(Yicai) April 26 -- Courts in Shanghai accepted 66,120 intellectual property cases last year, rising by 57 percent from the year before, due to companies' higher demand for IP protection.

Courts in the eastern megalopolis concluded nearly 59,030 IP cases last year, a 38 percent increase from 2022, Cao Jie, deputy president of the Shanghai High People's Court, said during a press conference today. The average hearing and ruling period for the cases is around 79 days, down by 23 days.

The number of disputes regarding copyrights, trademarks, unfair competition, and monopoly grew while the number of patent and franchising contract disputes remained relatively stable, Cao said. Among all the cases accepted by Shanghai courts last year, copyright disputes accounted for 66 percent of the total while trademark disputes had a share of 22 percent, and the corresponding portion of patent disputes was 7 percent, Cao added.    

Copyright and trademark disputes dominate, reflecting the increasing demand for IP protection in Shanghai's creative and cultural industries, as well as brand development, Fang Xi, executive deputy director of a China-Europe IP center of public university Shanghai Institute of Technology, said to Yicai.

The number of high-value IP cases accepted by local courts rose last year. This includes almost 1,440 cases worth from CNY1 million to CNY10 million (USD138,000 to USD1.4 million), and over 110 cases with values exceeding CNY10 million, Cao said.    

The increase shows that the IP involved is valuable, Fang said, adding that having a clear-cut valuation of patents helps find partners who can provide financing based on patent pledging.

Cao said that Shanghai courts intensified their efforts to punish IP violations and issued a total of CNY820 million (USD110 million) in fines to infringers last year, including CNY50 million for punitive damages, which refer to extra damages beyond the original event, up 45 percent year-over-year.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Emmi Laine