In the field of intellectual property, the term “patent pool” is no stranger to people. As a form of joint patent operation model, patent pools play a significant role in reducing patent licensing transaction costs, enhancing the scale and efficiency of patent licensing, and strengthening industrial competitive advantages.

As China's industrial innovation capabilities rapidly improve and international intellectual property competition intensifies, domestic key industries are increasingly demanding collaborative patent utilization. Patent pools are transitioning from active participation to construction and operation. Recently, reporters interviewed several industry experts to discuss how to build patent pools.

Scientific Formation to Promote Efficient Patent Utilization

A patent pool refers to a patent utilization model where two or more patent holders enter into an agreement to entrust one party or a third-party operational management institution to jointly utilize patents held in a specific technical field, conducting cross-licensing, one-stop licensing, and related services. In recent years, in industries such as telecommunications and audio-visual technology—which are highly standardized, highly competitive, and prone to patent disputes—a number of international patent pools have leveraged their long-term competitive advantages to strengthen their industry influence, playing an increasingly important role in global industrial and technological competition.

Globally, the development and operation of patent pools have undergone three stages: emergence, antitrust scrutiny, and rational development. They exhibit three key characteristics: a well-established procedure for evaluating essential patents to assess the validity and necessity of patents拟 to be included in the pool, thereby establishing the pool's authority; patent pools typically belong to a specific technical field and are closely aligned with the technical standards of that field; After a patent pool is established, it usually sets up a management body or commissions a third-party institution for management. Members cross-license patents within the pool and share them externally, adhering to the principle of fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory patent licensing. This provides a reference for the scientific establishment of patent pools in China.

“A patent pool should be a collection of complementary patents that cover the essential technical patents required for the implementation of a specific technical standard or product in a related industry, and are widely used by the industry. Its ultimate goal is to reduce transaction costs, minimize legal disputes, promote technological innovation and widespread application, and achieve a win-win outcome for all parties.” Wang Bin, Director of Standards and Patents at Haier Group, stated that the design and operation of a patent pool must strike a balance between incentivizing innovation and promoting technology sharing.

Jia Xiaohui, Director of China Mobile's Patent Support Center, believes that a successful patent pool typically needs to meet the following core conditions: ensuring the necessity of patents in the pool, with patents within the pool undergoing strict evaluation to ensure they are “essential patents” necessary for implementing standards or technologies; establishing a reasonable licensing mechanism, adhering to the principles of fairness, reasonableness, and non-discrimination in licensing, with licensing fees being transparent and predictable, balancing the innovator's return on innovation with the licensee's technology usage fees; Having an efficient operational system, by establishing an independent patent pool management body to handle key aspects of the patent licensing process—such as patent evaluation, licensing negotiations, licensing rule formulation, and infringement monitoring—in a one-stop manner, thereby reducing licensing transaction costs; Maintaining openness and inclusivity, by opening the pool to eligible patent holders and licensees, avoiding the formation of closed monopolistic alliances, and undergoing review by the State Administration for Market Regulation to prevent the abuse of market dominance.

Reasonable layout to promote orderly industrial competition

Currently, China has begun patent pool布局 in some areas. For example, Haier Group is actively building a smart home patent pool through its Smart Home Industry Intellectual Property Operations Center to empower the development of the smart home industry chain. The patent pool is operated and managed by the Smart Home Industry Intellectual Property Operations Center. The patent pool operates on a membership basis, implementing a “pay-as-you-go” model for small and micro enterprises and a “universal licensing” policy for small and medium-sized enterprises to promote the effective conversion and application of smart home industry patents. Chint Group has led the establishment of the China Low-Voltage Intelligent Electrical Appliances Industry Intellectual Property Alliance and the Intelligent Electrical Appliances Industry Intellectual Property Operations Center, successively constructing 14 specialized patent pools with a cumulative total of over 1,700 patents. In addition to granting paid licenses for some product patents to competitors, the group provides free licenses to small and medium-sized enterprises along the industrial chain based on common industry technologies.

Regarding the reasonable layout of patent pools, Professor Mao Hao from the Shanghai International Intellectual Property Academy of Tongji University suggests that patent pool positioning should be based on industry characteristics, focusing on areas that can generate standard patents. Particularly in the field of artificial intelligence, technical standardization should be prioritized, and the construction of patent pools in this field should be considered, with a focus on international patent positioning. Leading enterprises in the industry should play a leading role in the construction of patent pools, using patents to drive the rapid development of the industrial chain. At the same time, they should reasonably screen patents for inclusion in the pool, layout the technological division of labor among innovation entities across the industrial chain, and promote orderly competition within the industry.

“The lead entity (management institution) responsible for constructing the patent pool should understand the current state and trends of industrial and technological development, and assemble a team with the capability to manage and operate the patent pool. Key members of the pool should include enterprises, universities, and research institutions that are at the forefront of innovation and possess patent technology advantages, including entities holding standard-essential patents or general/foundational patents,” said Wang Jingkai, General Manager of the Intellectual Property Department at Zhengtai Group.

“In the layout of standard-essential patents, attention should be paid to the coordination between patents and standards, and patent disclosures should comply with the intellectual property policies of standard-setting organizations. Patent pools should avoid joint pricing, exclusive clauses, or restrictions on downstream innovation. Patent pool agreements should reserve the right for licensees to negotiate independently and avoid ‘tying’ practices. For licensees, diversified licensing schemes should be provided to support the development of enterprises of different types and sizes,” analyzed Jia Xiaohui.

Standardized Management to Maintain Fair Market Order

To promote high-quality patent pool development, the National Intellectual Property Administration, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and five other departments recently jointly issued the “Guidelines for the Construction and Operation of Patent Pools” (hereinafter referred to as the “Guidelines”). The Guidelines emphasize that the construction and operation of patent pools should adhere to the principles of marketization, interest balance, openness, and non-discrimination. The National Intellectual Property Administration, in collaboration with relevant departments, will provide overall guidance and support for patent pool construction and operation-related work.

Mao Hao stated that the “Guidelines” address the industry's urgent need for fair competition: on the one hand, they constrain excessively high rates through a principle of balanced interests, requiring revenue to be distributed based on patent contribution to prevent an imbalance of interests between innovators and implementers; on the other hand, they establish an antitrust compliance framework, explicitly prohibiting bundling of non-essential patents, discriminatory pricing, and other such behaviors, thereby setting clear boundaries for patent pool operations.

“The construction of patent pools should fully leverage the decisive role of the market in resource allocation, establish a profitable business model, ensure their ability to ‘self-sustain,’ and achieve sustainable development. At the same time, compliance guidance should be strengthened, and from the perspective of national strategic requirements and industrial development needs, the supporting role of patent pools in enhancing industrial competitiveness and safety and stability should be effectively leveraged,” said Mao Hao.

“Currently, China's patent pool construction is still in the exploratory stage. It is recommended that relevant departments increase guidance and support, vigorously support the cultivation of mid-to-high-level talent and high-value patents, encourage innovation entities to participate in patent pool construction, and enhance China's patent pool construction and operational capabilities,” said Wang Jingkai.

"We anticipate that patent pool construction will support Chinese enterprises in their overseas patent positioning and protection, safeguard China's industrial intellectual property security in the global supply chain, and drive Chinese enterprises to upgrade from product ‘going global’ to technology 'going global.' At the same time, we should attract foreign enterprise patents into the pool, explore the construction of cross-border patent pools, and reduce the cost of overseas patent positioning through mutual recognition mechanisms.“ Wang Binhou stated that in the future, China's patent pool development should transition from a single licensing function to an industrial innovation infrastructure, forming a multi-dimensional support system of ”policy-funding-operation," driving the rapid development of patent-intensive industries, and laying a solid foundation for the development of new productive forces.

Regarding whether China's innovation entities should join patent pools, Dong Xijun believes that patent pools are an optional choice rather than a mandatory one. In highly standardized technical fields, joining a pool can indeed reduce risks; however, in non-standardized fields, cooperation can be achieved through bilateral patent licensing or open innovation.