IPR protection key at Putuo innovation hub

Famous trademarks, time-honored brands and well-known foreign brands have become the major focus of the intellectual property bureau in Putuo District, established last year within the China-Israel Innovation Hub.

The bureau handled 43 IPR infringement cases with a total of 290,000 yuan (US$40,903) in fines last year, the bureau said during the district’s IPR conference on Wednesday.

The bureau was established to encourage more innovative firms to the hub and help protect the intellectual property rights of firms already there.

It has also been working with Shanghai's trademark and patent authority to offer legal consultations, patent analysis and application services.

The district’s first trademark guidance station has been established at Universal Software Park, one of the city’s major innovation parks for computer and Internet firms. It has helped 18 Putuo companies to register 158 trademarks. Across the park, there are 220 key companies and 1,844 trademarks.

The bureau also encourages companies to acquire patents and become examples for other Putuo firms. Local costume firm K-Boxing and Tongji Hospital have been listed by the Shanghai IPR Bureau as pilot companies on patents.

Putuo aims to develop its key industrial parks, such as the innovation hub, into demonstration zones for intellectual property rights protection in Shanghai and China, according to the district government.

Cao Liqiang, Putuo’s Party secretary, said the district aims to offer equal protection to domestic and overseas as well as large and small-and-medium size enterprises. More severe crackdowns will be imposed on any IPR infringements, Cao said.