Patent protection will be strengthened this year to spur the development of cutting-edge technology in China, the State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) said Tuesday.

The focus will be on increasing the amount of technological innovation through better protection for scientists, said Tian Lipu, vice-commissioner with SIPO.

Patent protection is linked with 12 key scientific projects launched last year by the Ministry of Science and Technology, Tian told a press conference ahead of World Intellectual Property Day on Saturday.

These projects cover information security, computer software, electronic motor vehicles and other programmes.

SIPO has also launched patent protection programmes in large firms in 20 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions, said Tian. It will continue to supervise patent systems in these regions.

Starting this year, clients will enjoy computerized online patent application services, instead of the previous paper-based manual work. They can also read the latest domestic and overseas patent documents through websites, Tian added.

Tian said the country's intellectual property system has scored remarkable achievements over the past few years.

Since China implemented the Patent Law in 1985, SIPO has received more than 1.62 million patent applications. Domestic applications account for 83 per cent with foreign ones comprising 17 per cent, according to the latest SIPO statistics.

A total of 116 countries or regions have registered patent protection applications in China. Japan had applied for most patents in China last year, followed by the United States, Germany, the Republic of Korea, the Netherlands, France, Switzerland, Great Britain, Sweden and Italy.

Sources from the State Administration of Industry and Commerce said there were a record 370,000 trademark applications last year -- up 37 per cent on 2001.

China received 5,130 trademark applications from only 20 countries or regions before 1979 when the country began its reform and opening-up policies. By last year, the country had received a total of 316,454 trademark applications from 129 countries and regions.

The Chinese Government tightened anti-piracy campaigns in 1995. Copyright administrations across the country seized nearly 197 million pirated products from 1995 to 2002, statistics from the National Copyright Administration have revealed.

The higher people's courts and intermediate people's courts in most provinces and municipalities have set up intellectual property trial courts to deepen enforcement of IPR protection, sources from the National Copyright Administration said.

Custom authorities nationwide cracked 573 intellectual property infringement cases last year involving more than 95 million yuan (US$11 million), SIPO's statistics have revealed.

Public security departments throughout China also reinforced their enforcement work of intellectual property last year. They seized more than 34,000 cases of pornographic and pirated goods production tools last year.

(China Daily April 23, 2003)