Fujian Daily, April 22, 2024, page 08
Core Tips
A few days ago, the "Implementation Opinions on the Special Action Plan for Patent Transformation and Application (2023-2025)" (hereinafter referred to as the "Implementation Opinions") issued by our province proposes to make efforts to improve the quality of patents and strengthen policy incentives, consolidate and deepen the achievements of patent transformation and application in our province, focus on key areas, break through key blocking points, revitalize stocks, optimize increments, enhance the momentum of innovation and development, and provide strong support for our province to promote high-quality development in an all-round way.
The reporter learned from the Provincial Market Supervision Bureau (Intellectual Property Office) that from January 2023 to February 2024, 137509 patents were authorized in the province, including 21,012 invention patents, a year-on-year increase of 19.24%, 81,775 utility model patents, and 34,722 design patents. By the end of 2023, the province has 34,306 high-value invention patents, and intellectual property rights have achieved remarkable results in helping enterprises innovate and develop.
How can enterprises, universities, and scientific research institutions in our province transform patents into real productive forces, support the kinetic energy of economic development, and realize the "two-way rush" between patents and industries?
Problem-oriented
Walking into Fujian Qingyuan Technology Co., Ltd. in Shishi, in the coal-water slurry production workshop, the coal crusher crushes the coal, and the pulverized coal enters the buffer bin and then enters the mill. "In the mill, water and lignin-based coal-water slurry additives are added, and after 20~30 minutes of reaction, and then through the steps of slurping, shearing, and homogenization and maturation, the finished pulp is manufactured. Liu Jianfeng, director of Fujian Qingyuan Technology Co., Ltd. additive factory and deputy director of the technology center, introduced that in the traditional concept, coal and water can not be mixed, to break through this limitation, there needs to be a polymer material, so that water, coal mixed and can be burned efficiently, lignin-based coal-water slurry additives are the core technology. Coal-water slurry is made of about 65% coal, 34% water and a small amount of chemical additives, which is a slurry fuel with high combustion efficiency and low pollutant emissions.
Professor Liu Minghua (right) supervises graduate students to carry out research on the preparation of lignin-based functionalized materials. (Photo provided by the interviewee)
As the first demonstration base for the R&D, production and application of coal-water slurry in Fujian Province, Qingyuan Technology has an annual output of 500,000 tons of coal-water slurry, 1.2 million tons of steam, and 144 million kilowatt-hours of power generation, accounting for 70% of the province's market share.
"The company invests a lot of money in research and development every year, and the research topic of this year is to recycle and dispose of sludge water and coal slurry, solve the environmental problems of sewage backlog and secondary pollution, save investment in sludge water treatment system infrastructure, and enable enterprises to transform negative pollution benefits into positive resource benefits. Liu Jianfeng said.
The predecessor of Fujian Qingyuan Technology Co., Ltd. was Shishi Qingyuan Printing and Dyeing, which was established in 2003. "In the past, the printing and dyeing industry used coal as fuel to burn boilers, which caused great environmental pollution. In the face of the environmental dilemma, we realized that the only way out was to save energy and reduce emissions, and to find a new production method that could solve the pollution problem. But we are also anxious about how to go on this road. Su Qiande, director of production safety of Fujian Qingyuan Technology Co., Ltd., said.
In 2006, Su Qiande learned that the team of Professor Liu Minghua of Fuzhou University developed a series of patented technologies for lignin-based functionalized materials, which used catalytic reforming and chemical modification such as sulfonation and sulfonation, carboxymethylation and structural reforming to develop a series of high-performance lignin-based functionalized materials such as coal-water slurry additives, which can solve the problem of enterprise emission pollution. Su Qiande immediately found Professor Liu Minghua, and since then, the cooperation between the two sides has been deepening.
In 2007, Fujian Qingyuan Technology Co., Ltd. and Fuzhou University jointly established a technology research and development center, successively established Fujian Province Coal Water Slurry Enterprise Engineering Technology Research Center, Fujian Provincial Academician Expert Workstation and other scientific research platforms, and carried out various forms of industry-university-research cooperation with domestic universities and research institutes, including patent licensing and technology transfer, joint development and sharing of scientific research results, and participated in the formulation of national standards for fuel coal water slurry.
However, the process of patent landing and transformation is not all smooth sailing.
"When the theory of the laboratory is applied to production, various data will change in actual operation and need to be constantly adjusted. Liu Yifan, a teacher at the School of Environmental and Safety Engineering of Fuzhou University, said, "To solve the urgent needs of enterprises as soon as possible, this has never changed in the 16 years since I joined Professor Liu Minghua's team." ”
The transportation mode of coal-water slurry is mainly tanker, how to make the coal-water slurry not precipitate in long-distance transportation?
There are 5 tons, 20 tons to 250 tons of furnace for burning coal-water slurry, different specifications of the furnace, the combustion situation is different, the required models and specifications of lignin-based coal-water slurry additives are also different, how to use additives rationally to achieve the best ember value?
When using coal-water slurry, it is necessary to use a spray gun for atomization, how to choose the thickness of the nozzle, how much additives should be used, so that the coal-water slurry maintains the best viscosity, the viscosity is too high to block the nozzle, too low and easy to precipitate......
These are all specific problems that arise in the process of transformation and implementation of patented technologies, which need to be solved one by one.
"I remember one evening, I received a call from Professor Liu Minghua, and Qingyuan Company reported that the dye dispersant had a technical problem of poor heat resistance. Liu Yifan recalled that she and her team members immediately rushed to the laboratory to conduct experiments. At about 1 o'clock in the morning, Liu Minghua, Wang Qingyuan, chairman of Qingyuan Company, Su Qiande, director of production safety, and others evaluated the experimental results in the laboratory. Two days later, the team entered the enterprise for a pilot test, and it was put into production.
"Scientific research achievements and market value are two concepts, we must uphold the concept of scientific research to serve the society, always pay attention to the key technical needs of the industry, and devote ourselves to the effective connection between scientific research and industry. Liu Minghua, deputy dean of Putian University and adjunct professor of the School of Environmental and Safety Engineering of Fuzhou University, said. In the past ten years, he has led the team to carry out in-depth horizontal scientific and technological cooperation with more than 30 enterprises, and established a number of R&D platforms to jointly serve regional economic and social development and help local industrial transformation and upgrading.
"The process of serving the enterprise is also the process of our mutual achievement and common growth. Liu Yifan thinks.
"An important reason why patents cannot be translated and applied is the lack of application platforms. It is precisely because we have a need to find a new way to solve the pollution problem of enterprises that we are so hungry for patents. Su Qiande said, "At that time, the development of a billet mold was still at the theoretical level, but we invested hundreds of millions of yuan to implement the transformation." ”
Su Qiande said with satisfaction that the economic benefits of coal-water slurry are obvious, saving more than 50% of the cost compared with burning oil and natural gas, and the project of "Key Technology and Industrialization of High-quality Utilization of Lignin to Prepare Dispersants" won the first prize of the 2021 Fujian Provincial Achievement Transformation Award.
Fujian Qingyuan Technology has also realized the transformation from a single printing and dyeing processing enterprise to a large-scale group company integrating printing and dyeing, chemical industry, energy production and fuel business, forming a set of chain system for the development of circular economy.
Demand-oriented
In Mapu Township, Yunxiao County, Zhangzhou, the disturbed area caused by the original construction is covered by lush vegetation around the base of the Fujian-Guangdong Power Interconnection Project, with the tallest plant growing to 25 centimeters. This is the result of State Grid Fujian Electric Power Co., Ltd.'s application of triple nutrient self-circulation and efficiency enhancement vegetation restoration technology to help the tower base regreen. At present, the technology has been applied near more than 200 tower foundations of Fujian Power Grid, with a cumulative repair construction area of more than 120,000 square meters.
State Grid Fujian Electric Power Research Institute has upgraded the traditional transfer trolley through patent transformation. The picture shows the staff of the substation operation and maintenance center operating the intelligent transfer vehicle.
A large number of tools and technological achievements full of science and technology are exhibited in the exhibition hall of the State Grid Fujian Electric Power Entrepreneurship and Entrepreneurship Center, and the "eighteen kinds of martial arts" are full of style. Among them, a row of intelligent carrying trolleys of different shapes is particularly eye-catching.
"In the past, when carrying out the overhaul of the handcart switch of the substation switchgear, we needed to use the traditional transfer cart to pull the switch out and place it on the pallet. These trolleys are specially used to transfer the central switchgear of the substation and distribution station room, and are an important tool to ensure the maintenance of switchgear. Dr. Weng Sunxian of the State Grid Fujian Electric Power Entrepreneurship and Entrepreneurship Center introduced.
Originally, these transfer trolleys were developed by each unit itself, without unified patent deployment, lack of awareness of patent industrialization, and everyone developed their own products, which could only meet part of the demand. In 2022, the State Grid Fujian Electric Power Research Institute will integrate the needs of various units, establish a "provincial-institute-municipal" research team, and realize the product upgrade from version 1.0 of the traditional transfer trolley to version 3.0 of the intelligent carrier trolley through the integration of production, education and research, patent layout, iterative upgrading and patent transformation.
"The center of gravity of the traditional transfer cart is high and easy to tilt, and it is difficult to adjust the height, which has certain personal safety hazards. Today's intelligent transfer cart can realize one-key alignment, and is equipped with a switch component that can be adjusted freely, which can pull out the switch of the all-round handcart and place it on the pallet at the same time, which is convenient for the synchronous maintenance of the entire section of the bus, greatly shortens the maintenance time, effectively guarantees the reliable electricity consumption of users, and saves 50%~60% of the floor space compared with the traditional transfer cart, avoiding the potential risk of dumping and the potential safety hazards of indoor channel congestion of the switch. Weng Sunxian introduced that this fist product with 13 patents has been continuously upgraded, and the technology has reached the international advanced level, and the market sales have reached nearly 10 million yuan.
"State Grid Fujian Electric Power has more than 4,000 patent assets, and in recent years, we have continued to carry out patent transformation operations and build a comprehensive, three-dimensional organized and sustainable patent industrialization work system. State Grid Fujian Electric Power Co., Ltd. Electric Power Research Institute Vice President, Head of the Entrepreneurship and Entrepreneurship Center Jiang Shixiong said.
On Jiang Shixiong's desk is a thick copy of the "Patent Navigation Report on Offshore Wind Power Detection and Intelligent Monitoring Technology". "We have carried out five patent navigation patents for industry panoramic analysis of technology development trends and competitive situations such as offshore wind power, energy storage grid connection, and high-energy distribution networks. Offshore wind power is an important alternative to traditional energy, what are the advantages of Fujian Electric Power in wind power? Where should we start with patent layout? This requires patent navigation to help enterprises understand the direction of technology development, clarify the direction of research and development and the optimal path of innovation, avoid repeated research and development, and avoid detours. Jiang Shixiong said.
"We have inventoried, graded and classified more than 4,000 patents of the enterprise, built a convertible resource library of more than 300 high-value patents of the enterprise, and promoted the rapid transformation of existing patents, and at the same time established a compliance disposal mechanism for low-value patents, disposed of more than 100 low-value patents, reduced patent maintenance costs, and enhanced the resilience of patent industrialization. Jiang Shixiong said.
In 2023, State Grid Fujian Electric Power will make efforts from both ends of revitalizing the patent stock and optimizing the increment of patents, realizing the industrialization of 45 patents in the field of power technology, driving more than 30 upstream and downstream enterprises in the industrial chain, with an output value of more than 100 million yuan.
The reporter learned from the Provincial Market Supervision Bureau (Intellectual Property Office) that the "Implementation Opinions" proposed that by 2025, the patent industrialization rate of universities and scientific research institutions should be significantly improved, and 3 regional intellectual property service industry clusters, more than 5 intellectual property operation centers, and 15 patent navigation service bases should be built.
"Doing a good job in revitalizing the stock of patents in universities and scientific research institutions is a basic work, speeding up the inventory, finding out the bottom as soon as possible, and excavating and screening out a number of stock patents with potential market value is an effective way to revitalize patent resources and promote patent transformation. Huang Xiongjie, technical director of the Fujian Provincial Intellectual Property Protection Center, said, "By the end of 2024, the province will achieve full coverage of the inventory of effective patents that have not been transformed by universities and scientific research institutions, and by the end of 2025, accelerate the transformation of a number of high-value patents, and establish a patent creation and application mechanism oriented by industrial demand." ”
As of April 20, there were 141 universities and institutes in the province with a total inventory of 31,600 patents, with a completion rate of about 90%.
Solve the difficulty of patent financing
"Dragon Water Absorption" Vertical Parent Type Remote Water Supply and Drainage Rescue Vehicle, Emergency Power Drainage Rescue Vehicle, "Dragon Water Absorption" 3000 Mother and Child Water Supply and Drainage Rescue Vehicle...... Walking into the production workshop of Fujian Qiaolong Emergency Equipment Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Fujian Qiaolong") located in Longyan, rows of emergency vehicles are ready to go. "These cars are pre-ordered, we make them to order, and the supply exceeds the demand. Que Binyuan, director of the Fujian Qiaolong Technology Center, pointed to the emergency vehicle being assembled.
Through patent transformation, Fujian Qiaolong has developed the "Dragon Water Suction" equipment, which has demonstrated professional and efficient drainage capacity and emergency service capabilities in emergency rescue and disaster relief. (Photo provided by the interviewee)
Last year, due to the impact of Typhoon Haikui, Fuzhou was hit by heavy rain. After receiving an emergency order from the Provincial Fire and Rescue Corps on the same day, Fujian Qiaolong immediately organized 40 "dragon water absorption" drainage and rescue vehicles to go to various stagnant places in Fuzhou to carry out pumping and draining. The "Dragon Water Suction" equipment has demonstrated professional and efficient drainage capabilities and emergency service capabilities in emergency rescue and disaster relief, and has been well recognized by the society.
Fujian Qiaolong's main business was originally not related to the production and manufacture of drainage rescue vehicles, but was engaged in the modification of transport vehicles. In 2008, Lin Zhiguo, chairman of the company, was keenly aware that the competition in the transport truck industry was becoming more intense, and the company needed to find a new way out. One day, he saw on the TV news that a large city in China was waterlogged, and the fire pumping and drainage volume was small, which could not meet the needs of waterlogging, so he immediately mobilized technicians to study and found that there was no high-power emergency drainage equipment in China, and decided to increase R&D investment in this track.
After experiments again and again, in 2009, Fujian Qiaolong took the lead in independently developing the first hydraulically driven emergency water supply and drainage rescue vehicle to fill the gap in the market. In 2016, the company obtained the invention patent authorization of "a crawler pumping station", and used the patent and the original patent product portfolio to independently develop the "dragon water absorption" sub-parent emergency water supply and drainage rescue vehicle, which made up for the technical defects of the domestic drainage rescue vehicle with large volume and inability to enter the low-rise environment, and quickly solved the problems of water accumulation in underground garages, tunnel water, subway water, and farmland water accumulation after the disaster, so as to achieve disaster reduction and relief.
The patent of "a crawler pumping station" has been rapidly industrialized in the application of "dragon water absorption" child-mother emergency water supply and drainage rescue vehicle, but the rapid development has encountered the problem of insufficient funds.
After many times of communication with the leaders of Longyan Branch of Quanzhou Bank, the two sides treated each other with sincerity and bold innovation, and took the lead in launching a new type of corporate financing model in Longyan City and even the province, namely patent pledge + order financing. Chen Ronghua, executive deputy general manager of Fujian Qiaolong, said.
At that time, Fujian Qiaolong only had one workshop, and the fixed assets were assessed at 23 million yuan, and it was not much to borrow money as a mortgage. To this end, the two sides ask the appraisal agency to evaluate the core patent, use the patent right as the pledge, take the sales contract as the basis for lending, and each loan fund is earmarked, mainly used to pay for raw materials, and is jointly supervised by the bank and the company's management. In 2016, after evaluation, the patent assets were assessed at 72.62 million yuan, and in this way, the Longyan Branch of Quanzhou Bank obtained two credit lines totaling 65 million yuan, and in the following three years, the company received nearly 200 million yuan of bank credit support in the same way, which greatly filled the gap of enterprise funds.
Patent energy loans have added new channels for enterprises such as Fujian Qiaolong to obtain financing. In 2021, CCB took the lead in launching the province's first centralized credit business for intellectual property pledge financing in Longyan City, allocating a special centralized credit line of RMB 1 billion for "informative" small, medium and micro enterprises in Longyan region, effectively alleviating the financial difficulties of small and medium-sized enterprises.
From 2021 to 2023, Fujian Qiaolong's patented products accounted for more than 50% of the company's main business income. The picture shows workers in production.
Intellectual property pledge financing breaks the conventional financing practices in the past, which not only alleviates the pain points of small and medium-sized enterprises with less financing of fixed assets and no development funds with advanced patented technology, but also reduces the risk of bank lending, so as to achieve a win-win situation. From 2021 to 2023, the province's intellectual property pledge financing will be expanded incrementally, and policy accessibility and service convenience will be greatly improved, and in 2023, the province's intellectual property pledge financing amount will be 10.073 billion yuan, exceeding the 10 billion yuan mark.
Source: Fujian Daily