On May 30, at the “Global IP Protection and Innovation Forum”, a subforum of the 2023 Zhongguancun Forum, China’s first metaverse industrial patent pool was officially launched, which was initiated by Beijing IP and Baidu. Beijing RealAI, As-you-see (Beijing), Beijing Whyhow and NOLO also participated as a founding member. The pool currently contains over 170 patents, with 53 of them being newly available for licensing.

Relying on the national special project for cultivating and operating high-value smart sensor IPs undertaken by Beijing IP, the Metaverse Industrial Patent Pool is dedicated to advancing innovation in the metaverse and related technical fields, which is also a priority of Beijing.

By strategically integrating and applying IP resources, the patent pool facilitates collaboration among innovation entities possessing key metaverse technologies through cross-licensing patents and preferential utilization of patents. During the process, it will promote the collaborative use of industrial intellectual property rights, strengthen the innovation leadership of industrial clusters, and propel the high-quality economic development in the capital.

This is also a concrete action to implement the spirit of the CPC’s 20th National Congress and the principles for the protection and application of IP rights in the “14th Five-year Plan”.

The metaverse is an immersive-experience technology that integrates the physical and data worlds to create a human-centered world parallel to the real world. Being an important direction of future industrial development, it uses a wide range of new practical technologies, such as perception, sensing, blockchain and artificial intelligence, to effectively transcend temporal and spatial barriers and boost the inclusivity of limited resources.

The Metaverse Industrial Patent Pool will give priority to patents from leading enterprises, cutting-edge SMEs, prominent universities and research institutes that are influential in the industry and involved in the formulation of industrial standards. It aims to collect patents in key areas of the metaverse ecosystem.

The patent pool will realize the commercial returns and member benefits by leveraging standardized licensing terms, preferential patent licensing fees, and industrialized operation mechanisms to form a joint force for protecting IP. This will promote metaverse commercialization and application, sustainable innovation of members, and effective use of patented technology. 

In the future, the Metaverse Industrial Patent Pool will take on a leading role as a state-owned platform, gathering high-quality innovation resources in the metaverse industry, adhering to international standards, pooling high-quality patents, and establishing an operating mode. It will facilitate technical breakthroughs and achievement transformations through industrial cooperation, and accelerate collaborative innovation within the industry and enhance the level of autonomy and control.

Under the guidance of National Intellectual Property Administration, Beijing Municipal Government and World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the "Global Intellectual Property Protection and Innovation Forum" of the 2023 Zhongguancun Forum was hosted by Beijing Intellectual Property Administration, WIPO China Office, ZGC Development Group, and specifically organized by Beijing IP, according to the reports.

More than 220 guests from the IP institutions of China, France, Japan, South Korea, Germany and more, international IP organizations, scientific research institutions, financial institutions, service institutions and news media attended the forum.

"Zhongguancun on the Cloud", the online live broadcasting platform, got over 2,000 clicks. It’s already an important business card to showcase the capital's IP brands, as well as an essential platform for global IP communities to engage in exchanges, collaborations and innovative partnership.

The forum not only links global IP innovation resources, but also conveys China's commitment to strengthening IP protection and actively participating in global IP governance. This plays a positive role in establishing Beijing International Science and Technology Innovation Center and enhancing China's position as a leading global IP powerhouse.