The city of Jinan, capital of east China's Shandong province, has pledged its commitment to establish a new mechanism to protect intellectual property rights (IPR) in the city by 2020.

Explaining the rationale behind this commitment, Ma Sugang, director of the Jinan Municipal Intellectual Property Office, said: "The major stakeholders in this strategy are businesses. Businesses are at the very core of innovation and are protected by intellectual property rights. They should also manage and maintain this IPR mechanism."

According to Ma, innovation and the protection of IP issue have long been connected. China has now woken up to this reality as it sets about transforming itself from a low value-added manufacturing center to a recognized innovation leader, particularly as lower-cost countries compete for China's core business.

Over the past four years, the government of Jinan has assigned a total of 70 million yuan to encourage the industrialization of technological innovation and patent application, and the fund is getting bigger each year. It has also set up funds to reward efforts to establish brand names and trade marks. This government support has been conceived as an incentive for companies to invest more in R&D and patent applications.

Now this IP-related work has become an important measure in assessing the achievements of local government officials. Additionally, when the local government begins an evaluation of a major investment project, IP inspection is now considered every bit as important as those relating to land, planning and environmental protection.

IP evaluation will now be implemented across the whole process of project management. It will also be a key element in deciding whether a company will be recognized as an innovative player in the high-tech sector.

In order to ensure that the patent application procedure is accessible to all, the Jinan government has set up a service center providing potential patent applicants with legal assistance and all relevant information. There are now more than 100 professionals in Jinan qualified to help with patent applications. The city has also set up a hotline for people wanting to report intellectual property rights violations.

In recent years, the quantity and quality of patent applications in Jinan has increased dramatically. Last year, Jinan was nominated as a National Patent Pilot City and acknowledged as a model city for intellectual property protection.

The success of the city's efforts in developing its IP resources has been shown by a number of high profile success stories. One recent example is the Joyoung Co that successfully patented its soybean blender, ensuring the product gained international protection from would-be copycats.

With its legal protection in place, Joyoung was not only able to win a lawsuit against two companies infringing its patent and win 3 million yuan's worth of compensation, but is also enabled it to become the largest soy milk manufacturer in China and win more than 80 percent of the local market.

(Source: China Daily)