Although there is nothing under a year old when I looked today on SIPO’s s special service invention webpage, the topic of how much freedom employers have in determining how to reward their employee/inventors, has once again become a hot issue. Much of the discussion on this topic is being raised by the Ministry of Science and Technology, although SIPO reportedly is focusing on this issue as well.

Here’s an update on where we are:

At the US-China Innovation Dialogue in July 2014, the US and China agreed to the following language:

The United States and China resolved to protect the legal rights of inventors in accordance with their respective domestic laws and regulations, and in line with their domestic laws committed to respect the rules and policies developed by employers and/or legitimate contracts between employers and inventors concerning the awards and/or remuneration of inventors.

This language was essentially reaffirmed at the subsequent JCCT in December 2014:

The United States and China commit to protect the legal rights of inventors in respect of their inventions and creations, in accordance with their respective domestic laws and regulations, and in line with their domestic laws, commit to respect the legitimate rules and regulations developed by employers and legitimate contracts between employers and inventors concerning inventor remuneration and awards.

On March 2, 2015 the National People’s Congress also released a draft for public comment of The Law for Promoting Science and Technology Achievements (促进科技成果转化法修正案（草案）).  Here’s an unofficial translation of the changes that this draft makes to the old law.  This draft contains the following specific provisions on inventor compensation:

One article is added as Article 43: “After the commercialization of a service STA [Science and Technology Achievement], the STA completing entity shall give reward and remuneration to those who have made important contributions to the completion and commercialization of the STA.

The STA completing entity may prescribe or agree with its scientific and technological personnel on the form and amount of the reward and remuneration. When formulating the relevant regulations, the entity shall fully listen to the opinions of its scientific and technological personnel and make public the relevant regulations within the entity. ”

A revised Article 44 provides for default provisions for compensation, presumably if provisions are not established with technological personnel: “If the STA completing entity has not formulated such regulations or agreed on the form and amount of the reward and remuneration, the reward and remuneration shall be given to those who have made important contributions to the commercialization of the service STA according to the following criteria:

(1) If the service STA is transferred or licensed to others for implementation, no less than 20% shall be drawn out of the income from the STA so transferred or licensed;

(2) If the service STA is evaluated for investment, no less than 20% shall be drawn out of the shares or the proportion of contribution formed by the STA;

(3) If the entity implements the service STA by itself or in cooperation with others, no less than 5% shall be drawn out of the operating profits obtained from 3~5 consecutive years of implementation of the STA after its commercialization and successful start of production.

The criteria provided in the preceding paragraphs for the reward and remuneration given those who have made important contributions to the completion and commercialization of service STAs include the remuneration given to the inventors and designers of service inventions and creations that have received patent right in accordance with the Patent Law of the People’s Republic of China and the detailed rules for implementation thereof. …”

Although more general than the Service Invention Regulations that are under consideration by SIPO, this is a law that is more authoritative than a regulation. This law, along with agreed statements by the Minister of Science and Technology Wan Gang and OSTP Director Dr. John Holdren at the Innovation Dialogue could be read to show an inclination to favor contractual arrangements or corporate policies in establishing appropriate compensation for employee/inventors, although greater clarity concerning when such arrangements would be superseded by default provisions would be helpful.   Also of concern is that if more restrictive regulations are adopted in the Service Invention Regulations proposed by SIPO, they will be entitled to considerable deference as a subsequently adopted regulation which narrowly focuses on inventor compensation.  Moreover the regulations will be particularly important to SIPO itself in any enforcement or policy making it undertakes.

Another boost to regulating service inventions appears to have come from Premier Li Keqiang at  his March 5 speech at the recent 2015 “lianghui” – the meeting of the National People’s Congress and Chinese People’s Consultative Congress, where he stated that China should “enable innovative talents to share in achievements and profit, complete the transformation of science and technology achievements, and the service invention legal system” (使创新人才分享成果收益, 完善科技成果转化、职务发明法律制度).

Comments on the draft law are due by April 1.

As always, these are my personal opinions.