Finance Departments (Bureaus) and Intellectual Property Offices of all provinces, autonomous regions, directly-administered municipalities, and cities under separate planning:

To strengthen the management of intellectual property asset valuation, standardize intellectual property valuation practices, and ensure that intellectual property asset valuation better serves the nation’s efforts in building an innovation-driven economy and protecting intellectual property rights, and in accordance with relevant provisions of the Company Law of the People’s Republic of China, the Patent Law of the People’s Republic of China, the Trademark Law of the People’s Republic of China, the Copyright Law of the People’s Republic of China, the Security Law of the People’s Republic of China, and the Administrative Measures for the Valuation of State-owned Assets, we hereby issue the following notice regarding matters related to the management of intellectual property asset valuation:

1. An entity holding intellectual property rights shall conduct an asset valuation if it meets any of the following conditions:

(1) According to Article 27 of the Company Law, where a limited liability company or a joint-stock company is established by contributing intellectual property assets valued at their market price;

(2) Where intellectual property is pledged as collateral and there is no reference price in the market, and the pledgee requests an appraisal;

(3) Administrative units auctioning, transferring, or exchanging intellectual property rights;

(4) The restructuring, merger, division, liquidation, investment, transfer, exchange, or auction of state-owned public institutions involving intellectual property rights;

(5) Intellectual property rights involved in the restructuring, IPO, merger, division, liquidation, investment, transfer, exchange, auction, or debt repayment of state-owned enterprises;

(6) State-owned enterprises acquiring or obtaining intellectual property rights from non-state-owned entities through exchange, or accepting contributions of intellectual property rights from non-state-owned entities;

(7) State-owned enterprises license their intellectual property rights for use by foreign companies, enterprises, other economic organizations, or individuals when there is no reference price in the market;

(8) Cases involving intellectual property litigation where the people’s court, arbitration authority, or the parties themselves request an assessment of the value;

(9) Other matters requiring asset valuation as stipulated by laws and administrative regulations.

When non-state-owned entities engage in economic activities such as mergers, divisions, liquidations, investments, transfers, exchanges, or debt repayments that involve intellectual property rights, they may conduct asset appraisals by referring to the practices applicable to state-owned enterprises.

II. Intellectual property valuation shall, in accordance with the law, be entrusted to an asset appraisal agency approved by the financial authorities.

When conducting intellectual property valuation services, asset valuation agencies shall strictly adhere to the relevant asset valuation standards and guidelines. During the valuation process, they should take into account the unique characteristics of intellectual property and scientifically and objectively analyze the feasibility and reasonableness of the expected returns from such intellectual property.

When conducting intellectual property valuation services, asset valuation agencies may engage experts in intellectual property fields such as patents, trademarks, and copyrights to assist in their work; however, this practice cannot relieve or exempt the asset valuation agency and its registered asset appraisers from their legal responsibilities.

3. The Ministry of Finance and the National Intellectual Property Administration will jointly organize specialized training and examinations in intellectual property valuation, issue training certificates, establish and rigorously enforce a continuing education and training assessment system, ensure the quality of training, and continuously enhance the professional competence and expertise of registered asset appraisers and practitioners in intellectual property valuation.

4. The China Association of Asset Appraisers should strengthen industry self-regulation and professional guidance. It can establish a pool of intellectual property appraisal experts and related specialized committees, as well as build and improve an intellectual property database, thereby creating the necessary platform for intellectual property asset valuation and enhancing the quality of practice, industry credibility, and influence of asset appraisers.

V. Asset valuation agencies must adhere to the principles of independence, objectivity, and fairness and shall not undertake intellectual property valuation assignments through improper means such as catering to the client’s requests for overvaluation or undervaluation, offering “kickbacks,” or engaging in malicious price-cutting.

The Ministry of Finance and the National Intellectual Property Administration regularly organize supervisory inspections to assess the professional quality of asset evaluation agencies engaged in intellectual property valuation services.

6. No organization or individual may illegally interfere with intellectual property valuation services or valuation results.

7. State-owned entities that possess intellectual property rights and asset appraisal agencies engaged in intellectual property valuation activities, if they violate the above-mentioned provisions, shall be handled in accordance with relevant national regulations.

After the issuance of this notice, in case of any conflict between previous regulations and the contents of this notice, this notice shall prevail.