"The creation, application and protection of intellectual property
rights (IPR) has become a worldwide trend in recent years... and a greater
holding of IPR means a greater share of markets in today's fierce competition,"
Wang said at the China International Patent Fair 2004, which opened Wednesday in
Dalian, a coastal city in Northeast China's Liaoning Province.
The four-day fair, organized by SIPO, the Liaoning Provincial Government and
the Dalian Municipal Government, has the latest patented technology and products
from domestic and overseas companies and research institutes.
Chinese enterprises are lagging behind developed countries in technological
innovation and commercialization of patented technologies, Wang said.
"It's urgent that we promote the intellectual property strategy for
cultivating competitiveness in Chinese enterprises," he said.
Delegations from the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan attended the
fair. More than 500 patented technologies from nearly 20 countries, including
Canada, France, Japan, Russia and the United States, are on show at the fair.
About 150,000 visitors and business people are present.
SIPO handled 308,487 patent applications last year, up 22 per cent over 2002.
SIPO handled 1,171 patent applications last year, an increase of 220 over 2002,
relevant statistics indicate.
Among the country's 800,000-odd independently-developed, patented
technologies, less than 10 per cent have been commercialized. Sources from SIPO
attribute this to weak services of patent information.
Developed countries such as Japan and the United States have already
formulated their own intellectual property rights strategies over the past two
years.
Premier Wen Jiabao has said future world competition will have a huge focus
on innovation and IPR protection. He said the Chinese Government considers the
development of IPR to be important.
Wang said China is working out a national IPR strategy to improve the
country's intellectual property rights system.
According to Dai Yulin, vice-mayor of Dalian, the country's major cities are
actively stipulating regional IPR strategies. Shanghai, Nanjing, Hangzhou and
other 13 cities in the Yangtze River Delta have formed an IPR protection union
to fight IPR violations.
Dai said Dalian, the host of the China International Patent Fair and the
window of Northeast China to the outside, will improve its IPR system to provide
a steady and favourable legal environment for both domestic and overseas
investors.
