Shanghai intellectual property cases rise sharply

A total of 10,080 lawsuits regarding intellectual property were received by Shanghai courts in 2015, marking the first time that the number of cases received in one year reached a five-digit figure, Shanghai's top court announced today, five days ahead of the World Intellectual Property Day.

While the internet industry is developing rapidly, cases in the area of computer software - smartphone apps, in most cases - and unfair online competition - have risen sharply. Cases in the two areas increased by 58 percent and 32 percent, respectively, year on year.

Such a rising tendency was more noticed in the municipality's Pudong New District, where the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone and Shanghai Zhangjiang High Tech Park are located and sectors of information technology are quite active.

The number of lawsuits involving large amounts of money was on the rise, according to court figures. Altogether 28 lawsuits involving 10 million yuan ($1.54 million) each were received by courts last year, which was a year-on-year rise of 12 percent. One case, the largest, involved 231 million yuan.

"That's mainly because more of the lawsuits now are related to disputes in invention patents, new materials and new technologies," said Mao Ronghua, vice president of the Shanghai High People's Court.