Original Title: Notice Issued by the Shandong Provincial Market Supervision Administration and 16 Other Departments on the “Ten Measures to Strengthen Full-Chain Intellectual Property Protection and Continuously Optimize the Business Environment”
To thoroughly implement the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important speech delivered during the 25th collective study session of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, strengthen full-chain intellectual property protection, foster a market-oriented, law-based, and international business environment, and stimulate the vitality of market entities and social creativity in our province, the following measures to strengthen full-chain intellectual property protection are hereby formulated.

I. Strengthening High-Quality Intellectual Property Creation.Implement a high-value patent cultivation plan, establishing a number of high-value patent cultivation centers each year to incentivize innovation entities to develop high-value patent portfolios and promote the improvement of patent quality across the province. Focusing on the “Ten Key” industries for the transformation of old and new growth drivers and strategic emerging industries, select 2,000 enterprises with innovation potential for targeted support and precise services to enhance the quality of invention patent applications—both domestically and overseas—in strategic emerging industries, thereby supporting technological breakthroughs and innovative development within the “Ten Key” industrial clusters.Optimize the quality- and value-oriented intellectual property assessment system to guide cities and all types of market entities to shift their focus from quantity to quality. Encourage provincial universities and research institutes to establish pre-application evaluation systems for patents. Strictly crack down on non-genuine patent applications that do not aim to protect innovation and malicious trademark registrations that are not intended for use. [Provincial Market Regulation Bureau (Provincial Intellectual Property Office), Provincial Department of Education, Provincial Department of Science and Technology]

II. Strengthen Administrative Protection of Intellectual Property. Launch special campaigns for administrative protection of intellectual property, taking decisive action to thoroughly address issues in areas such as e-commerce, trade fairs, well-known trademarks, and agricultural geographical indications—where public complaints are intense, social attention is high, and infringement and counterfeiting are rampant.Strengthen the protection of agricultural trademarks, collective trademarks, and certification trademarks to support the implementation of the rural revitalization strategy. Establish and improve the online case management system for intellectual property administrative law enforcement, and achieve online processing of enforcement cases such as administrative mediation and administrative adjudication by the end of 2022. Strengthen administrative adjudication of patent infringement disputes, refine procedural norms and substantive standards for such adjudication, implement a case filing registration system, and establish a linkage mechanism between patent administrative adjudication and patent validity determination procedures.By the end of 2021, issue policy documents on the participation of technical investigators in administrative adjudication of patent infringement disputes and introduce the technical investigator system into the handling of intellectual property administrative enforcement cases. Form technical teams for inspection and appraisal of intellectual property infringement disputes to provide timely, accurate, and effective technical support for intellectual property administrative enforcement, arbitration, and mediation. [Provincial Market Regulation Bureau (Provincial Intellectual Property Office), Provincial Publicity Department, Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, Provincial Department of Natural Resources (Provincial Forestry Bureau)]

III. Strengthen Judicial Protection of Intellectual Property. Deepen reform and innovation in the field of intellectual property adjudication, actively promote the “three-in-one” approach to adjudicating civil, administrative, and criminal intellectual property cases, and intensify efforts to regulate cases involving fraudulent or malicious litigation. Establish a mechanism for ascertaining technical facts in litigation involving technical investigators, technical consultants, and technical appraisers, and improve the diversified dispute resolution mechanism.Promote data sharing and in-depth application of big data in intellectual property justice, and accelerate the modernization of the intellectual property adjudication system and adjudication capabilities. Fully leverage the functions of intellectual property adjudication to strengthen judicial protection for key core technologies, emerging industries, priority sectors, traditional culture, traditional knowledge, traditional Chinese medicine, and germplasm resources. Establish sound rules for judicial protection of intellectual property in new fields and business models such as big data, artificial intelligence, and gene technology; refine antitrust adjudication rules for the platform economy; and accelerate the implementation and effectiveness of the punitive damages system.(Provincial High Court, Provincial Procuratorate, Provincial Public Security Department)

IV. Promote Collaborative Intellectual Property Protection. Strengthen the coordination and linkage between intellectual property dispute mediation and administrative law enforcement and judicial proceedings. Effectively implement the online litigation-mediation integration mechanism; by the end of 2021, organize intellectual property management departments, mediation organizations, and mediators to join the People’s Court mediation platform to achieve seamless integration between litigation and mediation. Promote data exchange among intellectual property administrative law enforcement, judicial, and industry regulatory departments; establish and improve information-sharing mechanisms to enhance the overall effectiveness of intellectual property protection.Strengthen collaboration between intellectual property administrative law enforcement and criminal justice, and promptly transfer leads on suspected intellectual property crimes. Establish a coordination and consultation mechanism, convene regular intellectual property protection coordination meetings, analyze and assess the province-wide situation regarding intellectual property violations and crimes, and formulate work plans. Jointly carry out special operations to combat intellectual property infringement and the production and sale of counterfeit and substandard goods. Jointly build and share a pool of expert talent to support law enforcement practices.Optimize the allocation of procuratorial resources, implement centralized and unified prosecution of intellectual property criminal, civil, and administrative cases, and establish an integrated protection mechanism covering the entire chain of intellectual property prosecution—including arrest, prosecution, supervision, prevention, and governance. [Provincial Market Regulation Bureau (Provincial Intellectual Property Office), Provincial Public Security Department, Provincial High Court, Provincial People’s Procuratorate]

V. Strengthen the Construction of the Intellectual Property Credit System. Establish an intellectual property credit system centered on the principle that “those who keep their word benefit, while those who break it face difficulties.” Prioritize the formulation of regulations and policies to promote the development of the credit system in the province’s intellectual property sector. Establish a joint incentive mechanism for market entities that maintain good credit and a joint disciplinary mechanism for those that breach it. Link enterprises’ intellectual property credit status to awards, commendations, recommendations for national and provincial projects, and policy incentives, thereby building a credit-based intellectual property protection network.Use information from the intellectual property credit “red and black lists” as a key basis for credit risk grading and classification assessments. Improve the credit-based tiered and categorized regulatory mechanism in the intellectual property sector, implement differentiated regulatory measures, and organically integrate “double-random, public disclosure” supervision with the results of enterprise intellectual property credit risk classification. Strengthen credit supervision and penalties for dishonest conduct in intellectual property agency activities in accordance with laws and regulations. [Provincial Market Regulation Bureau (Provincial Intellectual Property Office), Provincial Development and Reform Commission]

VI. Strengthen the Supervision of Intellectual Property Protection in the Platform Economy. Promote the national standard “Management of Intellectual Property Protection on E-commerce Platforms,” guide e-commerce platforms in formulating intellectual property protection rules, and encourage platform operators to fulfill their primary responsibilities for intellectual property protection. By the end of 2022, cultivate more than 10 e-commerce platforms that meet intellectual property protection standards. Strengthen credit-based constraints, scientifically and reasonably define the primary responsibilities of platforms, and provide incentives by including e-commerce platforms that meet intellectual property protection standards on the “red list.”Advance the identification, monitoring, source tracing, and evidence collection and preservation of online infringement activities. Establish an intellectual property originality certification and protection platform, and utilize blockchain technology to address the difficulty of evidence collection in intellectual property protection. Intensify efforts to crack down on unqualified merchants on e-commerce platforms engaging in patent agency activities, standardize online trademark agency and transaction practices, and strengthen collaborative supervision of e-commerce platforms conducting agency business. [Provincial Market Regulation Bureau (Provincial Intellectual Property Office), Provincial Development and Reform Commission, Provincial Department of Commerce]

VII. Strengthen the Protection of Foreign-Related Intellectual Property Rights. Accelerate the establishment of 2–3 local branches of the National Overseas Intellectual Property Dispute Response Guidance Centers to build a mechanism for the coordinated resolution of overseas disputes. Introduce policy measures to encourage insurance institutions to conduct overseas intellectual property insurance business; provide a 60% premium subsidy to enterprises that purchase overseas intellectual property insurance; and increase the premium subsidy rate by 10% for high-value patents and enterprises purchasing insurance covering countries and regions along the “Belt and Road” route, with a maximum subsidy of 500,000 yuan.By the end of 2021, formulate and issue a plan for the emergency information notification mechanism regarding major foreign-related intellectual property disputes in our province, promptly report major developments and progress in foreign-related intellectual property protection, and effectively mitigate foreign-related intellectual property risks. Support and guide enterprises in making full use of intellectual property policies and measures under the “Belt and Road” initiative and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) to safeguard enterprises’ “going global” efforts.[Provincial Market Regulation Bureau (Provincial Intellectual Property Office), Provincial Department of Finance, Shandong Banking and Insurance Regulatory Bureau, Provincial Department of Commerce, Provincial Department of Public Security]

VIII. Promote the Commercialization and Utilization of Intellectual Property. Implement a patent transfer plan, focusing on universities, research institutes, industrial parks, enterprises, and technology transfer service agencies within the province, and carry out pilot projects under the Special Plan for Patent Commercialization. The provincial government will provide financial support to projects that demonstrate outstanding commercialization results.Build an integrated intellectual property public service platform system spanning the province and cities, gradually extending it to eligible counties (cities, districts). Focusing on various types of parks within the province, such as high-tech parks and industrial parks, carry out the “Park-Based Enterprise Support” campaign for intellectual property pledge financing, and coordinate with banks and other financial institutions to provide loans secured by invention patents. For those obtaining pledge financing through intellectual property securitization, interest subsidies and other benefits shall be provided in accordance with relevant regulations.At the provincial level, we will primarily adopt a comprehensive incentive and subsidy approach to guide cities and counties in increasing their investment in intellectual property. We will adjust and optimize incentive and subsidy policies, with a focus on supporting the cultivation and commercialization of high-value patents. [Provincial Market Regulation Bureau (Provincial Intellectual Property Office), Provincial Department of Finance, Provincial State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, Shandong Banking and Insurance Regulatory Bureau, Provincial Department of Human Resources and Social Security, Provincial Department of Education, Provincial Department of Science and Technology]

IX. Implement the Intellectual Property Initiative to Support Rural Revitalization. By the end of 2021, issue policy documents to further strengthen the protection of geographical indications in our province. Launch a special campaign for the protection of geographical indications, and strengthen administrative law enforcement and collaborative protection in this field. Implement list-based supervision of key geographical indications and intensify efforts to rectify illegal and non-compliant use of geographical indication logos. Launch a special campaign to protect intellectual property in the seed industry and severely crack down on illegal and non-compliant activities such as trademark infringement in the seed sector.Actively establish National Demonstration Zones for the Protection of Geographical Indication Products and launch efforts to create Provincial Demonstration Zones for the Protection of Geographical Indication Products, with the goal of cultivating 3–4 such zones by the end of 2022.Establish and improve a standard system for the protection of geographical indications. Promote the integration of next-generation information technologies—such as process control and origin traceability—with the distinctive quality management of geographical indications. Establish a distinctive quality assurance system for geographical indications based on digitalization, networking, and intelligence to effectively support the high-quality development of geographical indications. [Provincial Market Regulation Bureau (Provincial Intellectual Property Office), Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs]

X. Optimize Intellectual Property Services. Integrate legal service resources such as legal counsel, notary services, mediation, arbitration, and intellectual property agency services to build a full-chain legal service system for intellectual property protection, with a focus on providing intellectual property rights protection assistance to small, medium, and micro enterprises. Strengthen public intellectual property services; strive to establish the Yellow River Basin Intellectual Property Big Data Center by the end of 2022 to provide intellectual property information services for high-quality development in the Yellow River region.Implement a series of patent navigation projects centered on key core technologies of the “Ten Major” industries to help enterprises optimize their technological innovation directions and R&D approaches. Establish and improve a patent risk early warning mechanism for small and medium-sized enterprises to facilitate their timely access to patent intelligence. Relying on the province’s integrated big data platform, advance the construction of the provincial intellectual property thematic information repository, collate and integrate basic data resources such as patents, trademarks, and geographical indications, and provide free or low-cost access to intellectual property data.Deepen reforms to streamline administration, delegate power, and improve services in the intellectual property sector; integrate patent and trademark service counters to create a “one-stop” comprehensive intellectual property service. [Provincial Market Regulation Bureau (Provincial Intellectual Property Bureau), Provincial Department of Justice, Provincial Big Data Bureau]