Intellectual property rights center settles in Shenyang

A press conference on the new China (Shenyang) Intellectual Property Rights Protection Center is held by the Shenyang municipal market supervision administration on April 17. [Photo/chinanews.com]

The China (Shenyang) Intellectual Property Rights Protection Center -- the only national-level agency of its type in the Northeast China region -- will start operations this year, according to information released at a press conference held by the Shenyang municipal market supervision administration in Shenyang on April 17.

Officials said the new center is aimed at the high-end equipment manufacturing industry and will carry out rapid collaborative protection of industrial intellectual property rights -- involving reviews and confirmation, administrative law enforcement, rights protection assistance, and arbitration mediation.

In addition, officials added that it will open a green channel for the application of high-quality and high-value patents and improve working efficiency based on national standards.

Information from the conference revealed that the invention patent authorization period will be shortened from the original average period of 22 months to 3-6 months, the utility model patent authorization period will be shortened from the original 7-8 months to one month, and the design patent authorization period will be shortened to 5-7 working days.

Also, cases involving counterfeit patents and design infringements will be shortened from about  one month's duration to 10 days, and infringement cases involving inventions will be shortened from around three months to one month.

Officials said that over the past year, efforts have been made by Shenyang to streamline its intellectual property management system and operational mechanism. One example of the process, has been the establishment of the Shenyang intellectual property protection bureau.

In 2018, the number of patent applications in Shenyang reached 23,826, a year-on-year increase of 14.11 percent; the city obtained 12,582 patents in total, an increase of 27.21 percent over the same period last year; and the number of effective invention patents reached 15,038.

Reflecting the continuing improvements made to the level of trademark registration facilitation in Shenyang, the number of trademarks registered in Shenyang is believed to be among the biggest in the country.

Officials said that last year Shenyang accepted 8,290 trademark applications, 50 trademark change applications, five applications for re-certification, nine transfer applications, three applications for renewal and was involved in more than 15,000 consultations.