On May 17, the Information Office of the People's Government of Guangdong Province held a press conference on the white paper titled "The Status of Intellectual Property Protection in Guangdong Province in 2023". The press conference was hosted by Deng Hong, the deputy director of the Information Office of the People's Government of Guangdong Province.
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Guangdong ranks first in China in terms of patent authorization volume
Deng Hong introduced that intellectual property rights are strategic resources for national development and core elements of international competitiveness. Protecting intellectual property rights also protects innovation. Guangdong has accelerated the construction of intellectual property rights in recent years, with more than 703,700 patents granted, ranked first in the country. Its comprehensive regional innovation capabilities have been ranked first in the country for seven consecutive years. The "Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou" technology cluster has been ranked first in the world in terms of intellectual property rights for four consecutive years. The organization was ranked second in the Global Innovation Index.
Guangdong ranked first in China in many intellectual property-related indicators
Gao Guosheng, deputy director of the Guangdong Provincial Administration for Market Regulation and director of the Guangdong Provincial Intellectual Property Protection Center, provided an update on Guangdong's accomplishments. In 2023, Guangdong received approval for 10 national intellectual property construction pilot demonstration cities, 21 strong county construction pilot demonstration counties, and 8 strong country construction pilot demonstration parks. Guangzhou and Shenzhen were chosen as the first cities for the construction of national intellectual property protection demonstration zones, as well as the first national pilot cities for the construction of standardized intellectual property public services.
Efforts will continue to build intellectual property demonstration platforms in Hengqin, Qianhai, Nansha, and Hetao. Additionally, support will be given to the launch of new intellectual property comprehensive reform experiments in Sino-Singapore Guangzhou Knowledge City. Furthermore, the Guangdong Provincial Market Supervision Department has been actively addressing intellectual property issues, having investigated and resolved 4,005 cases of intellectual property administrative penalties and 9,686 patent infringement disputes.
The Guangdong Provincial Administration for Market Regulation has released China's first local standard, ie "Patent Navigation Work Guide in the Digital Era." This standard aims to accelerate the construction of the manufacturing innovation system. It has been approved as one of the five national-level manufacturing innovation centers, ranked first in China. In the previous year, Guangdong Province granted a total of 703,700 patents. As of the end of last year, the province had 317,900 high-value invention patents, 281,300 PCT international patent applications, and 8.4399 million valid registered trademarks, all ranking first in China. Additionally, Guangdong won a total of 282 award-winning projects in the 24th China Patent Awards, further securing its position as the leading province in China.
At present, Guangdong has built 43 intellectual property collaborative operation centers in the province and has established 20 prefecture-level and municipal-level comprehensive intellectual property public service agencies, 6 technology and innovation support centers (TISC), and 6 university intellectual property rights centers throughout the province. It also has an Information Service Center and 10 national intellectual property information public service stations. Additionally, Guangdong has built a total of 13 national-level intellectual property protection centers or rapid rights protection centers, 16 provincial branch centers, 10 city and county-level rights protection assistance agencies, and 217 workstations. It has also established overseas intellectual property protection service workstations in Russia, Germany, and the United States.
Guangdong cracking a total of 1,678 criminal cases of intellectual property infringement in 2023
Luo Haiming, the second-level police commissioner of the Guangdong Provincial Public Security Department, said that Guangdong cracks down on criminal activities that infringe on intellectual property rights. Last year, the province cracked a total of 1,678 criminal cases of intellectual property infringement, among the top in China. Guangdong also cracks down on intellectual property infringement crimes in key areas and areas where counterfeit goods are produced and sold.
Concluding China's first case of extracting and trading of Weibo data
Deng Yanhui, a second-level senior judge of the High People's Court of Guangdong Province, said that last year, the court issued the nation's first data-related judicial policy document and released the first batch of typical cases on intellectual property protection in the digital economy. Additionally, the court adjudicated China's first case of the extracting and trading of Weibo data, resulting in one of the highest damages awards in data competition disputes.
Courts across the province have strengthened the trial of unfair competition and antitrust cases, effectively curbing false propaganda, defamation, and restricted competition to maintain market order. They have properly heard unfair competition cases involving software "data relocation," false real-name authentication services on live streaming platforms, and short video dubbing rights, and have proactively responded to the judicial needs of new business models. In 2023, the support rate for damages in intellectual property civil cases in the province reached 65 percent, with the highest awarded damages amounting to 3.17 billion yuan.
Guangdong customs seizing infringing goods worth over 200 million yuan last year
Yuan Shengqiang, Level II Bureau Rank Official of the Guangdong Sub-Administration of the General Administration of Customs of the People's Republic of China (GACC), said that in 2023, Guangdong Customs accelerated the construction of smart customs to combat import and export infringement. Last year, customs in the province seized 15,766 batches of infringing goods, totaling 33.14 million items, with a value exceeding 2 billion yuan.
New technologies such as digitization, networking, and intelligence are widely applied to achieve precise targeting of high-risk goods and rapid clearance of low-risk goods. In 2023, Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao also strengthened the law enforcement linkage three times to jointly crack down on infringement and illegal acts. During the operation, Guangdong Customs seized 2,825 batches of suspected infringing goods, totaling over 2.2 million items.
Promoting the copyright registration of digital works
According to Wang Dashu, director of the Copyright and Printing Management Department of the Guangdong Copyright Administration, the copyright industry is a pillar industry of the Guangdong economy. In 2022, the industry’s added value was 1.150447 trillion yuan, accounting for 8.91 percent of the province's GDP. The number of employees reached 5.9495 million, representing 8.62 percent of the province's employment. The total value of imported and exported goods was 138.033 billion USD, accounting for 11.07 percent of the province's total, with exports at 127.986 billion USD and imports at 10.047 billion USD, achieving a trade surplus of 117.939 billion USD.
Furthermore, Guangdong also explores the integration of copyright with technology and culture. The province guides cities like Chaozhou in protecting and promoting folk art copyright, encouraging the export of works in traditional cultural heritage fields to overseas markets. It also organizes enterprises in the province that excel in copyright protection to participate in major exhibitions such as the China International Copyright Expo, enhancing both display and transaction functions and presenting the development of Guangdong's copyright industry.
Author | Alice, Holly
Editor | Will, James
