Shanghai has seen a dramatic increase in intellectual property rights (IPR) lawsuits in the past 10 years, China Daily reported Friday.

By the end of this June, Shanghai courts had accepted approximately 4,900 IPR lawsuits, 4,607 civil and 226 criminal, and closed some 4,700.

Cases involved overseas parties constituted some 9.5 per cent of all civil IPR cases, said Jin Changrong, vice-president of the Shanghai High People's Court.

In 2003, the Shanghai courts dealt with 637 IPR cases, twice the number heard in 1994 when the city first set up IPR trial divisions in its high and intermediate people's courts.

New types of civil IPR cases have emerged such as lawsuits for the application of new technology, expansion of IPR criteria or execution of new legal protection measures.

"The city has established some professional IPR trial courts, and the Pudong District People's Court began to accept all civil, criminal and administrative IPR lawsuits within the district in 1996," Jin said.

"It was the first in the country. And it has brought up various legislative measures to improve the IPR protection."

Shanghai's current legislative protection of IPR has met the primary requirements of Trade-related Intellectual Property Rights Agreement issued by the World Trade Organization.

(China Daily)