China takes more measures to improve patent quality

BEIJING, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) -- China has taken more measures to boost the country's innovation drive and is shifting from focusing on the intellectual property (IP) quantity to quality, the country's top IP regulator said Wednesday at a press conference.

One of the efforts is that China has canceled subsidies for patent applications at all levels to eliminate the improper behavior of patent applications that can not protect innovation, said Zhang Zhicheng, a senior official of the National Intellectual Property Administration.

To improve efficiency, the administration has used computer-aided screening and manual labor to investigate cases suspected of abnormal patent applications, reporting 815,000 abnormal patent applications last year, Zhang said.

Hu Wenhui, a spokesperson for the administration, also highlighted China's progress in the IP protection of the Beijing Winter Olympics. Hu added that China had announced to protect 63 Olympic symbols submitted by the Beijing Organising Committee for the upcoming Winter Games, including emblem, name, abbreviation, mascot, and slogan.

Hu also summarized China's protection efforts on the patents and trademarks of Olympics emblems and torches, realizing comprehensive Olympics-related IP protection.