China joined the organization on June 3, 1980, becoming its 90th member. China joined the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property in 1985, the Madrid Agreement for the International Registration of Trademarks in 1989, the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artworks in October 1992, and the Patent Cooperation Treaty on January 1, 1994. As of January 1999, the Chinese Communist Party had joined 12 treaties under the jurisdiction of the organization.
On July 31, 2008, the World Intellectual Property Organization published the 2008 "World Patent Report" in Geneva, stating that the number of patent applications in the world in 2006 reached 1.76 million, an increase of 4.9% from 2005. Growth in patent applications in China, South Korea and the United States contributed to the growth in patent applications worldwide. The report believes that the growth in the number of patent applications worldwide confirms the increasing internationalization of innovation activities. The report said that the number of patent applications in Japan in 2006 was 514,047, that of the United States was 390,815, that of South Korea was 172,709, that of Germany was 130,806, and that of China was 128,850. Due to the significant increase in the number of patent applications submitted domestically, China's share of the total number of patent applications in the world has greatly increased. From 2000 to 2006, China's share increased from 1.8 to 7.3. Between 2005 and 2006 During this period, the total number of patent applications submitted by applicants from China, South Korea and the United States increased by 32.1, 6.6 and 6.7 respectively.
China’s intellectual property protection legislation
In addition, China’s intellectual property protection legislation has also made great progress: Patent Law. my country’s Patent Law came into effect on April 1, 1985. The patent system established in accordance with the law protects patent rights for inventions and creations. Inventions and creations include inventions, utility models and designs. trademark law. my country's Trademark Law came into effect in March 1983. Amendments were made on February 22, 1993, which expanded the scope of trademark protection. In addition to commodity trademarks, regulations on the registration and management of service trademarks were added; a correction procedure was added in the formal examination, and an examination opinion was established in the substantive examination. system. Copyright Law. my country's Copyright Law came into effect on June 1, 1991. The first revision was made in October 2001, and the second revision was made on February 26, 2010. Computer Software Protection Regulations. The "Computer Software Protection Regulations" were implemented on January 1, 2002. New plant variety protection system. my country's new plant variety protection regulations came into effect on October 1, 1997. The "General Principles of the People's Republic of China and Civil Law" stipulates six types of intellectual property rights, namely copyright, patent rights, trademark rights, discovery rights, invention rights and other scientific and technological achievement rights, and stipulates the civil law protection system for intellectual property rights. The "Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China" also defines the relevant content of intellectual property crimes in eight articles in Section 7, thus defining China's criminal law protection system for intellectual property rights. In addition, the "Patent Law of the People's Republic of China", "Trademark Law", "Copyright Law", "Regulations on Invention Rewards" and other separate laws and administrative regulations also provide for relevant intellectual property rights.
The white paper "The Situation of Intellectual Property Protection in China" was published on June 16, 1994.
The white paper is divided into three parts: 1. Basic principles for protecting intellectual property rights in China Position and attitude; 2. China has a high-level legal system for protecting intellectual property rights; 3. China has a complete law enforcement system for protecting intellectual property rights.
The white paper states that the Chinese government’s sincere position in adhering to relevant international conventions and bilateral agreements on the protection of intellectual property rights and its ability to fully assume its international obligations have received widespread praise and support from international public opinion. The white paper points out in its conclusion that There are always some people who turn a blind eye to China's development and changes, ignore basic facts, and make rash comments on the current status of China's intellectual property protection. There is no need to argue with this argument. Facts are the best answer.
On December 14, 2015, the "2015 World Intellectual Property Indicators" report was released, which elaborated on the latest development trend of global intellectual property activities in 2014.
The report points out that China ranks first in the world in the number of applications for intellectual property rights such as patents, trademarks, and industrial designs, and has become the main driving force for the development of intellectual property rights in the world.
The report states that global innovators *** submitted approximately 2.7 million patent applications in 2014, an increase of 4.5% from 2013. In 2014, global patents authorized approximately 1.18 million patents. Currently, the total number of valid patents held in the world is approximately 10.2 million, of which the United States accounts for 24.7, Japan accounts for 18.8, and China accounts for 11.7.
Francis Gurry, Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization, said at the report conference that "China's patent application volume in the past few years has been extraordinary." According to the report, China's number of patent applications in 2014 was 928,200, ranking first in the world, exceeding the combined number of the United States and Japan, which ranked second and third. Not only do patent application departments located in China receive the most patent applications, but Chinese citizens and companies also file the most patent applications worldwide, with 837,000 patent applications.
The report also said that the number of global trademark applications in 2014 increased by 6% compared with 2013. China also ranks first in the world in this field. In terms of industrial designs, although the number of applications filed in China decreased by 14.4% compared with 2013, it still ranks first in the world.