Defense tech the focus at forum

The fifth Forum on National Defense Intellectual Property Rights was held in Beijing on Wednesday, and focused on the IPR transfer of defense technology.

The forum, hosted by the National Defense Industry Press and the National Defense IPR Committee of the China Intellectual Property Society, had more than 400 attendees from about 200 People's Liberation Army units, government agencies, research organizations and enterprises, according to a statement from the organizing committee.

Several renowned experts in the defense technology IPR field such as Ling Yongshun, an academician from the Chinese Academy of Engineering, and Professor Gu Jianyi, a senior researcher in national defense economics, gave speeches at the forum. The topics they discussed included innovation in defense technology and IPR management of defense technology.

Awards were given to researchers and organizations that made contributions to the protection of defense technology IPR.

China has been gearing up efforts to boost the transfer of defense technology to civilian sectors in recent years. More than 7,000 national defense patents were declassified in 2017 and 2018, according to statistics from the organizing committee.

Senior Colonel Wang Hongyu, director of the National Defense IPR Bureau under the Central Military Commission's Equipment Development Department, told the forum his bureau will continue to improve utilization and transfer of defense technology IPR and will concentrate on policy reform and encouragement of innovation.