The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) released the 2023 Technology and Innovation Support Centers (TISCs) report recently. The report shows that by the end of 2023, WIPO had established 1,494 TISCs in 93 countries, responding to a total of 2.25279 million intellectual property (IP) service inquiries from innovators. Among these, the development of TISCs in China is particularly noteworthy. The report indicates that the TISC network in China, composed of over 100 institutions, has now expanded to cover all 31 provincial-level administrative regions in the country.

The report outlines the major developments of global TISCs and Technology Transfer Offices (TTOs), the support provided by WIPO and various countries to TISCs, and future outlooks in 2023. In terms of support, the report shows that to help innovators better tap into their innovation potential and leverage the value of IP, TISCs in China have continued to expand the depth and breadth of innovation support services, continually protecting innovators throughout the entire process from idea generation to product market launch. In China, TISCs fulfilled to over 195,000 IP service requests, issued more than 20,000 IP search and analysis reports, and delivered over 700 industrial sector analyses to support policy making by local and national government agencies.

Technology transfer and IP commercialization are among the key service areas of TISCs and TTOs. The report notes that TISCs in China have played an important role in facilitating technology transfer between academic research institutions and industry. In 2023, TISCs in China organized over 3,000 network opportunities, resulting in over 12,000 IP transactions.

In the list of outstanding IP information service cases for 2023, released by the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) in April 2023, nine TISCs were included. One highlighted case in the report is from Gansu Science and Technology Information Research Institute (TISC), which submitted the "Empowering Facility Vegetable Green Production Technology Promotion and Application through Intellectual Property Information Service" case, demonstrating the promotion of IP industrialization by TISCs.

Gansu Science and Technology Information Research Institute provided public IP information services for a project of the Institute of Vegetables and Flowers under the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, resulting in the "Scientific and Technological Achievements Evaluation Report". This institution used the opportunity of technology achievement evaluations to integrate public IP information services into the evaluation process, assisting the Vegetable Institute in patent planning and other services. Socially, this technological achievement provided technical support for the efficient and sustainable development of the vegetable industry in the Hexi Corridor's Gobi facility agriculture, enhancing the technology and production levels of Gobi agriculture facilities. Economically, this achievement was successfully selected as an important product of independent innovation by the Gansu Academy of Agricultural Sciences in 2022, with 52,000 acres demonstrated and promoted, cumulatively increasing production value by 208,063 million yuan. This not only promoted the rapid development of the Gobi facility vegetable industry but also offered valuable exploration for science and technology information departments, laying a service foundation for further integration of public IP services into enterprise technological innovation.

Also, digital IP platforms developed by TISCs in China received over 400 million visits in 2023 alone. The TISC hosted by the Tianjin Institute of Scientific and Technical Information for example established a dedicated information platform on seawater desalination, contributing to improved information discovery in this area of technology.

Additionally, the report shows that TISCs in China organized over 3,000 IP awareness-raising events and nearly 4,000 training sessions in total, attracting over 950,000 participants. This has significantly increased IP protection awareness across Chinese society and assisted innovators in advancing IP utilization. Fourteen thousand five hundred participants also took part in events organized by CNIPA for TISCs to exchange experiences and best practices.