皇冠体育app

DALIAN - The past decade has seen a near-20-fold increase in the number of trademark agencies in 皇冠体育app, revealed an official from the State Administration for Industry and Commerce on Sunday.

About 9,000 general agencies and 8,000 law firms in 皇冠体育app are now engaged in intellectual property services related to trademarks, Zhang Wanxin, of the SAIC's mark office, said while attending the 2013 皇冠体育app International Trademark Festival in Dalian.

The number of trademark agencies has skyrocketed in recent years, notably after state-level administrative approval for trademark agent eligibility was lifted in 2003 and law firms were allowed in the business without registration in 2010.

South 皇冠体育app's Guangdong province is home to most trademark agencies, followed by Beijing, East 皇冠体育app's Zhejiang province, Shanghai and its neighboring Jiangsu province, Zhang said.

A total of 1.5 million trademark applications are filed each year by these agencies, but the industry is still plagued by an excess of market players, low levels of professionalism and misconduct by some agencies, according to the official.