SHENZHEN has emerged as a national leader in intellectual property (IP) protection, with an impressive 104.28 high-value invention patents per 10,000 people — 8.08 times the national average — according to the Shenzhen Administration for Market Regulation (Shenzhen Intellectual Property Administration).

In April 2023, Shenzhen was selected as one of the first cities to establish a national IP protection demonstration zone. Since then, the city has seen remarkable progress in its IP industry with enhanced protective measures and service systems, Shenzhen Special Zone Daily reported yesterday.

According to statistics, the city has handled 39,400 IP-related judicial cases, with 36 punitive damages judgments made since 2023.

In the first 11 months of this year, the city had seized 25.44 million pieces of infringing goods in 5,552 batches. One-on-one guidance had been provided for 1,943 enterprises to help them deal with overseas IP disputes, reducing market losses by over US$2.1 billion.

As of the end of this October, Shenzhen had recorded 226,300 international patent applications under the Patent Cooperation Treaty, ranking first among Chinese cities for the 20th consecutive year, and over 2 million domestic patent authorizations, leading the country for six years.

The city also had a trademark registration volume of 190,000 in the first three quarters of this year, topping national rankings. Furthermore, the Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou technology cluster has maintained a second-place global ranking in the World Intellectual Property Organization’s Global Innovation Index for five years.

(Zhang Yu)