On February 7, 2025, the Shanghai Intellectual Property Bureau reported that in 2024, the city saw a 10.3% year-on-year increase in Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) international patent applications, reaching 6,822. This growth reflects Shanghai’s ongoing commitment to technological innovation, as the city’s per capita high-value invention patents also rose by 15.3%, reaching 57.9 patents per 10,000 people.

The announcement was made during the 2025 Shanghai Intellectual Property Work Conference and the City’s Intellectual Property Joint Conference. In addition to PCT patents, other intellectual property indicators in Shanghai saw significant growth in 2024. The number of effective registered trademarks in the city reached 2.7893 million, a 6.7% increase compared to the previous year. Copyright registrations for works surpassed 450,000, marking a 9.05% growth. Furthermore, Shanghai-Suzhou was ranked fifth globally in the "Technology Clusters" category of the World Intellectual Property Organization’s (WIPO) 2024 Global Innovation Index.

Enhancing Business Environment and IP Services

Following the conference, Shanghai also held a business environment optimization conference, where the "Shanghai Focused on Improving Enterprise Experience and Continuously Building a World-Class Business Environment Action Plan (Version 8.0)" was released. This action plan outlines 58 tasks in five key areas, including the enhancement of intellectual property (IP) public services and protection. Notable measures include:

Optimizing IP public services and implementing a "universal public IP service" initiative.

Upgrading the "one-stop" IP integration service platform.

Strengthening support for overseas IP rights enforcement and facilitating cross-regional IP protection collaboration.

Launching a commercial secret protection innovation pilot and ramping up enforcement on commercial secret infringement cases.

Promoting the revitalization of existing patents in universities and research institutions.

Future Focus for Intellectual Property in Shanghai

The Shanghai Intellectual Property Bureau emphasized that the 2025 focus will be on three areas: optimizing public IP services, strengthening IP protection capabilities, and enhancing the effectiveness of IP utilization. The city is also preparing a three-year action plan to continuously build an international-class IP business environment, focusing on improving service standards, enhancing enterprise experiences, and advancing the development of IP-related standards.

Shanghai aims to facilitate innovation and enhance its global competitiveness through these reforms, ensuring that the IP system stimulates innovation and contributes significantly to optimizing the business environment.

Additional Plans for 2025

For the upcoming year, Shanghai plans to further streamline existing patents, improve collaborative protection capabilities, and innovate in comprehensive supervision models. The city will also expand channels for resolving international IP disputes and accelerate its development as a preferred international IP dispute resolution hub.

In conclusion, Shanghai’s 2024 IP performance highlights its strong growth and investment in innovation, while the new plans for 2025 reflect a continued commitment to building a world-class environment for intellectual property. These efforts are expected to significantly enhance the city's role in global innovation and business development.

Source:http://ipr.mofcom.gov.cn/article/sjzl/gn/202502/1990299.html