Remarkable growth in national trademark registration and protection in 2009

However, while international trademark filings dropped significantly by 16% in 2009 due to the global financial crisis, trademark applications in China reached a historic high of 830,500. With the efforts of the SAIC to speed up the examination of trademark applications, over 1.4 million applications were examined, exceeding the 2009 target. As of 2009, the number of registered trademarks in China reached 3.4 million, ranking top worldwide for the seventh consecutive year.

Last year saw full-scale implementation of the Outline of the National Intellectual Property Strategy, released in 2008. This prominent achievement in the trademarks field clearly indicates the success of the strategy in providing a favourable environment for the creation and protection of IP rights in China. The state will now continue to:

• Maintain and enhance its dual system of administrative and judicial trademark protection.
• Promote inter-departmental and international cooperation in trademark enforcement.
• Boost publicity of local trademarks.