Hangzhou, July 13 (Xinhua) — According to the latest information from the Zhejiang Provincial Market Supervision Administration, 24 enterprises from Zhejiang applied for the WIPO Global Awards this year, resulting in one being selected and another being shortlisted.

This achievement is underpinned by the robust support of Zhejiang's high-quality development of intellectual property services, as well as the full-chain services provided by a group of local professional IP agencies, spanning from technology R&D and patent portfolio strategy to global competition.

The WIPO Global Awards is a worldwide recognition program established by the United Nations' World Intellectual Property Organization in 2022, with only around ten small and medium-sized enterprises or start-ups selected globally each year.

This year, Hangzhou MaiLiu Technology Co., Ltd. stood out after being carefully nurtured and recommended through Zhejiang's "Golden Seed" patent industrialization program for promoting SME growth, becoming one of the eleven global award-winning enterprises.

Hangzhou LingBan Technology also received a shortlist award.

This marks another triumph for a Zhejiang company in this top-tier international intellectual property honor, following Unitree Robotics' victory last year, making Zhejiang the only province in China to have produced WIPO Global Award winners for two consecutive years.

This year's awards received 1,300 applications from 126 countries, with a shortlisting rate of less than 2.5%, and winners in the medical field being particularly rare. How did the Zhejiang enterprises break through?

The answer lies in a multi-level cultivation network and a comprehensive service map woven by government departments, including those responsible for intellectual property.

In 2024, MaiLiu Technology was among the first batch of companies selected for the "Golden Seed" incubation-level enterprise database and subsequently completed certification for the national standard of intellectual property management.

The IP authorities tailored a patent navigation project for the company's "AI Diagnosis and Treatment System for Cardiovascular and Cerebrovascular Diseases," conducting in-depth patent analysis around technological hotspots and gaps in areas like hemodynamics and AI algorithms.

This provided precise guidance for R&D direction, enhanced innovation efficiency in key technologies such as fluid dynamics calculation, 3D modeling, and vascular reconstruction, and facilitated talent collaboration to assist the company in conducting clinical validation.

"The navigation not only provided a technology roadmap but also helped us optimize our global strategy and build a full-process, high-value patent portfolio," revealed Yu Shulu, the company's IP director.

During the project implementation, three new high-value invention patents were applied for and all were granted. Combined with previous accumulations, the company now holds 123 invention patents, including two U.S. patents, with dozens more overseas patents under application, constructing a solid moat for its core technologies.

Moving technology from the lab to the market inevitably involves financial hurdles. As a national pilot province for comprehensive financial ecosystem development, Zhejiang has published a "Service List of Intellectual Property Financial Products," aggregating 168 products across four major categories: "ZheZhiDai" loans, insurance, securitization, and equity investment funds, creating a "fast lane" for bank-enterprise connections.

MaiLiu Technology successfully secured a loan of 5 million yuan through patent pledge financing, with an interest rate as low as 1.72%. The registration process was streamlined for "local, online, paperless" handling, compressing the cycle to just one working day.

Coupled with a "government-bank-guarantee" risk-sharing mechanism, the financial pressure on the company's AI medical device R&D and clinical promotion was effectively alleviated.

"We have continuously upgraded the 'Golden Seed' program service list to version 2.0, covering 41 types of projects. The goal is to ensure innovative entities receive precise support at every stage," stated a relevant official from the Zhejiang Provincial Intellectual Property Office.

To date, the Zhejiang "Golden Seed" program has established a multi-level cultivation matrix encompassing 500 model-level, 3,600 growth-level, and 14,000 incubation-level enterprises.

Focusing on eight emerging industries, including artificial intelligence, embodied AI, and new energy, as well as nine future industries, the program has cumulatively provided over 150,000 instances of targeted services, helping companies solve development challenges related to technology, financing, and talent.

"From robotics to high-end AI medical technology, Zhejiang has forged an international reputation in hard-tech fields. Moving forward, we will continue to leverage intellectual property to empower advanced productive forces, promote the mutual empowerment of advanced manufacturing and modern services, and help more 'Golden Seeds' grow into towering trees," said the official from the Zhejiang Provincial Intellectual Property Office.