SHENZHEN’S innovation prowess is growing, as evidenced by the surging number of patent applications. The number of patent applications filed by individuals, companies and institutions in Shenzhen in the first half of 2018 soared 30.63 percent to 103,775 compared to the same period last year, according to the latest figures released by the Shenzhen Municipal Intellectual Property Bureau.

By the end of June, the number of valid invention patents owned by individuals, companies and institutions in Shenzhen had reached 113,375, an increase of 11.15 percent year on year. The number of international patent applications, filed under Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), in the same period hit 7,925, the highest among Chinese cities.

The number of approved patents in the city over the first six months also grew to 70,638, soaring 64.76 percent from a year ago. This includes 10,840 invention patents, a year-on-year increase of 21.06 percent. In total, every 10,000 Shenzheners own 90.5 invention patents.

At the 19th WIPO-SIPO Award for Chinese Outstanding Patented Invention and Industrial Design at the end of last year, five Shenzhen enterprises, namely Chipscreen, Nationz Technologies, Huawei, Huaxun Fangzhou and Tencent, won gold medals, the most from any Chinese city and accounting for 20 percent of the total gold medals for the country.

The Shenzhen Special Zone Daily yesterday attributed the city’s technological and innovation capabilities to its ideal business environment and stringent rules protecting intellectual property.

Law enforcement officers investigated 486 cases of IP infringement in the first half of the year and sent 20 cases to police for prosecution.

Within months of being established in Qianhai at the end of last year, Shenzhen’s IP court had already heard 4,439 cases.

At the end of last year, the city’s IP bureau raided a den making counterfeit power adapters using the trademarks of Huawei, Samsung and Lenovo. A total of 31,919 counterfeit products were seized.

In April, police arrested six suspects in Shenzhen and Dongguan for allegedly manufacturing and selling counterfeit cancer drugs with trademarks of Osicent and Opdivo. The arrests led to a factory producing fake cancer drugs in Dongguan being closed.

(SD News)