Beijing issues its 15th Five-Year IP development plan. The Beijing 15th Five-Year Period Intellectual Property Development Plan has recently been issued. The plan sets out that by 2030, Beijing will basically build itself into a demonstration city for an IP powerhouse, with its comprehensive IP strength greatly enhanced and its international influence and competitiveness steadily improved; by 2035, Beijing will build itself into a high-quality demonstration city for an IP powerhouse, becoming a pioneer in international IP innovation and development, a gathering place for high-level talent, a distribution center for high-quality resources, a preferred location for dispute resolution, and a new highland for value realization. The plan proposes that by 2030, Beijing's number of high-value invention patents per 10,000 people will reach around 240, invention patents in core digital economy industries will account for 61% of all valid invention patents in the city, valid invention patents in green and low-carbon technologies will reach 49,000, and the added value of patent-intensive industries will account for about 28% of regional GDP. During the 15th Five-Year period, Beijing will promote coordination and linkage between IP and policies on education, science and technology, talent, industry, and finance; improve trade secret protection mechanisms; explore and improve IP protection rules in fields such as big data, artificial intelligence, algorithms, open-source models, and biological genes; establish and improve a basic rule system for data IP; improve online copyright protection mechanisms; strengthen protection and benefit-sharing mechanisms for traditional knowledge and folk literature and art, and reinforce IP protection in areas such as intangible cultural heritage and traditional Chinese medicine; and explore the establishment of institutional norms for geographical indication protection and management. Beijing will also strengthen distinctive regional IP development: supporting Dongcheng District and Xicheng District in advancing systematic protection of the Central Axis cultural heritage, strengthening the inheritance, protection, and innovative development of time-honored brands, and cultivating more "national trend" brands; supporting Xicheng District in building a "technology-industry-finance" circular ecosystem and encouraging innovation in IP financial products; supporting Haidian District in deepening the building of an IP protection highland and promoting efficient implementation and transformation of IP; supporting Chaoyang District and Fengtai District in accelerating the building of the Beijing International Legal and Commercial Integration Demonstration Zone and clustering high-level foreign-related IP service institutions; and supporting Shijingshan District in focusing on the development of industries such as artificial intelligence and science fiction to form a number of independently controllable patent portfolios. To promote the realization of IP value and continuously empower the consolidation and growth of the real economy, Beijing will improve IP service mechanisms for relevant units such as national laboratories and new-type research and development institutions, support the simultaneous formulation of IP layout and utilization strategies when basic research and major technological breakthrough projects are launched, and cultivate a number of original, foundational patents and high-value patent portfolios that solve common technological challenges, have industry-leading advantages, and are positioned in frontier fields. At the same time, through the IP capacity improvement project for small, medium, and micro-sized enterprises, Beijing will support and guide such enterprises in establishing IP management systems suited to their development stages, carry out "one-on-one" precise IP services for them, strengthen efficient and precise matching between patent technologies of universities and research institutions and small, medium, and micro-sized enterprises, and address their patent transformation funding needs through multiple channels. Source: Official WeChat account of the Beijing Intellectual Property Office.

Liaoning holds its 2026 geographical indication promotion event. The launch ceremony of the 2026 Liaoning Province Geographical Indication Promotion Event was recently held in Benxi City, Liaoning Province. Liaoning has solidly carried out geographical indication cultivation and protection work across the province, with localities basing efforts on local characteristics, adhering to high-quality development, deeply tapping advantageous resources in their jurisdictions, building regional distinctive brands within the province's "one chessboard" approach to IP development, continuously telling the story of Liaoning's geographical indication brands well, and constantly enhancing the visibility, influence, and competitiveness of Liaoning's distinctive geographical indication brands. In recent years, Benxi City has based its efforts on the local industrial foundation, steadily advanced the geographical indication utilization promotion project, and promoted the empowerment of rural revitalization and county-level economic development by the geographical indication industry. This promotion event provided a good opportunity for Benxi City to benchmark against advanced areas and improve work quality and efficiency. The municipal government will coordinate departments to make concerted efforts, continue to do a good job in the cultivation, protection, and value transformation of geographical indications, and promote the transformation of geographical indication resource advantages into industrial development advantages. At the launch ceremony, Panjin Rice and Xinnong Hanfu Apple national geographical indication protection demonstration zones were awarded plaques. Nine cities including Shenyang, Anshan, and Fushun jointly signed the Shenyang Metropolitan Area Geographical Indication Cross-Regional Coordinated Protection Cooperation Framework Agreement. At the event site, inheritors of Liaoyan intangible cultural heritage and representatives of the Huanren Mountain Ginseng Industry Association recounted the development history of their respective industries and shared their practical experience in mutually promoting integration with the cultural tourism industry. Source: Liaoning Provincial Intellectual Property Office.

Fujian issues guidelines for building industrial IP innovation consortia. The Fujian Provincial Intellectual Property Office recently issued the Guidelines for the Construction of Industrial Intellectual Property Innovation Consortia in Fujian Province, using institutionalized and standardized measures to promote deep integration of IP and industrial development, systematically regulating the construction, operation, and development of industrial IP innovation consortia across the province, and building solid institutional support for collaborative industrial innovation and improved IP quality and efficiency. The guidelines consist of six chapters and ten articles, centering on the entire chain and all elements of collaborative industrial IP innovation and focusing on five core contents: clarifying functional positioning, specifying basic conditions, standardizing formation processes, detailing key tasks, and improving the safeguard system, thereby providing innovation entities with consortium construction guidance featuring clear positioning, standardized rules, complete processes, clear tasks, and strong safeguards. Next, Fujian will make every effort to promote the implementation and effectiveness of the guidelines, continue to advance standardized construction and standardized operation of industrial IP innovation consortia, continuously improve the quality of IP creation, the benefits of transformation and utilization, and industrial collaborative innovation capacity across the province, help deepen the integration of technological innovation and industrial innovation, and continuously consolidate the foundation for building a strong IP province. Source: China Intellectual Property News.

Hunan, Hubei, and Jiangxi hold a seminar on coordinated IP protection mechanisms. The "Coordinated Protection, Innovation Empowerment" seminar on coordinated IP protection mechanisms for high-end equipment and cutting-edge materials industries in Hunan, Hubei, and Jiangxi was recently held in Changsha City, Hunan Province. At the meeting, 10 national-level IP protection centers from the three provinces jointly signed a memorandum of cooperation on key industries, establishing eight major coordination mechanisms, promoting IP protection from "single-point breakthroughs" to "multi-point coordination," focusing on key areas such as joint case handling, assistance for difficult cases, achievement sharing, overseas rights protection, and risk early warning, and comprehensively empowering high-quality development of industrial chains. The event also released two IP coordinated protection achievements from Hunan and shared typical cases of coordinated IP protection from the three provinces, providing practical references for regional dispute resolution and foreign-related risk prevention and control. During the discussion session, protection centers from the three provinces exchanged experience, shared practices, and discussed measures on cross-regional rapid coordinated protection work, building consensus on deep cooperation. This event established a platform for deep IP collaboration among Hunan, Hubei, and Jiangxi, marking further improvement of the coordinated IP protection mechanism for key industries in the three provinces. The meeting proposed shifting cooperation from "agreement implementation" to "effective implementation," deepening resource sharing, mechanism interconnection, and joint risk prevention, building a security barrier for industrial innovation, and helping high-quality development of the urban agglomeration in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River. Source: Hunan Provincial Administration for Market Regulation (Intellectual Property Office).

Guangxi refines patent prioritized examination recommendation rules and unblocks fast examination channels. The Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Administration for Market Regulation (Intellectual Property Office) recently issued the Notice on Matters Concerning the Implementation of the Measures for the Administration of Patent Prioritized Examination, refining patent prioritized examination recommendation rules in light of the region's industrial development realities, further standardizing patent prioritized examination work across the region, improving patent examination quality and efficiency, and helping build a strong IP region. Based on Guangxi's key industrial layout, the notice adheres to the principles of quality first, fairness and impartiality, and precise service, giving priority support to patent applications in the ten modern pillar manufacturing industries, emerging industries, future industries, and key core technology breakthrough fields, with emphasis on patent projects that have an industrialization foundation and outstanding innovation value. Under equal conditions, priority recommendation will be given to innovative entities such as IP demonstration enterprises, high-tech enterprises, and "specialized, refined, distinctive, and innovative" enterprises. The notice strictly limits the scope of cases eligible for prioritized examination, clarifying 14 categories of circumstances that will not be recommended; strictly controls the types of recommended patents, with invention patents given priority; and sets differentiated recommendation quotas for individuals and enterprises or institutions, verified on the basis of the applicant's number of granted invention patents in the previous year. At the same time, it fully implements online application throughout the prioritized examination process to help innovative achievements obtain rights confirmation quickly. Guangxi continues to improve the dynamic management mechanism for prioritized examination recommendation entities, implements tiered and categorized management of recommendation entities, and incorporates application case quality, authorization maintenance rate, and credit information into dynamic ledgers. It also, for the first time, incorporates pre-application patent evaluation into the patent prioritized examination management system, strengthens policy coordination, and improves patent application quality from the source. Next, the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Administration for Market Regulation (Intellectual Property Office) will continue to carry out policy training and publicity and interpretation, guide cities in strengthening policy guidance, guide innovative entities in reasonably using the prioritized examination system, further open fast rights confirmation channels for patents in key industries, promote the rapid transformation and implementation of innovative achievements, and help high-quality industrial development across the region. Source: Official WeChat account of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Administration for Market Regulation.

Hainan concludes the province's first administrative adjudication case of pharmaceutical patent infringement. The Hainan Provincial Intellectual Property Office recently efficiently concluded the province's first patent infringement administrative adjudication case involving the early resolution mechanism for pharmaceutical patent disputes in accordance with the law. The case took only 40 days from filing to conclusion, promptly safeguarding the lawful rights and interests of innovative drug patent holders and providing a standardized practical sample for the rapid handling of pharmaceutical patent infringement disputes in the province. The case was a pharmaceutical patent infringement dispute triggered by the online publication of a relevant drug on a centralized procurement platform. After receiving the application, the Hainan Provincial Intellectual Property Office quickly filed the case and formed a collegial panel to carry out fact verification, evidence preservation, and technical investigation. In view of the fact that the parties in the case were in different locations, the Hainan Provincial Intellectual Property Office optimized its case handling model and relied on an online trial system to conduct a fully paperless online hearing, ensuring that both parties completed all statutory procedures such as statements, cross-examination, and debate in accordance with the law. After full investigation and trial, the relevant infringement was found to be established, a ruling was made in accordance with the law ordering the cessation of infringement and withdrawal from online publication, and the case was reported to relevant functional departments. The Hainan Provincial Intellectual Property Office will always adhere to treating all business entities at home and abroad equally and providing equal protection, continue to focus on key industries such as biomedicine, intensify IP protection, and safeguard the healthy and orderly development of the biomedicine industry in the free trade port with high-standard IP protection.