China’s State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) launched its first ever “Patent Week” on friday, reports Xinhua. As part of the drive, trade fairs, exhibitions and lectures will take place in Beijing and 20 other provinces and municipalities including Tianjin, Shanghai and Jilin. In 2006 SIPO accepted 573,000 patent applications, a 20.3 per cent year-on-year increase, of which 210,000 were patent applications for new inventions.

Counterfeiting and IP have become hot issues in U.S.-China relations recently, especially with the perception that the Chinese government is not active enough in stemming the tide of counterfeit products emanating from China. Yet as The Economist recounts, there are visible signs of progress, and there are signs of retreat and cynicism. In essence the situation varies from industry to industry.

According to Chinese government statistics the number of criminal cases relating to intellectual property rights fell by 35 per cent in 2006, and the regulations regarding investigations and prosecutions are cumbersome and painfully bureaucratic. Yet as Chinese products become more sophisticated the costs of having no property rights become increasingly apparent. The availability of innumerable cheap foreign products is undoubtedly holding back the development of domestic industry, and Chinese firms increasingly have brands and technology they want to protect. Patents filed by Chinese companies overseas rose by 58 per cent in 2006, making China rank third only behind the U.S and Japan in terms of patent applications. Yet government officials eager to have China create advanced products have come to realise that no-one will create anything without stronger levels of protection.