75% colleges unaware of IPR protection: survey
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2005-06-18 16:01

A large number of China's colleges and universities are unaware of their intellectual property rights, according to a recent survey.

The survey, conducted by the Zhejiang Polytechnic University at the request of the State Intellectual Property Office, shows that 75 percent of China's colleges and universities have never or have applied for very few patent rights in the past five years.

Yuan Muqi, associate research fellow with the Patent Program Office of Zhejiang Polytechnic University, attributed the phenomenon to the separation of patents possession from existing evaluation system.

The current evaluation system emphasizes the professor's academic achievements and papers published.

The survey shows that nearly 30 percent of research achievements made by Chinese colleges and universities have lost as a result of lacking patent protection. Some of the research results have been stolen and some have gone with researchers when they changed jobs, said Yuan, who is one of the directors of the survey team.

Analysts say the phenomenon shows China faces an urgent task of enhancing the awareness of IPR protection among the public, particularly among the institutions of higher learning.

Yuan appealed to educational authorities for revising the existing evaluation system and making the possession of patent rights as an index.

According to the survey, Tsinghua, Fudan, Zhejiang, Wuhan and some other Universities applied for 4,809 patent rights over the past five years, accounting for 26.5 percent of the total rendered by Chinese colleges and universities.

In Zhejiang, Zhejiang University and Zhejiang Polytechnic University accounted for 91.7 percent of patent applications made by colleges and universities in the province in the past five years.

Close

Special police detachment established in Xi'an Panda cubs doing well in Wolong Suspect arrested in Taiwan

Today's Top News     Top China News
Taiwan's KMT Party to elect new leader Saturday         'No trouble brewing,' beer industry insists         Critics see security threat in Unocal bid         DPRK: Nuke-free peninsula our goal         Workplace death toll set to soar in China         No foreign controlling stakes in steel firms	No foreign controlling stakes in steel firms       China-made telescopes race to space       'No trouble brewing,' beer industry insists       HK investors cautious on mainland homes       Law in pipeline to ban money laundering       Overseas students test their Chinese abilities