The Fourth Industrial Revolution is driven by technological innovation as its core engine. Future industries such as artificial intelligence (AI) and quantum computing, as the forefront of the new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation, cannot achieve sustained breakthroughs without the safeguard of the intellectual property (IP) system. Currently, future industries have become the leading force of the technological revolution, yet their technical routes remain unshaped, and innovation exhibits the characteristics of "cross-disciplinary integration and inter-industry iteration," posing adaptability challenges to the traditional IP system. The author argues that global competition is essentially a battle for "rule dominance"; therefore, the ability to lead IP rules determines whether one can grasp the initiative in industrial development.
Trend-wise, as the global technological revolution advances at an accelerated pace, future industries including AI, quantum computing, and bio-manufacturing have become key areas of competition. Their traits—rapid technological iteration, strong interdisciplinarity, and in-depth rule-based gaming—have elevated IP from a "protection tool" to a "strategic resource." Some developed countries are attempting to seize dominance in future industries through patent pools, standard binding, and rule export. Consequently, China urgently needs to systematically construct an adaptive IP system at the strategic level to avoid risks such as technological blockades, standard exclusion, and market squeeze. Meanwhile, future industries require massive innovation investment and long development cycles, necessitating strict IP protection to incentivize sustained R&D and ensure achievement transformation. Only through forward-looking strategic layout can future industries transition from technology following to rule leadership. Establishing an IP strategy that serves future industrial innovation is thus an inevitable choice for China to address external challenges, activate internal drivers, and deeply participate in global IP governance.
As a fundamental system supporting future industrial innovation, IP also serves as a strategic tool for empowering innovation and competition. Its institutional attribute emphasizes the advanced nature of top-level design and the stability of underlying support; its tool attribute is reflected in flexibly adjusting rules based on scenarios to maximize innovation empowerment and safeguarding industrial security through risk prevention. Therefore, an IP strategy for future industrial innovation should fulfill four core functions: "mission guidance, institutional support, tool empowerment, and security guarantee." The author proposes clarifying the strategic perspective of IP for future industrial innovation from the following four dimensions.
1. Upholding the "Mission Guidance" Perspective
This requires promoting the reform of the global IP governance system from a global perspective and contributing "Chinese solutions" to the innovative development of global future industries. According to data from the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the total number of global PCT (Patent Cooperation Treaty) applications reached 273,900 in 2024, with China accounting for over 70,000 applications—laying a solid foundation for leading global innovation. Innovation in future industries often transcends national borders, demanding a compatible global IP governance system. For cutting-edge issues such as the ownership determination of AI-generated content, patent authorization standards for quantum computing, and biosafety protection of gene editing technology, China can propose "Chinese solutions" that balance innovation incentives and public interests by initiating international joint research and promoting multilateral rule consultations. Additionally, China can build a global IP sharing platform for future industries to facilitate the coordination and mutual recognition of technical standards and IP rules, reducing institutional transaction costs for global innovation entities.
2. Establishing the "Institutional Foundation" Perspective
Leveraging IP as a fundamental system to support future industrial innovation, its "institutional attribute" constitutes the core advantage of IP in serving future industries. As a basic system, IP has evolved from a traditional right confirmation tool to the cornerstone of the industrial innovation ecosystem, providing underlying support for future industrial innovation. The key to the institutional foundation perspective is to position the IP system as the "infrastructure" for future industrial innovation. On one hand, the "exclusivity" of IP not only guarantees the revenue expectations of innovation investment in future industries but also prevents disorderly market competition through legal means, establishing a stable incentive mechanism for innovation. On the other hand, the "adaptability" of the IP system enables it to respond promptly to the innovative needs of future industries, such as rapid technological iteration and cross-disciplinary integration. China needs to further promote the synergy between IP policies and those related to science, technology, industry, and finance—for example, incorporating IP quality into the qualification standards for high-tech enterprises and using patent transformation benefits as an indicator for scientific project acceptance—truly realizing the principle of "systems following innovation, services centering on industries."
3. Adopting the "Tool Empowerment" Perspective
Flexibly utilizing IP competition tools to empower the innovative development of future industries. Complementing the stability of the "institutional attribute," the "tool attribute" emphasizes the flexibility and dynamism of IP, with the core goal of enhancing innovation efficiency in future industries through precise application of competitive tools. Data shows that in 2024, banking financial institutions nationwide issued a total of 255.57 billion yuan in IP pledge loans, a year-on-year increase of 33.4%—demonstrating the inclusiveness of IP as a financial tool. The essence of the tool empowerment perspective is upgrading IP from a "legal protection measure" to a "resource allocation tool." Innovation in future industries involves multiple entities, including universities, research institutes, enterprises, and financial institutions; IP can optimize resource allocation, enable precise layout, and activate industrial momentum through its tool attribute. In practice, various regions have explored successful cases: Suzhou Industrial Park in Jiangsu Province leveraged "IP navigation" to focus on high-value nano-technology fields, supporting regional industrial planning and enterprise technology layout; Hefei High-Tech Zone in Anhui Province established an IP pledge financing risk compensation fund to compensate for losses from IP pledge loans at a certain ratio. Going forward, it is necessary to further enhance the "adaptability" of IP tools by developing differentiated IP toolkits for different future industries—such as using patent pledge financing to address funding challenges for SMEs’ innovation, and adopting AI-driven IP management platforms to improve risk early warning and efficiency. In short, the tool empowerment perspective requires using IP as a lever to unleash innovation potential and achieve multiplier effects on industrial efficiency.
4. Reinforcing the "Security Guarantee" Perspective
Comprehensively applying IP management measures to prevent risks in future industrial innovation and safeguard industrial security. Security guarantee serves as the "ballast" of the IP strategy: the strategy must not only promote innovation but also prevent risks, ensuring the independent and controllable development of China’s future industries through a full-chain risk prevention system. Against the backdrop of in-depth restructuring of the global industrial chain, the IP strategy has become a key barrier to safeguarding the security of future industries, requiring early identification of IP risks. The ultimate goal of security guarantee is to achieve "independent controllability"; only by fortifying the security defense line can innovation in future industries be sustainable. In the future, China should, on one hand, take IP as a core starting point to exert its role in the national security system; on the other hand, in the current global innovation landscape, it should strengthen international cooperation, participate in international IP dispute settlement mechanisms, and safeguard the overseas rights and interests of Chinese enterprises.
With the continuous development of new productive forces and the optimization of industrial structure, the IP strategy is evolving from a "protective shield" for innovation achievements to a "propeller" for future industries. Only by grasping the direction of global innovation governance through the mission guidance perspective, consolidating the foundation for industrial development via the institutional foundation perspective, optimizing resource allocation efficiency with the tool empowerment perspective, and guarding the bottom line of industrial security through the security guarantee perspective, can China construct an IP strategy system that serves future industrial innovation. This will provide strong support for China to seize opportunities in future industrial competition, facilitate the historic leap from "following" to "running alongside" and ultimately "leading," and contribute more "Chinese wisdom" and "Chinese solutions" to the development of global future industries.
