In recent years, the number of intellectual property rights in China has continued to grow. In 2018, the number of Chinese invention patent applications was 1.542 million, and a total of 432,000 invention patents were authorized; the annual PCT international patent applications were 55,000, an increase of 9.0%; the number of trademark registration applications in China reached 7.371 million, and the number of trademark registrations was 500.7 10,000, the number of international registrations of Madrid trademarks filed by Chinese applicants is 31,000; the total number of copyright registrations in the country has reached 3.457 million, a year-on-year increase of 25.83%.

       Intellectual property cases have also increased substantially. In 2018, the local people's courts nationwide received 283,414 civil first-instance cases of intellectual property, and concluded 273,945 cases, up 40.97% and 41.99% year-on-year respectively. Among them, there were 21,699 patent cases, a year-on-year increase of 35.53%. Trademark cases, copyright cases, technology contract cases, and competition cases all increased significantly. The total number of patent administrative law enforcement cases reached nearly 77,300, a year-on-year increase of 15.9%. Among them, there were 34,600 patent dispute cases, a year-on-year increase of 22.8%.

Source of data: State Intellectual Property Office, "The State of Intellectual Property Protection in China in 2018"

1. Status of demand for intellectual property legal services for small, medium and micro enterprises

    Small and medium-sized enterprises have the characteristics of large number, small scale and weak anti-risk ability. Under the situation of increasing number and cases of intellectual property rights and the increasingly prominent role of intellectual property rights, the market demand of small and medium-sized enterprises for the intellectual property legal service industry will also be stable increase. At present, the demand of China's legal service industry is mainly divided into litigation cases and non-litigation cases. Through combing, the needs of small and medium-sized enterprises in intellectual property legal services can be divided into the following two types:

(1) Handling of intellectual property disputes. Mainly involves the confirmation and maintenance of intellectual property rights, which is manifested in intellectual property rights disputes, intellectual property contract disputes, intellectual property infringement disputes, etc. It is the main demand type of intellectual property services for small and medium-sized enterprises, mostly in the form of litigation cases. If the awareness of intellectual property protection is not strong for small and medium-sized enterprises, intellectual property disputes are likely to occur.

(2) Intellectual property strategic decision. It is mainly reflected in the provision of intellectual property strategic decision-making services in the development process of enterprises, involving the use and management of intellectual property rights. It is manifested in the analysis of intellectual property risk in specific activities of enterprises such as financing, listing, new product development, product export, etc. , Intellectual property warning, intellectual property layout, etc., mostly non-litigation cases. Small and medium-sized enterprises themselves are small in scale and have weak financing capabilities. When carrying out related projects, they need related intellectual property services. In addition, there are also some enterprises that have the need to formulate intellectual property strategies, including patent strategies and trademark strategies, to lead enterprise businesses and support product systems through the intellectual property system.

2. Analysis of the demand trend of intellectual property legal services for small and medium-sized enterprises

(1) There are many types of intellectual property, and the professional requirements for intellectual property services are high

     According to the general rules of civil law, the types of intellectual property include copyrights, patents, trademarks, trade secrets, geographical indications, trade secrets, etc. With the increasing awareness of corporate intellectual property, various types of intellectual property in China continue to grow continuously. In the current period, the demand for intellectual property legal services in China will continue to grow. However, due to its strong professionalism, intellectual property rights require a high degree of professionalism in the determination of litigation infringement or the provision of intellectual property strategies, and some even require technical identification. For small and medium-sized enterprises, in the case of insufficient legal power, many jobs require the support of external service agencies, requiring service agencies to be familiar with intellectual property rights, as well as industries, industries and enterprise products. 

(2) There are many protection methods, and the intellectual property service methods need to be comprehensive

    According to China's current intellectual property examination system, the acquisition of patents, trademarks and other types of intellectual property requires authorization or registration from the competent national authorities, and there are subsequent relief procedures such as invalidation and administrative litigation for such authorization. In these types of intellectual property infringement litigation, the determination of rights is often the basis, which leads to a long period of intellectual property rights protection. On the contrary, administrative protection has the characteristics of low cost and high efficiency in safeguarding rights. From the number of patent administrative cases concluded in 2018, it can be seen that there are many enterprises that choose administrative protection according to their own circumstances, so the corresponding administrative protection of intellectual property legal services should also keep up.

(3) There are many business operations involved, and the content of intellectual property services should be rich

Intellectual property is an intangible asset of an enterprise. As the number of intellectual property rights continues to grow, this intangible asset of enterprises is increasing, but the maintenance cost of intellectual property rights is also high. Therefore, if a large amount of intellectual property intangible assets are converted into corporate profits, it is a particular concern for small and medium-sized enterprises. Therefore, it is necessary to constantly enrich the connotation of corporate intellectual property legal services and to use the intellectual property system to bring value-added services to enterprises. Focusing on the rare problems of small and medium-sized enterprises in financing, listing, new product development, etc., how to help companies use pledged financing for intellectual property rights, conducting intellectual property investigations for listing, intellectual property investigations for new product development, intellectual property risk prevention and layout, etc. will be high Value intellectual property legal services.

(4) Integrate with international standards, and intellectual property services require internationalization

Intellectual property protection has become an international trend. For enterprises to survive and develop in competition, they must use their own intellectual property to participate in international competition. In 2018, the number of PCT international patent applications and international trademark registrations in China continued to grow, but there are still many problems to be solved in how to use intellectual property to protect the development of enterprises under this trend, in addition to disputes between intellectual property rights and infringement between international entities In addition, how to use the intellectual property system to go out for the products of small and medium-sized enterprises, especially export-oriented enterprises, participate in international exhibitions, and calmly respond to the US 337 investigation is also an important content of international protection of intellectual property.