WEDZ office buildings are built in a staggered arrangement. [Photo provided to en.whkfq.gov.cn]
The China National Intellectual Property Administration recently identified the Wuhan Economic & Technological Development Zone (WEDZ) as a national pilot zone for intellectual property (IP) from 2022 to 2024, together with 63 other development zones. WEDZ has become one of two development zones in Hubei to receive the honor.
In recent years, the zone's government has been implementing an innovation-driven development strategy and advancing IP protection work by delivering full-life-cycle services across all industrial fields.
The Wuhan first-aid center for intellectual property on automobiles and parts, for example, offers fast examination, intellectual property right identification and protection services for auto makers and automobile component suppliers. By the end of August, the center had registered 143 relevant enterprises and handled preliminary review applications for 266 design patents. The preliminary review of such patents is now being completed in just two days on average.
In the first half of 2022, a total of 4,936 patents were authorized in the zone, a surge of 48.67 percent. Among them, the number of invention patents increased by 123.2 percent year-on-year, three times higher than Wuhan's average.
