On December 20, 2024, China’s National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) released statistical data on patent licensing in 2023 and statistical data on patent licensing from 2019 to 2023 including licensing rates for different technologies (国家知识产权局办公室关于公布2023年度及近五年备案的专利实施许可合同有关数据的通知). This data may be useful for determining market rates and therefore avoiding antitrust enforcement actions by the State Administration for Market Regulation.

For 2023, there were 15,603 contracts in total and 36,794 patents, of which invention, utility model and design patents account for 45.3%, 44.7% and 10.0% respectively. On average, each contract involves 2.4 patents.

For 2023, in terms of the payment method of license fees, there were 6,150 license contracts paid by fixed or convertible amount (fixed lump sum or installment or equity), accounting for 39.4%, with a total contract amount of 10.21 billion RMB, an average contract amount of 1.66 million RMB, and an average license period of 3.0 years. There were 1,087 license contracts paid by royalty, accounting for 7.0%, and the average license period of the contract is 3.3 years. There were 8,366 license contracts paid free of charge, accounting for 53.6%.

For the past 5 year (January 1, 2019 to December 31, 2023), there were 32,938 licensing contracts in total and 82,738 patents in total, of which invention, utility model and design patents account for 47.8%, 42.1% and 10.1% respectively. On average, each contract involves 2.5 patents.

In terms of the payment method of license fees, there were 16,930 license contracts paid by fixed or convertible amount, accounting for 51.4%, with a total contract amount of 44.7 billion RMB, an average contract amount of 2.64 million RMB, and an average license term of 3.5 years. There were 2,188 license contracts paid by royalties, accounting for 6.6%, and the average license term of the contract was 5.6 years. There were 13,820 license contracts paid free of charge, accounting for 42.0%.

The statistics provided break down licensing rates by technology, royalty based on sales price, royalty based on profits, and whether an initial royalty payment is required.

The full tables are available here (Chinese only).