[Photo/VCG]

East China's Shandong province has been ramping up efforts to promote the development and protection of intellectual property rights, local officials said at a recent news conference.

Shandong has made steady progress in various aspects of intellectual property development and protection. In 2021, there were 36,300 invention patents authorized and 465,000 trademarks registered in the province, up 35.9 percent and 32.9 percent year-on-year, respectively, said Yu Zhiyong, deputy director of Shandong Provincial Intellectual Property Bureau.

By the end of 2021, the number of invention patents in the province had reached 150,800, or 14.85 per 10,000 people, an increase of 2.45 compared with the end of 2020.

A total of 2.06 million trademarks were registered, and 81 geographical indication products were approved in Shandong at the end of 2021.

The province has strengthened cross-departmental and cross-regional cooperation in intellectual property rights protection. The Shandong Provincial Intellectual Property Bureau has established intellectual property rights protection cooperation mechanisms with provincial courts and the provincial public security bureau, and has established intellectual property rights protection cooperation mechanisms with eight provinces and regions along the Yellow River.

It has built seven national intellectual property protection centers, two rights protection centers, 10 rights protection assistance centers, two branches for handling overseas intellectual property disputes, and more than 130 mediation and arbitration organizations.

Efforts have also been made to promote intellectual property financial innovation, issue local standards for assessing the value of patents, and improve guidelines on discount interest, premium subsidies, and risk compensation for mortgage financing.