Lu Wei

At present, the leading group of national science and technology is organizing a strategic research on the national long and medium-term program for science and technology. Among the 17 subjects, there is no subject on intellectual property right. Over a long period of time in the past, our country’s management of science and technology plan has always been out of connection with intellectual property right. In recent years, China’s competent authorities for science and technology came up with a number of administrative rules concerning intellectual property right, but these rules are fragmentary and vague without a complete system and detailed measures. The current national long and medium-term program of science and technology should put an emphasis on building a national management system of intellectual property right for science and technology.

I.Main Problems Existing in ChineseGovernment’sIntellectual Property Right Management in the Science and Technology Plans

First, in project management,the achievement of scientific research is valued whereasthe intellectual property right is neglected. We have always implemented the award system based mainly on research achievement for both basic research project and management of industrial technology research and development project. And, the personnel management system of colleges and research institutes also take thesis published as a main check-up indicator. This method resulted in serious repetition of research projects at low levels and thus autonomous intellectual property right cannot be formed. According to statistics, the state invested a total of RMB11 billion in the "863 plan" within 15 years, subsidizing more than 5,200 research projects. The program involvedthe publication of 50,061 theses, and a total of 1,650 patents were granted at home and abroad under the program. (from Related Statistics of the "863 Plan" within 15 Years and The Annual Program of the "863 Plan" for the Year 2000, http://www.863.org.cn for reference). On an average, only one-third of the projects were granted patents.

Second, the division of responsibilities, rights and benefits in the governmental scientific and technological projects is not clear. Nominally, the research achievement belongs to the government, but in reality, it belongs to the unit undertaking research and no one takes the responsibility for the utilization and transformation of research achievement. On the one hand, some achievements cannot be transformed and utilized in time; on the other hand, the country’s intellectual property rights were greatly drained in international cooperation. Provisions for the Management of Intellectual Property Right Concerning the Research Achievement of National Science and Technology Project(Provisions for the Management of Achievement of Intellectual Property Right in brief) promulgated in 2002, put forward a suggestion that the unit undertaking the research should become the owner of the intellectual property right of research achievement and shall have the ownership and the right of disposing the said right. But the regulation is relatively vague, with no detailed measures for operation and management system.

Third, the ownership policy on invention stresses too much on the employer while the inventor is neglected. The ownership policy on patent lays too much stress on the interest of the working unit and does not attach enough importance to the function of the inventor, and there is no proper mechanism for encouragement. Although the Patent Law stipulates that the inventor has the right to share the distribution of patent income. However, in actual operation, stress is made that the invention belongs to the working unit undertaking research, while the necessary award for the inventor is simply lacking. In particular, due to the practice of egalitarianism on the part of the state-owned enterprises and departments, most of the inventors can hardly obtain the due remuneration, resulting in weak enthusiasm of the staff for innovation.

Fourth, the management of intellectual property right pays too much attention to ownership only, while popularization is neglected. During the process of transformation and decentralization, stress was laid on the interests of the undertaking unit, while the responsibility of popularizing the public technological resources is neglected. The newly promulgated Provisions for the Management of Achievement of Intellectual Property Right only proposes, in principle, that unit undertaking research should set up a mechanism for the transformation of scientific and technological research achievement, but does not clarify and specify the requirements concerning the transfer of technology, management process and supervision mechanism.

Fifth,the administrative departments, colleges, research institutes of science and technology and enterprises are in shortage of a standardized intellectual property right system and managementorgan. Over the years, some research institutes of science and colleges have set up theirmanagement organs for intellectual property right, but most of them cannot operate properly. In particular, the government administrative department for science and technology have neither the organ nor the system for managing intellectual property right as well as for the transfer of technology.

Sixth, the existing operation system in colleges and science and technology research institutes is not conducive to technological popularization. In order to solve the problem of funding, a considerable number of colleges and research institutes of science and technology run their own enterprises and as a result, many research achievements have been industrialized internally and used for making profits for themselves. Especially those public technological research centers subsidized by governments that are located in research institutes of science and technology, colleges and enterprises, can hardly exert their function of developing public technology or popularizing technology without due policy concerning intellectual property right.

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