Demonstration zone to boost IP industry in Pudong

A national-level intellectual property protection demonstration zone will be established in Shanghai's Pudong New Area by 2025, with the aim of benchmarking itself against premier international standards, local officials said on Tuesday.

It's hoped the zone will rank highly on the World Intellectual Property Organization's Global Innovation Index and the World Bank's business environment assessment system for startups.

The Shanghai Pudong New Area National Intellectual Property Protection Demonstration Zone will be among the country's initial group of 10 such zones nationwide, according to Gu Huirong, head of the IP protection division of Shanghai Intellectual Protection Administration.

As well as Pudong, the other IP zones will be in Binhai New Area in Tianjin, Nanjing and Suzhou in Jiangsu province, Hangzhou and Ningbo in Zhejiang province, Hefei in Anhui province, Guangzhou and Shenzhen in Guangdong province, and Chengdu in Sichuan province.

The initiative is the first national-level demonstration project in the field of IP rights approved by the State Council, China's Cabinet.

The Pudong demonstration zone was awarded its license on Sept 26, allowing the region to embark on bolder experiments and make breakthroughs in the IP field, according to Gu.

The demonstration zone's construction plan includes the implementation of five central measures that will improve intellectual property rights protection in the zone. They will include strengthening the planning of IP protection efforts; setting bars for IP rule of law; serving as an exemplar for IP administration; becoming a model of the IP protection; and safeguarding national security interests regarding IP.

The plan for Pudong's IP zone also outlines 13 critical indicators for evaluation, such as establishing five reform items that are benchmarked against international IP protection standards and three IP laws and regulations, said He Ying, deputy director of Pudong IP administration.

The Pudong government has issued regulations on major IP infringement compensation that are consistent with international practices. Since its implementation, local courts have adjudicated 18 such cases, handing out over 26.4 million yuan ($3.62 million) in awards, representing increases of 80 percent and 111 percent, respectively, over the period preceding the regulation's adoption.

China's first local-dispatched procuratorate specialized in IP cases has been established in Pudong, which integrates criminal, civil, administrative and public interest litigation, said Xie Fei, head of the procuratorate in Pudong's Zhangjiang area.

To support local enterprises going global, Pudong is establishing a regional branch of the national IP disputes center. It will launch four overseas IP service centers spanning Europe, the United States and Southeast Asia to facilitate high-level outward expansion and cross-border IP partnerships.

Zheng Zheng contributed to this story.