Shanghai launched Intellectual Property Rights Week on Monday, with an aim to improve public awareness of IP protection in the city.

Shanghai had 48,370 patents granted for inventions in 2013, an increase of 20 percent over the previous year, according to a white paper released by Shanghai's Intellectual Property Administration.

In 2013, the city received 106,000 trademark applications and approved 57,000 of them, the white paper said.

On the legal side, Shanghai courts handled 6,656 lawsuits involving intellectual property, a 25 percent year-on-year increase, the white paper said.

In 2013, more than 18,000 professional technical personnel in the city participated in continuing education programs related to intellectual property rights, according to the paper, the 2013 Intellectual Property Rights Whitepaper.