Beijing to set up IPR center to better serve high-tech firms

Beijing will establish a center this year dedicated to providing services to high-tech companies on intellectual property rights (IPR), officials said.

Chen Jining, acting mayor of Beijing, announced the plan in a legislative meeting this week as part of the government's efforts to make the Chinese capital more tech-savvy.

The center will offer fast-track services for patent applications to companies in information technology and high-end equipment production, two areas with the highest demand, said Wang Lianjie, a political advisor for Beijing and expert on IPR.

Patent applications for unsophisticated inventions and exterior design will usually be processed within three months, Wang said, adding that the center will also fast-track cases involving IPR infringement.

Beijing saw 9.5-percent growth in its high-tech industry in the past year, and the municipality's strategic new industries expanded 10.6 percent year on year, according to data from the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Statistics.

IPR protection centers have been established in cities like Shanghai and Shenzhen to meet the high demand in patent applications and growth in cases involving IPR infringement.

China's patent office received nearly 1.34 million applications for invention patents in 2016, up 21.5 percent year on year. Chinese inventors filed more than 40,000 international applications in 2016.

China continued to top global trademark applications in 2016, with about 3.7 million trademark applications, up 28.4 percent from 2015. The number of valid trademarks registered in China was nearly 12.4 million by the end of 2016.