Enterprises going global fear one thing most: their products sell well overseas, only to find their trademarks have been registered by someone else, or no sooner has their technology debuted than patent litigation comes knocking. On the 28th, Changsha took the lead in issuing a local-level action plan for foreign-related intellectual property protection — the Changsha Foreign-Related Intellectual Property Protection Action Plan (2026–2028). Led by the Municipal Intellectual Property Office and jointly supported by 15 departments including courts, procuratorates, copyright, science and technology, industry and information technology, public security, justice, and commerce, the plan aims to safeguard enterprises as they set sail for overseas markets. This also marks another key step forward for Changsha under its "broad protection and equal protection" framework for intellectual property.

As global economic and trade competition continues to intensify, intellectual property has become a core competitiveness factor for enterprises seeking to expand into international markets. Changsha is home to more than 4,800 business entities with actual import and export performance, and the pace of going global in advantageous industries such as construction machinery and biomedicine continues to accelerate. According to incomplete statistics, a total of 624 enterprises across the city have filed 4,462 overseas patents through PCT applications, while 285 enterprises have filed 553 overseas trademarks through Madrid applications. Over the past three years, Changsha enterprises have been involved in 304 intellectual property disputes in the United States, with trademark infringement cases accounting for the highest proportion. The demand for overseas layout, risk early warning, and dispute resolution is extremely urgent.

When enterprises voice their needs, the government responds. "Improving the quality and efficiency of specialized services for enterprises going global," "perfecting the intellectual property protection mechanism and improving the foreign-related intellectual property service system" — the municipal party committee and government have attached great importance to these issues and have continuously deployed and advanced related work. The recently concluded 15th Municipal Party Congress also explicitly proposed "strengthening the protection and application of intellectual property" and "improving the comprehensive service system for enterprises going global."

Directly addressing the pain points of enterprises going global, Changsha is taking the lead in piloting new approaches, with 15 departments coordinating and combining their efforts. The Changsha Foreign-Related Intellectual Property Protection Action Plan (2026–2028) focuses on four major special initiatives and 12 key tasks: implementing a foundation-strengthening initiative to provide enterprise liaison officer services and conduct comprehensive intellectual property "health checks" for enterprises going global; implementing an early warning initiative to build a global intellectual property risk monitoring system, expanding the monitoring scope from individual countries to global markets; implementing an escort initiative to strengthen foreign-related administrative enforcement and judicial protection, and establish a "red-yellow-blue" three-tier risk response mechanism; and implementing a wisdom-gathering initiative to attract and cultivate high-end foreign-related intellectual property talent and professional institutions, while making coordinated use of expert intellectual resources.

"This is a key measure for multiple departments to jointly implement the spirit of the Municipal Party Congress, and it is also an expansion and upgrade of Changsha's full-chain intellectual property protection system into the foreign-related domain," said a relevant official from the Municipal Intellectual Property Office. In 2018, Changsha established its broad intellectual property protection system, and in 2021, it launched the Changsha Overseas Intellectual Property Dispute Response Guidance Work Platform under the Changsha Intellectual Property Protection Center. The plan introduced this time is precisely based on the original system, weaving the collaborative intellectual property protection network more densely and comprehensively.

The plan clearly states that by 2028, the city's awareness of foreign-related intellectual property protection will be significantly enhanced, protection mechanisms will be more robust, the service ecosystem will be more complete, and enterprises' capabilities in overseas layout, risk prevention and control, and dispute response will be markedly improved. Next, all member units will establish special working mechanisms, conduct regular scheduling and consultation, and promote the implementation of key tasks, further polishing Changsha's business environment image and injecting new momentum into building Changsha into a global research and development center city and a highland for reform and opening up in inland regions.