On 29 September, the National Copyright Administration of China (NCAC) announced the winners of the 2025 WIPO-NCAC Copyright Awards. The National Museum of China's submission, "NMC Innovative — Illustrated by the Phoenix Coronet Refrigerator Magnet", received the 2025 WIPO-NCAC Award for Copyright Utilization. The award ceremony, jointly organized by the NCAC and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), was held on 16 October during the International Copyright Forum.
The WIPO–NCAC Copyright Awards, jointly organized by the NCAC and the WIPO, were established in 2008 and are presented biennially. They represent the highest honors in China's copyright field and the country's only copyright-related international awards. The WIPO-NCAC consists of four categories: the Award for Creativity, the Award for Copyright Utilization, the Award for Copyright Protection, and the Award for Copyright Administration & Management, with a total of 20 awardees. Among them, five awards are given in the Copyright Utilization category, which recognizes institutions or individuals that have made outstanding contributions to the development and utilization of copyright resources, particularly in promoting and disseminating exemplary works, promoting China's fine traditional culture, integrating the copyright industry chain, managing and operating copyright assets, and advancing the high-quality development of the copyright industry.
"NMC Innovative" is a proprietary brand of the National Museum of China (NMC). Since its establishment in 2016, the brand has been registered as a trademark and now covers nearly 30 major categories and more than 100 subcategories. "NMC Innovative" has developed and refined a licensing model that incorporates copyright protection, facilitating collaboration on over 400 cultural heritage IPs and bringing more than 500 licensed products to market. In the third quarter of 2024, the NMC launched a cultural and creative refrigerator magnet inspired by the Phoenix Coronet for Empress Xiaoduan of the Ming dynasty. Closely aligned with elements of the museum's renowned collections, and distinguished by its carefully selected materials, innovative design, practical function, and accessible price, the product quickly became a phenomenon-level bestseller widely favored by the public.
In recent years, "NMC Innovative," drawing upon the rich collections of the NMC, has successfully integrated traditional culture with contemporary aesthetics through high-quality repurposed design and product development. It has introduced a series of culturally meaningful and widely acclaimed cultural and creative products, setting a strong example for how museums can contribute to building China's cultural strength and promoting the cultural economy. At the same time, "NMC Innovative" has placed increasing emphasis on copyright protection, undertaking extensive work in trademark and copyright management. These efforts have laid a solid foundation for the sustainable development of the museum's cultural and creative endeavors.