Where to Begin

A press conference held by the provincial government information office in Lanzhou on July 31 reported that the 24th session of the 13th Provincial People's Congress Standing Committee, which concluded on the afternoon of July 30, passed the "Gansu Province Intellectual Property Promotion and Protection Regulations." This marks the first comprehensive local regulation in the field of intellectual property rights in the province, set to take effect on September 1, 2026.

Deputy Director of the Provincial People's Congress Standing Committee Legal Work Committee, Li Yue, explained that the "Regulations" consist of five chapters and 53 articles, systematically standardizing the entire chain of work including creation, application, protection, management, and services for intellectual property. It establishes a clear, collaborative, and efficient governance system that aligns with the province's actual conditions, significantly contributing to stimulating innovation, upgrading traditional industries, and supporting the province's high-quality economic and social development.

Core Focus

The "Regulations" base their approach on the province's industrial strengths, focusing on key industries such as petrochemicals, non-ferrous metals, new energy, new materials, aerospace, and biomedicine. They incorporate mechanisms like patent navigation, industry patent pools, intellectual property alliances, and open licensing conversion models into the law. This specifically addresses issues such as scattered patent layouts and inefficient industry chain outcomes, empowering the cultivation of new productive forces through intellectual property chain strengthening and bolstering, thereby aiding the province's industrial transformation and upgrading.

Distinctive Features

The "Regulations" innovate the intellectual property protection system for cultural resources, highlighting Gansu's unique characteristics. They strengthen the guidance for applying intellectual property in distinctive cultures such as the Yellow River culture, Silk Road culture, and revolutionary culture. They also enhance the protection and application of time-honored brands, traditional skills, traditional Chinese medicine, intangible cultural heritage, and folk literary and artistic works. Through operations involving trademarks, geographical indications, and copyright, the aim is to industrialize cultural resources, achieving the integration of cultural heritage and cultural tourism development.

Supporting Mechanisms

The "Regulations" innovate and complete the supporting mechanisms for full-chain transformation incentives. They integrate multiple supportive policies including finance, taxation, fault tolerance, and distribution to improve the incentive system. On one hand, they broaden innovation financing channels through intellectual property pledges, insurance, and securitization. On the other hand, they clarify the specific benefits of national preferential policies and establish a fault tolerance and exemption mechanism for transformation. This accommodates reform exploration, alleviates the concerns of research personnel and enterprises regarding transformation innovation, and fully unleashes innovation vitality in industry, academia, and research.

Collaborative Protection

Furthermore, the "Regulations" establish a four-in-one collaborative protection mechanism, bridging channels for administrative supervision, judicial adjudication, professional technical support, and media and public supervision. Technical investigators are used to solve the challenges of professional adjudication in intellectual property cases. The integration of administrative and criminal enforcement, along with punitive damages, strengthens rigid constraints. The "Regulations" also standardize online infringement governance through platform responsibilities, and broaden social co-governance pathways through complaint reporting and media and public oversight.

Regulatory Framework

The "Regulations" strengthen full-chain standardized regulation, clearly defining the legal responsibilities of various entities such as the government, enterprises, platforms, and research institutions. They also provide complementary public service measures including statistical monitoring, patent navigation, customs protection, and rights protection assistance. This approach balances regulatory rigidity with service flexibility, forming a modern intellectual property governance system that is clear, collaborative, efficient, and tailored to the province's development needs.