April 26 marked the World Intellectual Property Day, and the theme of this year was "IP & SMEs: Taking Your Ideas to Market". On this occasion, the Provincial Leading Group Office for Implementing IP and Trademark Strategies of Shandong released a white paper on the status of IP development and protection of the province in 2020.

Shandong saw intensified IP protection in 2020, according to the white paper. A number of special operations were launched under the guidance of the Leading Group Office, including "Iron Fist", "Sword at the Internet", "Dragon", "Blue Net" and "Kunlun", to crack down on IPR violations. Market regulation administrations of the provinces handled 1,024 IP dispute cases, investigated 545 patent violation cases and 2,126 trademark violation cases, with fines and forfeitures amounting to 182 million yuan. Public security organs registered and investigated 928 infringement and counterfeiting cases involving 2.934 billion yuan of illegal gains. Procuratorial organs in Shandong accepted 372 IP infringement cases and prosecuted 989 people. Courts of the province accepted 19,983 IP-related first instance cases and settled 19,908.

More IPRs were created by various innovators. By the end of 2020, the province held 124,512 valid invention patents, up 23.4% YoY; and the number of valid invention patents owned by each 10,000 heads of population stood at 12.4, exceeding the goal of 12 set for the 13th Five-year Plan period. There were a total of 1.61 million registered trademarks, up 24.07% YoY. And the number of international registered trademarks under the Madrid system and GI trademarks was 9,118 and 792, respectively. 1,214 rights were granted out of 2,946 applications to new varieties of agricultural plants, and there were cumulatively 302 rights of new varieties of forestry plants. More than 200,000 new copyright registrations were made for works, up 100.6% YoY.

The year also saw remarkable results in IP utilization. The amount of trademark and patent pledge financing registered was 22.7 billion yuan in 2020. More than 24 million yuan was appropriated to SMEs as interest subsidies, evaluation fees and subsidy funds for value analysis fees in IP pledge financing projects. According to statistics, through IP pledge loan projects, assisted enterprises increased 4.898 billion yuan of output value, 4.612 billion yuan of sales revenue, and 359 million yuan of profits, and 884 new patent applications were made. A total of 59 patents won the 21st China Patent Awards, including 6 golden medals, accounting for 15% of the total golden medals of the whole country.

Efforts made in promoting IP system reforms, enhancing IP public service and expanding IP cooperation and publicity in 2020 were also detailed in the white paper.(Translated from CNIPA Website Chinese Version)