Frontline R&D Dialogue: Patent Examination Experts from the CNIPA Visit Banfert

On September 16–17, a team of patent examination experts from the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) visited Banfert to carry out a practical training session for patent examiners. The experts went deep into the R&D site, surveyed innovation outcomes, and conducted on‑site exchanges and professional guidance on practical matters such as patent portfolio planning and patent protection, thereby bridging the gap between examination standards and corporate innovation practices.

Having been deeply rooted in the field of fine chemical new materials for many years, Banfert has always been driven by innovation, continuously focusing on the research and breakthrough of core key technologies. Through long‑term accumulation and consolidation, the company has built a relatively complete technological innovation system and intellectual property management system. Its patent portfolio at home and abroad has been steadily expanding, and technological achievements have been continuously applied in industrialization. This solid foundation of innovation capability and patent work provides sustained and powerful scientific and technological support for the company’s high‑quality development.

The expert team first visited the company’s exhibition hall and testing center. The company’s technical director gave a detailed introduction to the core products, innovative processes, and patent industrialization applications. The experts closely examined product samples, gaining an intuitive understanding of the company’s technical accumulation in areas such as functional coatings, adhesives, and decorative films, and witnessed firsthand the practical results of Banfert’s commitment to technological innovation and industrial empowerment.

The team then went to the R&D laboratory, where they observed experimental operations and learned about the entire trial production process of new materials and new processes. Focusing on technical details such as formula development and process design, the experts held face‑to‑face discussions with frontline R&D personnel, exploring ideas for mining technical solutions from the perspective of patent examination. In light of the company’s ongoing R&D of new products and processes, the expert group also provided practical suggestions on refining innovation points and identifying patent mining directions.

The next day, the experts entered the production workshop to inspect the standardized production lines and quality control system, gaining a detailed understanding of how patented technologies transition from laboratory results to mass production. At the subsequent technical symposium, Banfert’s R&D and IP backbone staff sat down with the examining experts for in‑depth discussion. Corporate technicians raised practical difficulties encountered during patent application filing and office action responses. Drawing on their experience in chemical patent examination, the experts explained one by one the key concerns such as inventive step assessment, use inventions, and response strategies, and offered targeted guidance on patent mining, extraction of innovation points, claim drafting, and patent protection.

The examining experts noted that patent examination goes beyond paper documents; stepping into the frontlines of enterprises and directly facing R&D scenarios allows for a more genuine grasp of the technical essence, which also lays a better foundation for subsequent examination work. Corporate participants also expressed that this face‑to‑face exchange gave the team a more three‑dimensional understanding of patent examination logic and standards, and that they would continue to bridge communication between the R&D side and the examination perspective, further improving the quality of patent applications and the effectiveness of IP protection.

This practice‑oriented exchange of patent examiners entering the enterprise served both as a field investigation of the industry frontlines by examination experts and as an efficient dialogue bridge between the corporate R&D innovation end and the patent examination end. Zhang Dongming, Deputy General Manager of Banfert, said that the company would take this exchange as an opportunity to continuously improve its IP management system, deeply unleash the value of technological innovation, optimize its patent portfolio, and leverage IP to empower continuous iteration of new material technologies, thereby constantly strengthening its core competitive advantages.