Since China launched its intellectual property quick protection programme at the end of 2012, six centres had been established in Zhongshan, Dongguan and Shunde in Guangdong; Chaoyang District in Beijing; Nantong in Jiangsu; and Hangzhou in Zhejiang. Working with SIPO, the centres had received approximately 6,500 design applications for preliminary review and had helped local intellectual property authorities mediate more than 1,500 patent infringement disputes.
After two and a half years of development, the programme had achieved initial results in three areas.
Faster protection of intellectual property rights
The period for handling patent infringement disputes was shortened from four months to one month.
Faster examination of design applications
The examination period for designs was shortened to ten working days, allowing approvals in some sectors to keep pace with product development and launches.
Stronger industrial innovation and design capabilities
As the centres’ operations became established, local intellectual property protection and management improved. The growing reputation of industrial clusters attracted domestic and overseas design organisations, strengthening their capacity to create and use intellectual property.