China to strengthen Intellectual Property Right Protection - report

China's Cabinet has said that it will strengthen Intellectual Property Right Protection, according to reports. There have been reports coming up for a few months that China is making efforts in various fields to strengthen the protection of intellectual property rights (IPRs).

According to media reports, a series of progress were achieved over the past year. The centralized and unified management of trademarks, patents and geographical indications significantly improved the efficiency of IPR law enforcement.

The administrative law enforcement of the country handled around 77,000 cases related to patents in 2018. The figure is 15.9 percent from the previous year. Meanwhile, more than 31,000 trademark violation cases were dealt with, involving nearly 546 million yuan (over 80 million U.S. dollars). Over 2,500 piracy cases were also handled last year, with more efforts put into the film industry. The public security agencies solved more than 19,000 cases of counterfeiting throughout the country while detaining nearly 28,000 suspects.

It is being believed that stepping up the protection of intellectual property rights will play a significant role as a cornerstone of economic development, innovation, and international trade. China is speeding up its transformation from industrialization to informatization where invisible assets such as patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, and software play an increasingly important role.