IP regulator vows increased efforts to protect rights

China's top intellectual property regulator said on Wednesday that it will strengthen efforts to curb malicious trademark registration and better protect IP rights by rule of law by optimizing authorization procedures.

"We'll also increase research to establish rules for digital IP protection and improve relevant regulations on geographical indications while continuing to amend a guideline on the implementation of the Patent Law," said Zhang Peng, head of the Department of Treaty and Law with the China National Intellectual Property Administration.

She added that a new chapter concerning design applications in the world will be added in the patent-related guideline to align with the international rules, facilitating higher efficiency and quality in the patent review process.

In the past 10 years, China has seen progress on the rule of law in the IP field. IP protection as a major principle was highlighted in the Civil Code, the country's fundamental law for regulating civil activities, and punitive damage was also backed in relevant IP laws, including the Patent Law and the Trademark Law.

"All the moves are meant to meet public demand and respond to enterprises' concerns to promote high-quality socioeconomic development in the country by rule of law," Zhang said.

Furthermore, the administration has also stepped up efforts to introduce laws and rules on IP protection through popular short-video sharing platforms to enhance public awareness, encouraging its sub-bureaus to help resolve IP-related disputes by mediation.

For example, data released at the news conference showed that from January to October, 16 mediation organizations guided and managed by the Beijing IP Bureau dealt with 11,994 IP-related disputes, of which about 60 percent were successfully solved through mediation.