A team of experts from the Shenzhen Intellectual Property Rights Protection Center attended the 22nd China Hi-Tech Fair (CHTF) in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong province from Nov. 11-15. The team was present to carry out comprehensive intellectual property rights (IPR) services such as policy publicity and rights protection guidelines, as well as on-the-spot protection of IPR with law enforcement officers.

The event shows that Shenzhen is building itself into a benchmark city for the protection of IPR, which is helping turn the city into a hot spot for technological innovation.

Data from 2019 shows that Shenzhen has ranked first in China for the number of Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) applications for 16 consecutive years. In the first three quarters of 2020, a total of 28,000 enterprises in the city submitted 219,000 patent applications, of which 164,000 were granted. In addition, the number of international PCT applications reached 14,000, ranking first in the country, and the number of trademark applications hit 436,000.

The city also recently issued a plan for the pilot comprehensive reform of building a pilot demonstration zone of socialism with Chinese characteristics in Shenzhen for the period 2020-2025. The plan clearly states that Shenzhen should aim to build itself into a benchmark city for IPR protection.

In addition, regulations on technological innovation for Shenzhen, China's first special economic zone, came into effect on Nov. 1. As an important topic in the regulations, intellectual property is given an entire chapter, covering such aspects as the construction of an intellectual property value evaluation system, intellectual property capitalization, and intellectual property public services.

Shenzhen has also established a one-stop collaborative protection platform for IPR. This platform will promote the development of IPR through legal protection and empowering tech innovation, creating a more stable and transparent environment and expectations for technological innovations.

At the headquarters of telecommunication giant ZTE in Shenzhen, visitors can admire the company’s achievements in IPR since 1996 which are prominently displayed on a wall. Currently, ZTE has around 76,000 global patent applications and holds more than 36,000 valid authorized patents. It has ranked among the world's top five companies for international PCT applications for nine consecutive years, with more than 4,100 chip patent applications.

Meanwhile, Shenzhen tech firm Orbbec is the only company in the world that comprehensively develops five mainstream 3D sensing technologies and insists on conducting completely independent intellectual property R&D. The company has nearly 900 patent applications for 3D sensing technology, placing it among the top three global companies in this aspect alongside Apple and Microsoft. In addition, Orbbec ranks first in the world for 3D structured light scanning technology patent applications, while its patent applications continue to increase at an average rate of one per day.

(You can also read it at: http://www.china.org.cn/china/2020-11/18/content_76923194.htm)