The Xizang autonomous region made efforts to protect and apply intellectual property rights. In 2023, it gained new developments and achievements in intellectual property protection, regional authorities said at a news conference on Friday.

The region's market supervision administration, the regional academy of agricultural sciences and the Lhasa Customs jointly held a conference in Lhasa on Friday to mark the 24th World Intellectual Property Day.

Nie Dake, deputy director of the region's market supervision administration, said that relevant units at all levels heard 52 administrative cases related to intellectual property in 2023, an increase of 22 percent compared to 2022, with an average processing period of 38.8 days, a decrease of 49.7 days compared to 2022.

There were 1,877 patent authorizations regarding intellectual property creation, including 299 invention patents, a year-on-year increase of 101 percent.

"Four new applications of geographical indication products, including chili peppers of Nang county, Lebu tea leaves, Dromo salmon, and Phari yaks, have been submitted," said Nie, adding that as of the end of 2023, the total number of effective invention patents in the region reached 1,207, a year-on-year increase of 18 percent.

At the same time, Xizang has also strengthened the protection, transformation and application of intellectual property rights over the year, according to the region's academy of agricultural sciences.

Basang Wangdu, deputy head of the academy, noted that with special support from the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Agriculture and other national ministries, and the strong support from various institutes of the region, his academy implemented major scientific and technological projects such as highland barley, yak, Tibetan sheep, science and technology to support rural revitalization over the year.

"We have steadily carried out research on the protection, identification and utilization of characteristic agricultural germplasm resources in Xizang Plateau and the functional gene mining and biological breeding technology innovation of characteristic agricultural germplasm resources," said Basang Wangdu.

"We have achieved a series of innovative results and created a number of valuable agricultural science and technology intellectual property achievements," he said.

Since the start of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25), the academy has approved eight new varieties, obtained two protection rights for new plant varieties, registered five genetic resources, and developed 49 products. The achievements have become widespread in agriculture and animal husbandry in the region.