Ceremony honoring the city for its progress in developing intellectual property. Provided to China Daily

Representatives of local enterprises accept 500,000 yuan each from the city for their achievement of intellectual property development. Provided to China Daily

Zhengzhou, capital of Henan province, was recently named a national demonstration city for intellectual property as "development in the city enters a new phase", said Zhao Jiancai, mayor of the city.

Approved patents in the city rocketed 162 percent from 1,528 in 2006 to 4,000 in 2009. Foreign patent applications from 2007 to 2009 in Zhengzhou rose from 12 to 57, increasing annually by 120 percent.

Last year 6,613 domestic patent applications were filed, almost doubling the previous record of 3,361 set in 2006. Applications for invention patents hit 1,700 in 2009, also almost twice the figure of 2006.

Registered trademarks reached 19,000, 12 of which were recognized as the well-known trademarks and 158 that are now classed as famous provincial trademarks, Zhao said.

"Intellectual property has become an increasingly important strategic resource for national development and international competition," Zhao said.

"Global economic turmoil that had a severe impact on our city's economy last year made us realize that it is the trend of the times to value intellectual property and accelerate technological innovation to change our development pattern."

"We will continue to make intellectual property work a key priority on our agenda, improving our city's core competitiveness and helping local companies sharpen their edge," Zhao said.

Ensuring financing for trademarks and encouraging development of local industries are now listed as main tasks on the city government's agenda.

According to Zhao, local authorities have established a 1 million yuan fund to reward products with nationwide well-known trademarks, locally famous trademarks and brands each year.

The local government has helped foster 21 enterprises with the intellectual property advantages. Five each filed 50 or more patent applications last year and 10 applied for more than 30 patents.

Some 300 local enterprises have been selected to receive government financing using patents as collateral.

Zhengzhou also now operates 10 information outlets including an intellectual property website for experts, enterprises and users to exchange information.

At the same time 20 patent demonstration villages, 10 demonstration towns and two "model counties" and districts are under development.

The city has also made greater efforts in enforcement, with the departments of intellectual property, public security, industry and commerce, copyright and customs joining forces to crack down investigating 134 patents and 1,812 trademark cases since 2007, with 2.1 million illegal publications seized.

"Zhengzhou has also been selected as a national advanced city for intellectual property enforcement several times," Zhao said.

Local authorities have helped companies establish their own intellectual property protection forces and offered training and information and well as establishing a warning system that reduces the potential risks.

Of 2,252 industrial enterprises in Zhengzhou, 778 have established intellectual property management agencies.

All 14 counties and districts in the city, including high-tech development zones and economic development zones, now have intellectual property offices.

As a national demonstration city for intellectual property progress, Zhengzhou aims to attract more attention from investors from home and abroad, said Wang Jichang, director of Zhengzhou science and technology bureau.

"Intellectual property protection is one of key factors for their choice of investment destination," Wang said. "Now we have this advantage and I believe more and more enterprises as well as scientific and technological experts will come to Zhengzhou."

It has become a new card for Zhengzhou to play in enhancing the city's comprehensive competitiveness, promoting its international image and opening more fields to the outside world, said Sun Jinxian, vice-mayor of the city.

Sun noted that Zhengzhou will strive to build an even more effective intellectual property system.

"We will also offer improved services for foreign investment and speed up transformation from a focus on mass production to an emphasis on further improving all aspects of intellectual property ," Sun said.

(Source: China Daily)

2013-07-17