ABSTRACT
With the speedy growth of the economy in the past 30 years, Chinese companies have become more and more aware of the importance of IP protection, a growing awareness of intangible assets. They actively register their IP rights in China and the world. Statistics show that the State Intellectual Property Office granted 1.26 million patent applications in 2012, up 31.25 per cent from a year earlier. The number of trademark registration applications reached 1.42 million in 2012, a sharp rise from the 19,000 applications submitted in 1983, when the country’s trademark law took effect. More than 845,000 publications were registered in China for copyright protection in 2013, up about 23 per cent year on year. The World Intellectual Property Organization said that China topped the world rankings for patent applications in 2013.2
Government policy also strengthens the importance of IP in the economy. China currently has four parliamentary IP laws and 19 regulations related to intellectual property rights protection, covering patents, trademarks, copyright and technical fields.3 The government has passed several regulations to promote and improve patent quality to, and provide many policy benefits to IP companies.4
