A mediation platform for IP disputes in Yiwu, Zhejiang province. [Photo/zgyww.cn]

Yiwu in Zhejiang province has registered over 180,000 valid trademarks, ranking first among all county-level cities for the 10th year in a row. The city also boasts over 34,000 valid patents, including 1,029 invention patents.

The city has accelerated the construction of a large-scale protection mechanism for intellectual property, established the first county-level professional mediation platform for IP disputes in the province and resolved over 7,000 IP disputes.

Yiwu is also the first county in China to set up an overseas IP dispute response guidance center. The center has received 106 consultations related to foreign disputes and has provided guidance for 23 cases, offering protection to more than 20,000 foreign trade enterprises in the city.

In addition, Yiwu is promoting IP-pledge financing, which allows enterprises to use their patents, trademarks, and other IP as collateral for financing.

By the end of 2022, the city had facilitated a total of 3.45 billion yuan ($498.3 million) in IP-pledge financing, benefiting 74 innovative entities.

"The IP securitization project, while maintaining the independence of enterprise IP, can also improve the liquidity of IP, making it an important component of IP utilization," said an official at the municipal market supervision bureau.