Hubei officials witness the launch of the 2022 National IP Publicity Week. [Photo/WeChat account of Optics Valley of China]

The 2022 National IP Publicity Week (Hubei Wuhan sub-venue) was launched on April 20 in the East Lake High-tech Development Zone (also known as Optics Valley of China, or OVC), and will run until April 26. Lei Xiaoyun, an official of the China National Intellectual Property Administration, addressed the launch ceremony via video link.

Enterprises that won gold medals in the second Patent Competition of Hubei Province were awarded during the event. Among the 99 companies granted the honor, 29 were based in OVC.

OVC was designated one of China's export bases for intellectual property right (IPR) services by China National Intellectual Property Administration and the Ministry of Commerce, along with three districts and five functional areas.

China ranked 12th in the Global Innovation Index 2021 issued by the World International Property Organization, and ranked first among middle-income economies.

There were a total of 155,000 patents authorized in Hubei last year, up 40.93 percent year-on-year. Among them, 22,376 were invention patents, ranking eighth in the nation.

In 2021, Optics Valley of China obtained 31,260 new patents and is currently home to 417 overseas and domestic IPR service institutes, with the number of people working in the field having exceeded 5,000.