The Shanghai Intellectual Property Bureau announced on Monday that Shanghai was given an "excellent" rating in the national inspection and assessment of IP protection last year.

The announcement was made during the 2021 Annual Briefing Conference on Intellectual Property Development in Shanghai, which was attended by about 100 representatives from the member institutions of Shanghai's joint conference mechanism on intellectual property, foreign consulates in Shanghai, foreign business consuls, foreign-funded enterprises and service institutions.

By 2020, valid intention patents in Shanghai stood at 145,600, up 12.2 percent year-on-year, while invention patents per 10,000 residents in the city reached 60.21. Valid registered trademarks exceeded 1.73 million, up nearly 18 percent year on year, data from the bureau showed.

The Regulations of Shanghai Municipality on IP Protection, Shanghai's first comprehensive IP local regulation, took effect in March. The regulations emphasize equal and equitable treatment and protection for all market and innovation entities, including foreign-funded ones.

Shanghai has over the past few years also been stepping up efforts to deal with those who infringe IP laws. Last year, IP disputes accepted by courts in the city increased by 70.54 percent year-on-year. In the high-profile case of "Lepin" building blocks infringing on the copyright of the Lego company, the main offender was sentenced to six years in prison and fined 90 million yuan.

Last year, Shanghai conducted pilot mediation on referrals for patent disputes in 11 districts and set up IP enforcement and protection assistance stations in 11 key industrial parks, including Caohejing Hi-tech Park in Xuhui district, the Oriental Beauty Valley in Fengxian district, and the Zizhu National Hi-tech Park in Minhang district.

"This year, Shanghai will further enhance the city's role as the international forefront of IP protection and strengthen the work in areas like coordinating the implementation of IP strategy, exploring IP policy innovation, perfecting the IP protection system, promoting realizing of IP values, and strengthening IP services and international collaborations," said Rui Wenbiao, head of the Shanghai Intellectual Property Bureau.

"These efforts have effectively supported the city's wider and deeper opening-up, and provided a better IP environment for all types of enterprises, including the foreign-funded ones, to thrive in Shanghai," he said.

To better serve foreign businesses, the official English website of the bureau was officially launched on the same day.

Rui said the website will introduce Shanghai's IP protection and international cooperation in this field and share the best practices and successful experiences of IP work in the city.