Rise in foreign trademark registrations

Improved IP protections and dispute response facilitate confidence boost

A growing number of trademarks have been filed by foreign entities in China this year, thanks to stronger intellectual property protection and a quicker response time in tackling IP-related affairs, an official from the country's top IP regulator said.

Data released by the China National Intellectual Property Administration on Friday showed that from January to October, 121,000 foreign trademarks were registered in China, up 13.1 percent year-on-year.

During the same period, 92,000 foreign invention patents were also authorized in the country, an increase of 5.3 percent year-on-year, the data showed.

"The numbers have fully reflected the satisfaction of foreign-funded companies with our country's IP protection, as well as our endeavors in building a sound business environment by rule of law," said Guo Wen, head of the administration's IP protection division.

While firmly giving equal protection to every market entity regardless of where it is from, China has also taken initiative to align international economic and trade rules and has strengthened exchanges with foreign-funded enterprises by holding seminars to learn about their needs and difficulties in the IP field, she said.

"In addition, we've intensified the fight against malicious trademark registration, with better handling of IP cases involving enterprises from the United States, Germany, France, Italy, Thailand and Denmark after seeing sufficient evidence in these disputes," she added.

She pledged that progress will continue to be made to create a more fair, transparent and predictable business environment, as well as to constantly inject confidence into the development of foreign companies in the Chinese market.

While seeing rapid IP growth brought by foreign entities, China has also witnessed the development of its own enterprises over the past few months.

According to the data, China has had 4.66 million valid invention patents filed as of the end of October, 235,000 more than the number reported in June.

The average time it takes to review an invention patent has been reduced to 15.6 months, according to the data in October, from 16 months last year, showing the country is becoming more efficient when it comes to examining IP rights, said Heng Fuguang, spokesman for the administration.

As of June, the number of high-value invention patents per 10,000 people also reached 12.9, achieving the goal set in the nation's 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) ahead of schedule, he added.

Heng said that more IP rights have been applied for in more fields to bring more profits for enterprises and accelerate industrial development.

"To serve high-level opening-up, our international cooperation on IP has also been enhanced, as 151 centers for supporting technological innovation have been set up in China under joint efforts between the country and the World Intellectual Property Organization," he added.