Shanghai Builds IP Powerhouse to Boost New Quality Productive Forces

​[Photo/VCG]

Shanghai held a press conference on April 21 to unveil its roadmap for building an intellectual property (IP) powerhouse, with a focus on accelerating new quality productive forces, said Zhu Qigao, general-director of the Shanghai Intellectual Property Administration.

Since 2020, the city's number of high-value invention patents per 10,000 people surged to 65 from 29.6. PCT applications increased from 3,558 to 7,446, and valid registered trademarks reached 2.93 million, up from 1.73 million.

Annual copyright registrations rose from 318,900 to 460,000. The Shanghai-Suzhou innovation cluster ranked among the top in World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)'s Global Innovation Index. The city earned top marks in national IP protection assessments for five consecutive years.

Shanghai's courts concluded 47,000, with punitive damages amounting to 170 million yuan ($24.94 million). Police cracked over 550 criminal IP cases, arresting 2,100 suspects involving 1.3 billion yuan.

Patent and trademark pledge financing reached 40.2 billion yuan, up from 3.84 billion in 2020. Annual patent licensing and transfer volume rose from 32,000 to 65,000 instances, up 41.17 percent year-on-year, with 2,166 open licenses completed.

The city recorded 987 administrative enforcement cases, with penalties of 11.28 million yuan, and concluded 2,684 patent dispute cases.