On July 2, the 2nd Eastern, Northern, and Western Guangdong Intellectual Property Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition (hereinafter referred to as “Guangdong Innovation Competition”), which was jointly organized by the Guangdong Administration for Market Regulation (Guangdong Intellectual Property Administration) and Zhanjiang Municipal People's Government, came to a successful conclusion in Zhanjiang. Guangdong Ubridge New Material Technology Co., Ltd.(hereinafter referred to as “Guangdong Ubridge”) was awarded the Silver Prize in the Patent Category for its project “Application and Industrialization of Key Technologies for Co-production of Synthetic Rutile”.
This year's competition focuses on the transformation and utilization of intellectual property rights, aiming to promote the transformation of innovation achievements in the east, north, and west of Guangdong. The project of Guangdong Ubridge addresses the shortage of natural rutile resources, and achieves the high-efficiency co-production of synthetic rutile through the self-developed core technologies of “reduction-acid leaching method” and “reduction-rusting method”, which also produces other high-value-added by-products, including iron phosphate and electronic-grade iron oxide red. This breakthrough not only fills the gaps in domestic technology, but also breaks the international monopoly, providing a key support for the security of national strategic resources by transforming China's synthetic rutile industry from being dependent on imports to independent and controllable. In the end, the project stood out from 954 entries and became a benchmark case of scientific and technological innovation and industrial upgrading in the competition.
Due to the scarcity of natural rutile reserves in the earth's crust, the gap between supply and demand is becoming more and more prominent as the market demand continues to grow. Synthetic rutile is the best substitute for natural rutile. Guangdong Ubridge’s “Method of Utilizing Ilmenite Concentrate to Produce Synthetic Rutile” was granted an invention patent in 2017. After overcoming the technical challenges in production in 2019, the company quickly became the largest synthetic rutile production and marketing enterprise in China, with the project being recognized as a national “strengthen-weak-link” and “fill-the-gap" project.
Intellectual property is the core driving force of enterprise innovation. Guangdong Ubridge has established its technical barrier with an intensive patent layout. Up to now, we have applied for 166 patents, including 63 patents related to synthetic rutile. We have received authorization for 97 patents, including 20 invention patents.
The organizing committee of the competition commented, “The project of ‘Application and Industrialization of Key Technologies for Co-production of Synthetic Rutile’ has established a moat for the industry with patent clusters, achieved efficient utilization of resources with innovative technologies, and provided a key support for the security of strategic resources.
