Intellectual property rights stepped up

China has stepped up efforts to help businesses protect their intellectual property rights through optimized services and quicker channels, so that innovation can be stimulated, a spokeswoman for the country's top IP regulator said on Tuesday.

Guo Wen, also head of the China National Intellectual Property Administration's IP protection division, told a news conference that a number of IP agencies with comprehensive services and smooth channels have been set up in recent years, providing innovative entities with easier access to safeguarding their rights and interests.

She said China has 71 national-level IP protection centers, and has also established 42 stations where businesses can solve their IP disputes in a more convenient manner.

"The figures mean that IP protection centers have basically covered major and economically strong regions, and the stations have been built in industrial clusters for small commodities and fast-moving consumer goods," Guo said.

From January to April, the agencies dealt with 35,000 IP rights protection cases, with an average processing time of about two weeks, "demonstrating an improvement in efficiency of IP case handling", she said.

More than 150,000 departments and enterprises have registered at the agencies, so that they can utilize services such as free IP training and patent analysis reports, Guo added.

While pledging to improve the quality of services in the agencies, she said the administration has also encouraged local governments to build similar bodies to strengthen IP protection and stimulate innovation.

Following the rapid growth of the internet economy, Tong Bo, an official from the State Administration for Market Regulation, said on Tuesday that the crackdown against counterfeit goods and other IP violations in cyberspace will be intensified.

Since June last year, some 27,000 online IP infringements have been solved under a joint crackdown launched by the market regulator and several other authorities, of which 267 have been handed over to public security bureaus for further investigation, she said.

Meanwhile, about 16,000 pieces of information involving counterfeit products on internet platforms have been eliminated, and 32,000 websites have been urged to rectify problems, Tong said.

"The crackdown is still ongoing, aiming to enhance enforcement of IP-related laws in cyberspace and to severely fight against those who produce and sell fake goods online," she said.

Tong also said that more information technologies, such as big data and cloud computing, will be widely applied in law enforcement, "so that we can find and identify IP violations more accurately".

Over the past few years, China's judicial protection of IP rights has become stronger, with harsher punishment of violators. For example, punitive damages were applied in 319 IP cases last year, an increase of 117 percent compared with 2022.