The China (Pudong) Intellectual Property Rights Protection Center plays a key role in advancing Shanghai's AI industry, which reached 163.7 billion yuan ($23.18 billion) in 2024, making up 40 percent of the city's total AI industry.
As a national AI innovation zone, the center helps develop a dynamic intellectual property (IP) ecosystem for emerging technologies. It offers essential patent pre-examination services that accelerate innovation by protecting companies like Fourier Intelligence early on. This assistance greatly reduces approval times and enhances the IP environment.
Furthermore, the center supports local businesses in addressing international IP issues. Recently, it assisted SEER Robotics in settling a trademark dispute overseas, enabling the company to expand globally with confidence.
As AI-generated content (AIGC) expands, the focus is on tackling IP protection issues related to AIGC. With AI systems producing content autonomously, the risk of copyright and patent conflicts rises. Moreover, differing approaches to AIGC IP protection across countries make global compliance more complex.
To address these challenges, the center is collaborating with experts to explore flexible legal frameworks for AIGC protection. This research seeks to balance encouraging innovation with safeguarding intellectual property, promoting sustainable growth in the AIGC industry.
Moving forward, the center will keep improving its services, focusing on increasing patent exam efficiency and expanding support for international IP protection, contributing to the development of Shanghai's innovation ecosystem.
