At a practical seminar on reform of the data intellectual property system in zhejiang, ningbo, inc., signed a cooperation agreement on data intellectual property insurance with the ningbo city market supervisory authority. (information pictures)
The insurance industry is the “shock-mitigator” “stabilizer” for economic and social development. Intellectual property insurance can help enterprises spread risks and reduce losses. In recent days, the circular on deepening financial services in manufacturing for new industrialization, issued jointly by the national financial supervisory authority, the ministry of industry and information technology and the national development and reform commission,3 proposes to actively respond to the need for risk assurance and risk management in manufacturing enterprises, to promote insurance schemes such as insurance against intellectual property and insurance against loss of research and development costs, and to support product development and application。
It was observed that intellectual property insurance, as an important component of intellectual property finance, played a dual role in expanding access to finance and providing risk security in the context of the marketization and development of intellectual property rights, and could provide risk security throughout the chain for the promotion of intellectual property creation, enhanced intellectual property protection and enabling intellectual property use。
Drive into development fast lanes
Intellectual property insurance is the insurance against which the insured person is liable for financial losses resulting from an insurance accident when carrying out activities such as the creation, protection, use, management and servicing of intellectual property rights. It is understood that in 2011 we have begun to explore the advancement of patent insurance-related work. In 2015, the central committee of the communist party and the state council issued a number of opinions on deepening institutional reforms to accelerate the implementation of innovation-driven development strategies, which, for the first time, set out in a central document the requirements of “accelerating the development of science and technology insurance and promoting pilot patent insurance”。
The development of intellectual property insurance has been greatly facilitated with the introduction of various intellectual property insurance policies. Since 2012, the national intellectual property agency has approved pilot patent insurance in 44 regions by promoting pre-testing and practical exploration wherever possible. In that year, patent insurance in the pilot regions of the country reached rmb 310 million, with 1702 projects. Over the past 12 years, our intellectual property insurance has covered almost all types of intellectual property, including patents, trademarks, copyrights, geographical indications, integrated circuit chart designs, new varieties of plants and commercial secrets, as well as the creation, protection and application of intellectual property。
The white paper on the development of intellectual property insurance in china (2022), published by the research centre on intellectual property of the national intellectual property administration, shows that, as of december 2022, more than 99 municipalities in more than 22 provinces and provinces of the country had carried out intellectual property insurance operations, providing more than rmb 110 billion in risk guarantees for the design of patents, trademarks, geographical indications and integrated circuits for over 46,000 enterprises。
“in the current period, rapid and iterative advances in science and technology and strong competition among business owners, intellectual property insurance, as an important component of our intellectual property finance, provide an effective way to address the risks of enterprise intellectual property; at the same time, the development of intellectual property insurance can provide a risk safeguard for innovation activities, enhance the motivation and confidence of enterprises to innovate, and also contribute to the transformation and application of scientific and technological results and to the formation and development of new quality productivity.” wang, deputy director, centre for insurance and economic development studies, chinese academy of social sciences, stated to nan。
In the case of ningbo, a company that combines several insurance companies to form a professional service in ningbo to establish an intellectual property insurance operations centre to provide all-round risk-control services to insured enterprises. It is understood that the initial construction of an intellectual property insurance product system covering the full range of 26 ip products, including patents, trademarks, copyrights, geographical indications, integrated circuit charting, new varieties of plants, business secrets and data intellectual property rights, can provide a risk safeguard for the full range of ipr activities. Data from the centre for the operation of intellectual property rights show that, as of the end of 2023, the ningbo market as a whole had provided insurance services to 1461 enterprises with 8779 trademarks, 3129 patents and 24 geographical indications, with a cumulative guarantee of rmb 1. 06 billion。
According to li ning, deputy general manager of the ningbo institute for human security and insurance, intellectual property insurance provides the necessary risk guarantees for various intellectual property and innovation activities, continues to play a supporting and safeguarding role in key aspects of intellectual property creation, protection and use, and continues to contribute to the further healthy and stable development of our intellectual property industry。
Find a balance between supply and demand
In recent years, as the domestic economic environment has evolved, intellectual property insurance, as a key tool for intellectual property risk management, has opened up new development opportunities as well as challenges in promoting a deeper integration of intellectual property and finance. As far as the promotion of intellectual property insurance is concerned, li ning believes that, while the expansion has initially achieved the desired results, the coverage and accuracy of insurance promotion still need to be improved, and the match between the diversified needs of participating enterprises and existing insurance products is not satisfactory; at the same time, the insurance companies ' experience in insurance coverage and settlement remains insufficient, and these factors, while challenging to some extent the further development of intellectual property insurance, provide significant scope for optimization and upgrading。
Industry experts point out that, although the number of insured enterprises in the country is relatively small at this stage, with large enterprises focusing mainly on the distribution of intellectual property products, the coverage of msmes is not widespread, but it also offers great potential for future market expansion. At the same time, while the products and services of intellectual property insurance are currently imperfect in terms of meeting the needs of enterprises, it is precisely this challenge that inspires innovation on the part of venturers. As the provisions continue to be optimized and refined, the scope of safeguards will be expanded over time, and rates and liability guarantees will be more reciprocal and flexible to better meet the needs of enterprises to share and transfer risks. More tailor-made demands on the level and content of insurance products also provide a way forward for insurance agencies. It is believed that, through continuous communication between the two sides, a balance between demand and supply can be found and that a healthy intellectual property insurance market can be promoted。
In response, wang jinnan argued that the insurance industry should establish a cooperative industry mechanism for intellectual property insurance to improve risk management across the industry through the sharing of data and information. At the same time, insurance companies should simultaneously improve their ability to assess the value and risks of intellectual property rights, and could be assisted by more specialized intellectual property rights assessment bodies and experts. In addition, through policy guidance and awareness-raising activities, enterprises are continuously raising their awareness of intellectual property insurance, increasing their market acceptance, upgrading their subsidy policies in each district in parallel, and encouraging enterprises to take up intellectual property insurance。
“in the future, ninbo will be working in many ways, such as product development and compensation services, to help develop intellectual property insurance into the `fast track'.” li ning stated that, in product design, the coverage of existing provisions would be constantly upgraded to better fit the actual needs of the enterprise and provide more comprehensive risk protection in response to the different risks that enterprises face throughout the process of creating protection in intellectual property. In team-building, capacity-building for corporate specialization continues to be strengthened and professionalization of services enhanced, including, but not limited to, professional development, introduction of advanced technology platforms, professional team-building, etc. In the area of claims settlement services, it is planned to introduce specialized third-party bodies and to establish a system of scientifically prudent liability assessment and compensation criteria to ensure fairness, science and reasonableness of insurance claims。
Maximize value realization
With the rapid growth of cross-border electric operators in recent years, the pace of internationalization of our enterprises has accelerated significantly, and there has been a marked shift in the role of the global market, not only in the increase in the number of enterprises and in the share of the global market, but also in the fundamental transformation of business roles and functions from simple manufacturing and exports to brand-building and research and development innovation。
The issue of the protection of intellectual property rights of our enterprises abroad in the area of science and technology finance has become more prominent as the pace of “go-out” has accelerated. In the view of industry experts, intellectual property rights are not only relevant to the core competitiveness of enterprises but are also key to their sustainable development. On the one hand, as technological innovation accelerates, enterprises need to protect their own innovations from encroachment, and there are significant differences in the laws and regulations governing the protection of intellectual property rights between different countries and regions, which requires that enterprises have the capacity to manage transnational intellectual property rights and risk controls. On the other hand, once an enterprise has been subject to ipr litigation, it usually faces a lengthy litigation cycle and high litigation costs, which may not only affect business development but may also negatively affect the long-term competitiveness of the enterprise。
In this context, the strong development of intellectual property insurance is particularly important. In recent days, hangzhou city's first intellectual property right, the overseas tort liability insurance, has been in place. It is understood that the company under the contract is a product platform company that develops interactive technology. In recent years, the company has been accelerating the distribution of overseas markets and selling its products to more than 80 countries and territories. There is also a risk that companies will be sued for abuse while the volume of sales rises annually。
“when an enterprise is sued for abuse abroad, it is often faced with long litigation periods and high costs of response. It is often difficult for enterprises to cope with single-handedness of vouchers.” the head of the intellectual property section of the market supervision office of yuhang region explained that insurance of intellectual property rights against tort liability abroad is the pre-insurance of enterprises ' overseas operations. Specifically, in the event of a claim for unintentional infringement of the legitimate intellectual property rights of third parties, when the insured person manufactures or sells the relevant product, the insurance company will, by contractual agreement, compensate the enterprise for its legal financial liability, thereby contributing to the smoother and safer operation of the business “to sea”。
According to the relevant head of the intellectual property section of the market regulatory authority of yuhang, the cost of insurance against intellectual property rights tort liability abroad is typically between $100,000 and hundreds of thousands. With regard to the cost of insurance coverage for enterprises, the city of hangzhou will provide funding at a rate not exceeding 80 per cent of the actual premium, with a maximum reduction in the cost of intellectual property protection for “off-shore” enterprises。
It is worth mentioning that this innovation of insurance against tort liability of intellectual property abroad has adopted the “insurance+services” model, whereby, on the basis of the insurance loop, insurance companies will provide specialized early warning analysis, legal aid, etc., to enterprises by providing them with customized protection services, such as “conservative pills”。
The expert stated that in order to go out and compete internationally, our enterprises must respect and value intellectual property rights, implement intellectual property early warning mechanisms in a rigorous and proactive manner, and use intellectual property insurance to actively promote intellectual property rights, expand competitive market advantages and maximize the value of intellectual property rights。
