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The China National Intellectual Property Administration published the Annual Report of China on Legal Construction (2018) (the report) on April 9.

The report shows that IP authorities nationwide have organized special trademark and patent law enforcement campaigns including "Suyuan (tracing the origin)", "Jinghua (purifying)" and "Leiting (thunder)"to strengthen IP law enforcement and protection, handling 31,000 trademark law violations with proceeds of 550 million yuan; and 77,000 patent infringement and counterfeit cases, showing a year-on-year increase of 15.9%.

In 2018, the number of patent agencies in China amounted to 2195, and 18668 people were serving as patent attorneys.

As for administrative reconsideration, patent re-examination invalidation and trademark review and adjudication in 2018, the CNIPA handled 821 applications for administrative reconsideration, 37875 patent re-examinations, 5235 requests for declaration of invalidation; concluded 780 applications for administrative reconsideration (including 85 cases in 2017), 28438 patent re-examination cases, 4217 patent invalidation cases and 265200 trademark review and adjudication cases.

The report points out:

1. It is necessary to fully perform IP management functions in accordance with the law; improve macro control, intensify IP law enforcement and protection, strengthen the management of IP agency industry, innovate social governance of IP sector, and improve IP public service;

2. It is important to improve IP legal system, carry out research on legal systems in key areas;

3. It is important to ensure scientific and democratic decision-making, implement law-based decision-making mechanism,  continuously enhance the effectiveness of public participation, promote the construction of IP think tanks;

4. It is necessary to adhere to strict, standardized, fair and civilized law enforcement, constantly improve the administrative law enforcement procedures, implement the responsibility system, improve the personnel management and standardize administrative law enforcement behavior;

5. It is important to strengthen restriction and supervision of administrative power, control the risk of a clean government, improve the systems for transparency in government affairs, social supervision and public opinion supervision mechanism;

6. It is important to effectively resolve IP disputes, orderly carry out administrative reconsideration, perform the administrative responding duties, improve the system for handling public complaints , actively improve  publicity of legal knowledge;

It is important to comprehensively improve the staff's rule of law thinking and administrative capacity, equip the public with legal knowledge and intensify legal knowledge publicity. 

April 9, 2019

Source:  CNIPA