Shanghai will beef up intellectual property (IP) protection and build the city into a leading international IP center by 2035, under an action plan released by the municipal government. By 2025, the city aims to be a leader in international IP with improved mechanisms and services supporting IP protection and strengthened international cooperation, according to the plan. By 2033, Shanghai will be built into a leading IP center with a complete and mature system, and globally leading indicators for IP creation and application. The plan includes 10 indicators for 2025, including increasing the average ownership of high-value invention patents to 30 per 10,000 people, the number of overseas invention patents to 6,000 and adding an accumulated 1,400 trademark applications under the Madrid System. It is expected that by 2025, the share of added value of patent-intensive industries in the city's GDP will rise to 19% and the share of added value of copyright industries in GDP will be increased to 9.9%. In term of IP protection and services, the city will increase the number of licensed patent agents to 2,100 by 2025.
Since 2004, Shanghai has drawn up two IP strategy outlines. From 2011 to 2020, the number of invention patents authorized in Shanghai increased from 9,200 to 24,200; the number of Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) international patent applications rose from 847 to 3,558, and the total number of effective registered trademarks grew from 261,800 to 1.73 million. As of the end of 2020, Shanghai had registered 145,600 invention patents, accounting for 60.21 per 10,000 people, ranking second in the country.
China is committed to participating in the global governance of IP under the framework of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in 2022, Wang Wenbin, Spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said. In 2021, foreign applicants were granted 110,000 invention patents in China, a year-on-year increase of 23%. Trademark registrations increased by 5.2% year-on-year, reaching 194,000 successful applications, according to the report, indicating foreign companies' rising confidence in China's IP protection and business environment, the Global Times reports.
