SHENZHEN plans to introduce tougher regulations on intellectual property rights (IPR) protection, in a bid to promote the application of IPR and accelerate the implementation of an innovation-driven development strategy, sznews.com reported.

The regulations were drafted by the city’s market and quality supervision commission and were submitted to the municipal legislative affairs office for review. In order to enhance the transparency of the government’s legislative work, the legislative affairs office published the full text of the regulations on its official website Sept. 29, and are soliciting opinions from all walks of life.

In the new regulations there are several key articles, including the establishment of a protection system for IPR creation and application, the calculation standards for the amount of illegal profits, an integrity protection system, a rights protection and service mechanism, and strengthening of a crackdown on overseas rights infringements. In addition, the regulations provide specific articles on punitive damages, a minimum penalty standard and the establishment of a mechanism for litigation and mediation.

The implementation of the most stringent IPR protection is one of the most important legislative ideas in the regulations. Once found infringing on IPR, companies or individuals will not be allowed to undertake government investment projects within three years or participate in government procurement, nor shall they be rewarded or funded by the government. For malicious infringement on IPR, the regulations have specified a minimum penalty of 50,000 yuan (US$7,545).

The deadline for the solicitation of public opinions is Oct. 30, before which citizens can put forward suggestions on the official website and the WeChat account of the municipal legislative affairs office, as well as by letter or email. (Zhang Yu)