Data Intellectual Property Updates

With the acceleration of digital transformation and the development of the global digital economy, data intellectual property protection is becoming the key to innovation-driven development.

In China, the first appearance of the concept of "data intellectual property" in official documents can be traced back to 2020, when the Intellectual Property Development Research Center under the China National Intellectual Property Administration (the CNIPA) presented the Proposal on Accelerating the Construction of Data Intellectual Property Protection System, which was later included in the "Outline for Building a Strong Intellectual Property Powerhouse (2021-2035)" of China.

Subsequently, the CNIPA outlined the basic ideas and framework of data intellectual property rules and identified the first eight pilot areas for 2023 data intellectual property work, including Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen cities and Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, Shandong and Guangdong Provinces.

Under the active promotion of the CNIPA, significant progress has been made in data intellectual property registration in various areas. In November 2022, Shenzhen city took the lead in introducing data intellectual property registration services and started to issue the "Data Intellectual Property Registration Certificate". Later, multiple pilot areas successively introduced local regulations or guidelines to explore the construction of the data registration system.

Last year, Beijing city issued the "Beijing Data Intellectual Property Registration Management Measures (Trial)". In the second half of this year, Zhejiang province and Shanghai city successively formulated and issued the "Practical Guidelines for Data Intellectual Property in Zhejiang Province (Trial)" and the "Interim Measures for Intellectual Property Registration and Certification of Data Products in Shanghai" (effective from December 8, 2024). All these local practices provide specific guidelines for protecting data intellectual property in the region.

This year, the CNIPA added nine new pilot areas including Tianjing City and other eight provinces (Hebei, Shanxi, Anhui, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Guizhou & Shaanxi) for 2024 data intellectual property work.

In the coming years, we expect to witness significant progress in data intellectual property protection. AFD China will keep a close eye on the latest developments in data intellectual property protection.

If you have questions or need any assistance in patent, trademark, litigation, or other IP matters in China, please feel free to contact us.
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