As a state-level demonstration area for autonomous innovation and one of the first model cities for intellectual property in the nation, Shenzhen has placed the advancement of innovation at the center of all its efforts, and has strived to establish itself as a leading area for intellectual property around the country, and ultimately, in the world. On August 8, the unveiling ceremony of the Shenzhen Intellectual Property Protection Center was held in the Qianhai and Shekou Area of Shenzhen. Tian Fu, municipal standing committee chairman and director of the Administrative Committee of Qianhai and Shekou Area, and Chen Biao, vice mayor and director of the Market and Quality Supervision Commission of Shenzhen Municipality, attended the plaque unveiling ceremony.
Tian pointed out that the Intellectual Property Protection Center has been located in Qianhai to meet the industrial development needs of the functional zone, which can serve the enterprises gathered there and is conducive to creating a good business environment and establishing a long-term intellectual property protection mechanism in the Qianhai and Shekou Area.
Chen indicated that compared with world-class cities, Shenzhen's public service capacity in intellectual property protection is not strong enough, and enterprises cannot obtain effective help to safeguard their legal rights. He hoped that the center can focus on the needs of innovation-driven development strategies, maintain a foothold in Qianhai, serve Shenzhen, and learn from other global examples as it strives to become an influential intellectual property protection institution, both in China and the world.
The gathered media learned that since 2009, the Shenzhen Municipal Market Supervision Administration Bureau has investigated and dealt with 7,396 cases of intellectual property infringement, including 5,845 trademark infringement cases, 1,053 patent infringement cases, and 498 copyright infringement cases. It has also dealt with the copyright infringement case of Shenzhen QVOD Technology Co., Ltd., and meted out CNY260 million in administrative penalties, the largest amount in the domestic Internet industry, as it cracks down on various types of intellectual property violations. However, in view of the large volume of cases concerning intellectual property rights, the corresponding system of intellectual property protection in Shenzhen is relatively weak, and there exist problems, such as regional development imbalances, single-service models, fragmented service content, and fierce homogeneous competition.
□Background
The Shenzhen Intellectual Property Protection Center was established to build a public service hub for intellectual property rights and provide timely and effective intellectual property protection services for government, enterprises, intermediaries and technical organizations. It will focus on building a detection and early warning system, setting up an intellectual property protection laboratory, and providing public services for dispute resolution, assistance to safeguard the intellectual property rights, and advisory services.
The Shenzhen Intellectual Property Protection Center will, with the aid of the Shenzhen Institute of Standards and Technology, provide one-stop intellectual property services for Shenzhen enterprises and strive to build an integrated professional, diversified and international intellectual property protection service platform to improve Shenzhen’s public service capabilities in the protection of intellectual property rights.
