Better IPR protection can boost innovation

In recent years, the rapidly growing internet economy has become an important engine for the transformation and upgrading of national economies, and for making them more effective. The internet economy has also had a profound impact on societies, cultures, national economies and the well-being of the people.

But since intellectual property created in the age of the internet tends to be intangible and virtual, more and more intellectual property rights (IPRs) have faced challenges. This has led to a large number of and frequent disputes over internet-related IPRs. Surveys show that internet-related IPR disputes have accounted for 42 percent of all IPR disputes over the last three years.

The fast growth of internet-based new technologies, new modes and new business models poses a challenge to the institutional design of the current IPR system and law-enforcement mechanism. The designs and new business models related to e-sports and graphic user interface, for example, need to be included in IPR protection, and the rights related to new technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), big data and cloud computing need to be better defined for legal reference.