Ningbo authorities accepted 106 patent infringement cases which were filed offline in 2021, up 158 percent year-on-year.

Among them, 15 cases were solved by administrative adjudication, a rise of 67 percent year-on-year. The average time required for the process was about 70 days, with the fastest being concluded within a week. 

In July last year, Ningbo was ranked first among 157 sub-provincial cities and prefecture-level cities in China in a national appraisal for administrative protection for intellectual property rights.

Following Ningbo were Shenzhen, Shaoxing, Jinhua, Shijiazhuang, Wenzhou, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Taizhou, and Guangzhou.

Ningbo has recently made great efforts to strengthen intellectual property rights protection. In October 2020, the city rolled out a special guideline on this matter.

The city's improved protection of intellectual property rights has spurred local innovation and entrepreneurship.

A total of 55,069 patents were authorized in Ningbo in the first 10 months of 2021, up 8.91 percent year-on-year, according to official statistics from the Ningbo municipal market administration.

The number of invention patents rose 55.02 percent year-on-year to 6,503, bringing the total number of valid invention patents owned by the city to 37,041, which means every 10,000 residents own 39.4 invention patents.