highly interdependent industry in China. It is also one of the traditional labor-intensive industries. It has made outstanding contributions in paying taxes, exporting foreign exchange, solving employment, meeting people's material and cultural needs, promoting economic growth and maintaining social stability. In the past a long time, China is a big textile country in the world. Especially since twenty-first Century, China's chemical fiber, yarn, cloth, woolen, silk, clothing and other output ranked first in the world. But with the development of high-tech industry and the adjustment of national economic structure, the problems faced by China's textile industry are further highlighted, such as low productivity, outdated equipment and backward technology, all of which restrict the development of China's textile industry. Fortunately, the highlight of the problem has also accelerated the development and progress of the entire textile industry. The textile industry is no longer just "manufacturing". People clearly realize that technological innovation and intellectual property protection are the key to the progress of the textile industry.

Patent is one of the important ways to protect intellectual property rights, and plays an important role in promoting the innovation and development of the state and industry. Through reasonable patent information analysis, it can reflect the technical level of the industry and the development of enterprise's innovation ability to a certain extent. The author hopes to make a retrospective look at the protection of intellectual property rights in China's textile industry over the past 30 years based on the textile patent data of Chinese applicants since the promulgation and implementation of the patent law in 1985.

Analysis of patent information in China's textile industry

(1) classification basis for textile patents:

The broad textile industry includes two industries: upstream and downstream. Among them, the upstream industry is mainly cotton textile, chemical fiber, hemp textile, wool textile, printing and dyeing industry, textile machinery and so on. When protecting intellectual property rights, applicants usually choose to apply for inventions and utility models, so as to effectively protect their own methods and devices. When protecting such achievements, applicants are protected by applying the form of design patent.

According to the International Patent Classification (IPC), patents in the field of textiles and utility models are mainly distributed in the Department of D. The D department in the textile field is divided into 7 categories: D01-D07, D01-D07, respectively, which represents the patent technical contents of textile raw materials, spinning, weaving, knitting, sewing, fabric processing and ropes. In the patent database (INCOPAT), the relevant documents of the above D part patent application can be retrieved, and the number of invention and utility model patents applied by the applicant in the textile field can be obtained.

From the perspective of IPC, which has been published in 1985~2019, the invention and utility model patents are mainly distributed in D06 (fabric treatment, washing). Secondly, D01 (natural or chemical lines or fibers, spinning or spinning) also has more patent applications. This shows that China's textile industry upstream industry innovation direction is mainly concentrated in these two categories.

  

According to the international classification of designs (Locarno classification), the design patents in the textile field are mainly concentrated in two categories: 02 (clothing and clothing supplies) and 05 (textiles, man-made or natural material sheets). In the patent database (INCOPAT), we can retrieve the above corresponding Locarno classification numbers and get the number of design patents applied by our applicants in the textile field.

From the Locarno classification number, which has been published in the 1985~2019 design patent, it is mainly distributed in 05-05 (textile fiber products). It shows that our country attaches great importance to the product design of its textile fiber fabrics, distinguishes the brand characteristics, and applies for the design patent protection. Secondly, there are quite a number of design patent applications in 02-02 (clothing), 02-04 (shoes, socks and stockings). These categories belong to the specific application level, indicating that clothing, shoes and socks related to the daily life of the people are still the key protection objects in the field of textile design patent.

  

(two) the trend of China's applicant's textile patent application:

  

Through the above picture, we can see intuitively that the applicant's patent application in textile field pays more attention to the protection of the appearance design of downstream industry products, and its annual application amount is much higher than that of the invention and utility model patent. However, through further analysis, it has been found that up to 89.6% of the 879597 designs patents have been invalidated, and most of them are voluntarily waiver due to the unpaid annual fees. The effective protection of their patents is mostly concentrated in 1~2. The main reason is that textile and garment products are upgrading rapidly. Once they are not satisfied with the prevailing market trends, the products will be easily eliminated, so the applicant will lose the desire to continue to protect them. In order to better see the growth trend of utility models and invention patents, we get the following figure (Fig. 2):

  

On the whole, the patent application in China's textile industry can be divided into three important stages.

Phase I: slow development period (1985~2000).

In April 1, 1985, the patent law was officially promulgated and implemented in China. Since then, China has opened a new gateway to the use of patent weapons in the field of textile industry to protect its intellectual property rights. According to the data statistics, in 1985, there were 152 patent applications in the textile field, with 65 patents, 73 utility models and 14 patent designs. During the period 1985~2000, the number of patents in China's textile industry showed a slow development trend, mainly reflecting the number of applications for invention patents: in 2000, the number of applications for invention patents was 397, which increased by 6.1 times compared to 1985, accounting for 15% of the total patent applications in the textile industry, far below the number of patent applications for utility models and designs. During this period, the development of China's textile industry was mainly dominated by "labor intensive". Large textile machinery relied heavily on imports, lack of core innovation achievements, and lack of awareness of intellectual property protection.

The second stage: rapid growth period (2001~2007).

In November 2001, China formally joined the World Trade Organization (WTO). After joining the WTO, foreign goods and services have entered the domestic market in a larger scale in a larger scale. On the one hand, they have had a very positive impact on the economic and trade activities of China's textile industry, but on the other hand, China's textile industry is facing more and more intense international competition, especially in the field of intellectual property protection. China's textile industry is facing more severe challenges. Under such a background, the protection of intellectual property rights in China's textile industry has come to a new stage, and the number of patent applications has entered a period of rapid growth. In 2002, the total number of patent applications reached 5124, representing an increase of 40.4% over 2001 (3055 pieces), of which the growth rate of invention and design patents was more obvious. By the year 2007, the number of applications for invention, utility models and design patents was 40.9 times, 38.1 times and 2001.3 times the number of patents in 1985. A series of data shows that since twenty-first Century, China's independent innovation capability in the textile industry is improving greatly, and the consciousness of using patent to protect its own innovation is also constantly increasing.

Third stage: upgrading and optimization period (2008~2019)

In June 2008, the State Council promulgated the outline of the national intellectual property strategy, and officially regarded intellectual property as an important part of the national strategy. The outline has made strategic plans and specific plans for the protection of intellectual property rights in China from various aspects. China's textile industry has also formally entered the stage of structural optimization and adjustment. The application body has further increased its R & D efforts. Especially after 2010, China's textile industry has achieved breakthrough growth in various types of patents. In 2011, the number of patent applications for inventions, utility models and designs reached 7630, 8739 and 98102 respectively. At the same time, China's textile industry also began to attach importance to the "patent quality improvement project". With the most innovative patent level, its patent application amount reached 14004 in 2013, exceeding the number of utility model patent applications (11237 pieces) in the same period, and maintained the leading position continuously increasing. On the contrary, design patents have been declining for the first time after years of growth. This series of data shows that since 2008, domestic applicants are paying more and more attention to the innovation and protection of the upstream textile industry. The protection means shows the pattern of "inventions patent and utility model patents supplemented". At the same time, it shows that our patent application in textile field is showing the remarkable characteristics of "upgrading quality and optimizing".

(three) geographical distribution of textile patent applications in China

One

Distribution of patent applications in China

  

As can be seen from Figure 2, the patent applications in China's textile industry mainly concentrated in coastal provinces and cities in 1985~2019. The number of patent applications in Jiangsu has accounted for more than half of the whole country. Zhejiang province is also a big province of patent application in the field of textile industry in China. In addition, Guangdong, Fujian, Shanghai and other places are also the key areas of patent application in China's textile field. As we all know, Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces have been China's major textile provinces since ancient times. Compared with other regions, they have natural human resources advantages, natural resources advantages and geographical advantages. These areas are still the main force of national innovation and patent protection.

Jiangsu Province, with the highest proportion of patent applications, has always been the largest province in China's textile industry on the scale of market economy. The scale of Jiangsu's textile industry has been more than 1 trillion and 500 billion yuan for nearly 10 years since 2010. At the same time, Jiangsu province is also a major province of textile exports. It has a long coastline along the Longhai line and goes West to Central Asia and Europe. Along the "maritime Silk Road" to the East, it can connect East Asia and Southeast Asia to the African continent. Therefore, Jiangsu is also an important strategic intersection point of "one belt and one road".

Two

Distribution of patent applications abroad

  

Since joining the WTO, China has begun to accelerate the pace of overseas patent layout in the textile industry in order to cope with the opportunities and challenges brought about by trade globalization. Figure 4 shows our overseas layout in the textile field. It can be seen that the European region is the main layout area of China's textile patents, and also the main export area of textiles in China. Its patent applications account for 47% of the total overseas applications. Secondly, the United States is also the main layout country of textile patents in China. Since 1985~2019, China has applied for 1252 textile patents in the United States, accounting for 17% of the total overseas applications. In addition, China has laid a certain number of textile patents in Korea, Japan, China, Hongkong and other countries and regions.

Behind the data, it shows that our textile industry is paying more and more attention to the protection of intellectual property rights in the process of "going out". Especially for the key export areas such as Europe, America and Southeast Asia, the layout of textile enterprises in China has increased year by year, mainly in the form of invention patents, accounting for 64.5%, and the proportion of design patents has reached 32.2%.

At the same time, the layout of overseas patent applications also reflects China's textile export overseas. According to customs statistics, in 2018, the total export volume of textiles and clothing in China totaled 276 billion 731 million US dollars, up 3.52% over the same period last year, and exports continued to maintain positive growth throughout the whole year. In the exporting countries and regions, exports to the three traditional markets of the European Union, the United States and Japan have maintained an increase of 1.5%, 8% and 2.7% respectively. In addition, the export structure of the products has also undergone some changes, showing the characteristics of "terminal products are declining and upstream products have advantages", which is also reflected in the types of overseas patent applications.

(four) distribution of types of textile patent applicants in China

  

According to the types of patent applicants in the field of textile industry in China, the total number of patent applications in 1985~2019 reached 715538, accounting for 60.3% of the total, and the proportion of patent applications in the textile field reached 35.7%. The number of patent applications for individuals was 35.7%, mainly reflected in the design patents. After analysis, some of the patent applicants were mainly fashion product designers. They were more willing to protect their patent applications as patenas in their designs, such as shapes, patterns, colors, etc. in addition, there were 37865 patents in the field, mostly patents for invention and utility models. This data shows that in our country, enterprises are the main body of patent application in textile field, and the main force of innovation and protection of intellectual property rights.

Take Jiangsu Hengli Chemical fiber Limited by Share Ltd (hereinafter referred to as "Hengli Chemical fiber") as an example, the company was founded in November 2002, mainly related to chemical fiber manufacturing and research and development. In recent years, the company has made outstanding performance in the field of intellectual property protection. From the patent data, the company began to apply for patent in 2009, which is the beginning year of intellectual property protection. Although it started late, it began to enhance the awareness of intellectual property protection, and began to form effective patent protection for innovation results at the time when China's "national intellectual property strategy outline" was released. In the past few years, enterprises have further increased their investment in independent innovation. Meanwhile, they have attached great importance to training employees' independent innovation ability, and issued corresponding incentive policies, which greatly improved the enthusiasm of employees' innovation, and the number of patent applications increased year by year. As of the search day (September 20, 2019), Hengli Chemical fiber has applied for 390 patents, including 317 invention patents, 73 utility models, and 117 patent applications in 2018. Hengli Chemical fiber has 215 effective patents. It has basically covered all the leading products and key technologies of the company. It mainly includes: high strength super high strength industrial yarn, gasbag industrial yarn, tire cord fabric industrial yarn, safety belt industrial yarn, mould wire and ultra-low shrinkage industrial yarn. Besides, it also includes flame retardant industrial yarn and polyester melt conveying optimization allocation technology. At the same time, through the layout of the relevant patents, the company can make the enterprises form core competitiveness and have a significant impact on improving the quality of the chemical fiber industry.

For example, Changzhou Hongda (Technology) Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Changzhou Hongda") has formulated a comprehensive intellectual property strategy, has carried out a comprehensive patent layout around the core technology of the company, and strengthened patent protection for related technologies, and has established a complete set of patent declaration, patent management and patent award mechanism. By introducing relevant professionals, a patent early warning system is established, and patent retrieval analysis is carried out in a timely manner. Patent risk analysis was carried out at the stage of R & D, establishment and pre production. The risks of infringement and infringement were analyzed, and technical evasion measures were taken to high risk projects to control the patent risks of R & D, production and marketing.

In 2014, Changzhou Hongda specially set up the "Changzhou Hongda Intelligent Equipment Industry Development Research Institute", focusing on the innovation research of textile printing and dyeing automation, providing strong technical support for Changzhou Hongda. From the publicly available patent data, the research institutes affiliated to the Institute have applied for 54 patents in the past three years. Among them, 37 patents are available, which have effectively protected the patent of the intelligent weft knitting machine, HV production process, and image intelligent inspection system.

Changzhou Hongda has also enjoyed great achievements in emphasizing innovation and patent protection. In recent years, with the overall downturn of the printing and dyeing equipment market, Changzhou's huge sales volume has maintained a sustained high speed growth rate of 10%~15%. It has become a successful case of Chinese textile enterprises to use intellectual property protection and help enterprises transform and develop.

Two, related supporting policies

The protection of intellectual property rights in China's textile industry is perhaps ushering in a new pattern. Behind the achievements of patent data and textile enterprises, there is an important "pushing hand" - policy guidance. The author believes that the enhancement of independent innovation and the enhancement of intellectual property protection awareness of textile enterprises are inseparable from the support and active guidance from the government level, especially the relevant policies and supporting measures promulgated by the government in recent years, which are important catalysts for the development of breakthroughs in the textile industry. Some of the important policies are listed below.

  

In addition, a lot of relevant policies have been made for the development of urban textile industry. For example, in November 2016, Hangzhou promulgated the "13th Five-Year plan" for the development of textile industry in Hangzhou, and gave specific planning targets and implementation proposals for the targets of production efficiency, structural adjustment objectives, and technological innovation goals. In July 2017, Nanjing promulgated the "13th Five-Year" industrial and information development plan in Nanjing, which explicitly insisted on the integration of fashion creativity and industry, increased the awareness of independent brands, and vigorously promoted the goal of deep integration of information technology and industry.

Three. Summarize and prospect.

Since the promulgation and implementation of the patent law for more than 30 years, great changes have taken place in the protection of intellectual property rights in China's textile industry. According to the feedback information from patent data, the applicant's patent application in the textile field has gone through several stages, from low speed to high speed, from high speed to high quality. Since China's entry into WTO, the number of overseas patent layout has increased significantly, and its foreign trade activities are increasing. Along with China's "intellectual property rights protection" upgrading to the national development strategy level, the government has continuously promulgated relevant policies to promote the development of intellectual property protection in textile industry, and the awareness of innovation and protection has been continuously popular among the people. In recent years, a large number of excellent textile enterprises have been concentrated on. The innovation and protection of intellectual property is no longer an empty slogan.

Admittedly, as one of the pillar industries in China, the textile industry still has a long way to go in the protection of intellectual property rights. But this series of loud data fully reflects that China's textile industry is changing from big to strong, and we have reason to believe that our country is moving towards the goal of world textile power step by step.

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