The solicitation activities for the Second Patent Auction by the China Technology Exchange (CTEX) were formally kicked off in Shenzhen on April 28, 2011. The auction was part of the public trading of major national scitech achievements in the 11th Five-Year Plan. Some of the sci-tech achievements would be objects of the auction which would also solicit patent objects in the information technology field from the public.

According to sources, the items up for auction were mainly related to cloud computing, Internet of things, information security technology and other information technology-related fields, including individual patents, patent portfolios, patented technologies and PCT application rights for foreign related patents. Research institutes, enterprises and other institutions were welcome to participate in the public solicitation. The solicitation is ongoing and was scheduled to close on May 31, 2011. Upon conclusion of the bidding, industry experts will conduct a one-month selection on the basis of the legal status and other information of the objects.

CTEX successfully held the first patent auction by the Institute of Computing Technology in 2010, auctioning off 28 out of 70 objects. The success rate hit 40% and the gross turnover amounted to three million Yuan. The second auction attempts to draw on the successful experience of the first auction to promote IP commercialization through expansion of the solicitation scope and innovative transaction modes.

The second patent auction was sponsored by CTEX, Beijing Unitalen Attorneys at Law, Beijing Guoxin Xingye Auction Co., Ltd., and organized by the National Patent Technology Exhibition & Exchange Center of Beijing, the National Patent Technology Exhibition & Exchange Center of Shenzhen. The auction also received strong support from the Torch Center of the Ministry of Science, Beijing Municipal Intellectual Property Office, the Market Supervision of Shenzhen Municipality and other government departments.