Protections increase as Shanghai sees more patent applications

Shanghai recorded more than 131,700 patent applications last year and granted about 72,800, up 17.2 and 10.4 percent respectively over 2016, an annual white paper released on Tuesday said.

Some 54,600 applications were related to inventions, seeing an increase of 7.6 percent, which can be considered a result of the city’s scientific and technological innovation.

By the end of last year, the number of valid invention patents in the city had reached 100,433, up 18 percent. The number of invention patents per 10,000 local residents was 41.5, the second-highest among all provinces.

Increased protections

With the increase in creation of intellectual property in Shanghai, local authorities are stepping up efforts to enforce IP rights and prosecute offenders.

Last year the local intellectual property administration launched 34 enforcement inspections involving 68 commercial institutions. It also probed 314 patent administrative cases, 240 of which were patent disputes and 74 were counterfeit cases.

It dispatched 372 officers to 46 large-scale international exhibitions and tackled 238 patent infringement complaints on site.

Other related local departments are making efforts to protect intellectual property rights and give harsh punishment to regulation violators as well.

Last year Shanghai police handled 280 cases and arrested 575 offenders.

Customs tracked down 308 intellectual property infringement cases, with 16.7 million pieces of goods seized.

Meanwhile, the city's prosecutors accepted 210 IP infringement cases involving 388 people, 268 of whom were charged.