A set of new regulations – introduced recently – are widely expected to boost intellectual property rights, or IPR, in the Pudong New Area of East China's Shanghai.

The Several Regulations of Shanghai Pudong New Area on Establishing a High-Level Intellectual Property Protection System officially went into effect on Dec 1.

The regulations specify that if IPR are intentionally infringed upon and if the circumstances are especially serious, the people's court may determine the amount of compensation – to between five and 10 times on the request of the rights holder – or make a judgment to impose legal compensation of up to 10 million yuan ($1.57 million).

In line with international rules and requirements on IPR protection, the regulations have optimized the burden of proof for infringement. The transfer rules on the burden of proof for copyright and trade secrets, which are only applicable to litigation procedures, are said to be adapted to apply to administrative law enforcement procedures.

In addition, the regulations have increased the penalty range for malicious trademark applications.