North China's Shanxi province strengthened the development of intellectual property (IP) in 2021. 

Improving IP protection mechanism

The "Regulations on Intellectual Property Protection Work in Shanxi Province" were officially implemented on July 1, marking the beginning of a new stage of legal development for IP protection.

Shanxi successively signed IP protection cooperation agreements with the provinces of Qinghai, Sichuan, Gansu, Shaanxi, Shandong, Anhui, Henan, Hubei, Jiangxi, and Hunan as well as Inner Mongolia and Ningxia Hui autonomous regions, promoting the integrated improvement of IP protection in various regions.

Constructing IP service platforms

According to Yao Li, director of the IP protection and development department at the Shanxi IP Administration, Shanxi has built a provincial, municipal and county-level IP assistance system with municipal-level IP assistance agencies covering all 11 local cities.

Several public service institutions such as the Taiyuan Office of the China National Intellectual Property Administration and the China (Shanxi) IP Protection Center, as well as 28 related agencies, legal institutions, and information service institutions, set up operation in the Taiyuan IP service industrial cluster, offering one-stop IP services to innovators and developing a hub of IP operation services in Shanxi. 

Strengthening IP administrative protection

IP protection in key areas, key procedures, important periods of geographical indications, Olympic signs, official signs, and special signs have been put in place.

"The number of Shanxi companies using geographical indications increased to 109 in 2021," said Zhao Feng, director of the IP unitization promotion division of the Shanxi IP Administration.

Promoting IP transformation and application

Shanxi continued to strengthen its IP evaluation system, and expanded channels for realizing IP values.

In 2021, the province launched support policies such as expanding data opening, providing green channels, and granting financial rewards and subsidies to help small and medium-sized enterprises innovate and develop the IP sector.