Speakers:
Shen Changyu, head of the National Intellectual Property Administration (NIPA)
He Zhimin, deputy head of the NIPA
Yu Cike, head of the copyright management division under the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee
Chairperson:
Xing Huina, deputy head of the Press Bureau of the State Council Information Office (SCIO) and SCIO spokesperson
Date:
April 25, 2021
Xing Huina:
Friends from the media, good morning. Welcome to this press conference held by the State Council Information Office (SCIO). The Outline of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) for National Economic and Social Development and the Long-Range Objectives Through the Year 2035 proposes implementing the strategy of building China into a country that is strong on intellectual property rights (IPR). Today, we have invited Mr. Shen Changyu, head of the National Intellectual Property Administration (NIPA), to brief you on the progress of implementing the 14th Five-Year Plan and speeding up the building of a country that is strong on IPR, and to answer your questions. We also have with us Mr. He Zhimin, deputy head of the NIPA, and Mr. Yu Cike, head of the copyright management division under the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee.
Next, I will give the floor to Mr. Shen.
Shen Changyu:
Thank you. Friends from the media, good morning. First of all, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your interest, attention and support for intellectual property work over the years.
On Nov. 30, 2020, the Political Bureau of the 19th CPC Central Committee held a group study session on strengthening IPR protection in China. General Secretary Xi Jinping delivered an important speech, profoundly expounding on a series of major theoretical and practical issues concerning IPR protection, which provided fundamental guidelines for comprehensively strengthening IPR protection. Premier Li Keqiang presided over an executive meeting of the State Council to study and make plans on IPR-related work.
In 2020, under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, the intellectual property departments coordinated the epidemic controls with regular work, in accordance with the decisions and deployments of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, and successfully completed the main objectives and tasks of IPR protection and application outlined in the national intellectual property strategy and the 13th Five-Year Plan. Remarkable achievements have been made in various tasks.
First, IPR protection has been comprehensively strengthened. China's Patent Law and Copyright Law have been amended. A punitive compensation system for infringements of patents and copyrights has been established. The Opinions on Strengthening Intellectual Property Rights Protection and its action plan have been implemented. The national inspection and assessment of IPR protection have been carried out, in which 10 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) scored more than 90 points. We have investigated 31,300 trademark infringement cases nationwide and 7,100 cases of counterfeiting patents, with 841 cases being transferred to judicial organs. Over 42,000 administrative adjudication rulings on patent infringement disputes were made. A total of 1,826 infringement and piracy cases were filed for investigation and 213 cases were transferred to judicial organs. A total of 62,000 batches of import and export goods suspected of infringing certain IPR were detained, totaling 56.18 million items. More than 520,000 criminal, civil, and administrative IPR cases were received in the first instance, second instance and retrial, and over 519,000 cases were concluded. We cracked 21,000 criminal cases of IPR infringement and the production and sale of fake and shoddy products, and arrested 32,000 suspects, with the total value involved in the cases reaching 18 billion yuan. The satisfaction score of the IPR protection increased to 80.05 points.
Second, both the quantity and quality of IPR creation have increased. In the whole year, 530,000 invention patents were authorized, and the number of invention patents per 10,000 people reached 15.8, exceeding the targets outlined in the 13th Five-Year Plan. The number of PCT international patent applications submitted by Chinese applicants through the Patent Cooperation Treaty reached 69,000, ranking first in the world. In the whole year, 5.761 million trademark registrations were made, and 7,553 applications for international trademark registration under the Madrid Protocol were received from domestic applicants. The number of registered works reached 3.32 million. The number of registrations for computer software copyright was 1.72 million. In total, 765 geographical indication trademarks were approved for registration, six geographical indication protection products were recognized, and 1,052 companies were approved to use geographical indication special signs. In addition, 2,549 new varieties of agricultural plants and 441 new varieties of forestry plants were granted. In the Global Innovation Index 2020 released by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), China jumped 15 slots from 2015 to 14th place.
