In the new era, innovation has become the primary driver of development, and intellectual property rights are the legal safeguard for innovation. Following the establishment of China's intellectual property rights system, especially after the implementation of the national intellectual property strategy and the strategy for becoming a strong country, a variety of intellectual property think tanks have emerged like bamboo shoots after a spring rain.
"Although the current development of intellectual property think tanks is rapid and their numbers are quickly increasing, there is a lack of scientific planning and layout. Many think tanks are homogenous and often 'large and comprehensive,' lacking 'specialized and precise' research institutions. Every year, there is a plethora of reports from various think tank organizations, but there is a scarcity of outcomes that can truly provide ideas and action plans for public decision-making," noted Ma Yide, National People's Congress representative and dean of the Intellectual Property School at the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences. The main issues include a focus on macro-level research that lacks depth, a clear lack of advisory capacity for collaborative innovation, and weak mechanisms for serving and connecting decision-making processes.
National People's Congress delegate and Dean of the Intellectual Property School at the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ma Yide, believes that despite the large number of intellectual property (IP) think tanks in China, many of them often have multiple roles and engage in part-time think tank research. There is a lack of dedicated think tanks specifically serving government decision-making consultation. Furthermore, the evaluation and incentive system for the development of modern think tanks are inadequate, resulting in difficulties for in-depth research and a lack of intrinsic motivation for self-improvement in IP think tanks.
In light of this, Ma Yide proposes that, first and foremost, efforts should be made to leverage top-level design to establish a national intellectual property think tank lineup. It is essential to centrally integrate resources from various sources to build a national-level intellectual property think tank system. Scientifically planning the functional positioning, development direction, and resource allocation of various IP think tanks, conducting continuous and in-depth research on China's medium and long-term development goals and significant IP issues, is crucial. This will provide scientific research support for decision-making and guide scientific development through informed decisions.
Secondly, Ma Yide suggests constructing a collaborative decision-making consultation mechanism with a "small core, large collaboration" approach in think tank development. This involves integrating existing resources to selectively build high-end think tanks and enhancing the collaborative cooperation of multi-system and multi-disciplinary IP think tanks. Emphasizing an open approach to research and think tank establishment, bringing together experts from various fields such as party and government departments, party schools, administrative academies, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Engineering, science associations, social science institutes, universities, military, enterprises, and societal think tanks. This collaboration includes "double-hiring" and talent exchange. Additionally, establishing an IP think tank information sharing platform is crucial.
Finally, Ma Yide highlights the need to deepen the reform of the intellectual property think tank management system. This involves deepening reforms in outcome evaluation and talent evaluation mechanisms. Unlike traditional research and teaching institutions, think tanks should not solely rely on papers, projects, or awards. Otherwise, there is a risk of researchers collectively pursuing academic hotspots. Therefore, it is important to improve the evaluation mechanism based on the adoption of outcomes and practical contributions, establishing a specialized think tank talent team.
