April 26 marks the International Intellectual Property day. The protection of intellectual property rights, or IPR has long been a topic in China. As an increasing number of IPR cases develop, more awareness is being generated on the issue.

Data from China’s Supreme Court, shows that in 2011, the people’s court, at all levels, accepted nearly 60, 000 IPR cases with a year-on-year increase of about 38 percent. There were over 7,800 patent cases, at an increased rate of 35 percent from 2010. Trademark cases have also grown at an alarming speed, with 13,000 new cases bumping the numbers up 53 percent year-on-year.