Enterprises and individuals with a record of intellectual property (IP) infringement will not be allowed to participate in the city government’s projects for five years under the Shenzhen IP protection regulation that went into effect Friday, the Southern Metropolis Daily reported over the weekend.
The regulation, said to be the city’s most stringent rule on IP protection, will disqualify those who have caused serious consequences as a result of IP infringement from taking government projects or subsidies permanently, the report said.
The regulation aims at building the most stringent IP protection system to create a better environment under the rule of law for the development of innovation in the city, given that the inconveniences in IP protection, such as the difficulty of finding evidence, long duration of legal procedures and high cost, have always existed, although Shenzhen has been very active in the IP protection field across the country, the report said.
In order to address the difficulty of finding actionable evidence, the IP administration department will hire investigators with IP protection expertise to provide support and help determine the truth. In an effort to create a sound and honest environment, enterprises are required to submit statements that prove their business activities are in compliance with the rule in order to be eligible for government projects and government procurement bidding.
The regulation also specifies the method for calculating the value of illegal products. Enterprises and individuals with an IP infringement record will face fines doubling the previous penalty if caught infringing on the same IP, or a different IP, more than three times within five years of their first offense.
Authorities will also strengthen their supervision of organizations with records of IP infringement and publish a list of the organizations ranked by the severity of their violations.