China continues to strengthen IPR protection

China has intensified its efforts to protect intellectual property rights and crack down on infringements, according to the top intellectual property regulator on Thursday.

In 2024, the national intellectual property system processed 72,000 administrative cases of patent infringement disputes, while mediation organizations operating under its guidance accepted nearly 140,000 intellectual property dispute cases, said Shen Changyu, head of the China National Intellectual Property Administration, at a news conference on Thursday.

Last year, copyright enforcement departments at various levels dealt with 3,219 cases of infringement and piracy in physical markets and removed 3.62 million infringing and pirated links online. National customs authorities seized 41,000 batches of suspected infringing goods in import and export activities.

Moreover, courts across the country concluded 544,000 intellectual property cases. Prosecutors nationwide prosecuted 21,000 individuals for crimes related to trademark, patent, copyright and trade secret infringements. Public security authorities investigated 37,000 cases involving intellectual property violations and the manufacture and sale of counterfeit goods, he added.

In addition, China has optimized its IP protection services. More than 30 cities across the country piloted projects for standardized public intellectual property services, and 28 specialized patent databases for key industries were built up, Shen said.

In collaboration with the World Intellectual Property Organization, China has set up 202 technology and innovation support centers. In addition, 483 national-level public intellectual property service institutions have been established, providing over 1.45 million times of services to innovation entities. Comprehensive intellectual property public service institutions are present in 52.6 percent of municipal-level cities across the nation, he added.

The construction of the national intellectual property protection information platform was completed last year, with the fundamental functions of the intellectual property big data center and public service platform realized, according to Shen.

Cao Yin contributed to this story.