Blockchain Will Be Used to Protect Intellectual Property in China

Huang Qinghua, vice president of Xiamen Anne Corp, during copyright summit in Shenzhen, said blockchain technology is resistant to data modification after its registration, which can ensure the safety of the original work and provide an efficient and cost-effective way to protect Intellectual Property. He said the company is among China’s first group that have applied blockchain technology into copyright protection, which can verify the author when the creative work starts, grand authorization when the work is used and protect the rights when infringement was detected. Huang Qinghua noted, they are working with several companies to diversify and deepen the applications of blockchain technology in the field of copyright protection.

The copyright summit was a sideline of the 14th China International Cultural Industries Fair, which was held from May 10th to 14th in Shenzhen. Li Jiangning, chairman of Shenzhen Copyright Service Center, said that copyright protection is the basis for the development of the cultural industry, which is one of the main industries in Shenzhen.

Official data shows that in 2017, the added value of Shenzhen’s cultural and creative industry increased by 14.5 percent to 224.3 billion RMB (35.2 billion U.S. dollars), accounting for nearly 10 percent of the city’s gross domestic product. The figures also indicate that the courts in Shenzhen settled nearly 28,000 IP-related cases last year, accounting for 12.3 percent of the country’s total.

Luohu district of Shenzhen has set a goal to build a national copyright trading center in the near future and to become a national model for copyright. It also kicked off the preparation for the IP industry alliance of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and for the IP industry association of Luohu during the summit. According to government officials, the alliance will improve the communication between companies and the government. It will also strengthen the exchanges with foreign collegues, participate in the stipulation of international IP industry rules and standards, improve the awareness of IP protection, train professionals and promote the IP operation market.
The Luohu district government has set up a copyright registration center with the Copyright Protection Center of China since July 2017, which provides the registration, trading and rights protection of IP-related issues for companies in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao.