Application of New Technologies for Intellectual Property Protection in Agricultural Trade in China

In China, the sphere of agricultural product trade is facing challenges associated with protection of intellectual property rights. Among the key issues are geographical indication infringement, disputes over rights on new plant varieties, and patent violations related to agricultural technology. Geographical indication infringement is becoming more varied and harder to detect, with e-commerce platforms increasingly being responsible for spreading fake products. New plant variety rights are frequently undermined by counterfeit goods and illegal reproduction. Meanwhile, infringement of agricultural technology patents is concentrated in such areas as smart devices and bio-pesticides. The above issues are addressed using new technologies. Thus, blockchain is instrumental in verifying the authenticity of geographical indication of products by creating an unchangeable record of their production history. DNA fingerprinting helps resolve disputes over plant variety rights by providing solid scientific evidence. Big data and artificial intelligence (AI) have made it easier to monitor and identify infringements, as demonstrated by the anti-counterfeiting model successfully applied in the West Lake Longjing. Satellite remote sensing and the Internet of Things enable comprehensive monitoring of the production process. However, the practical implementation of these technologies faces a number of difficulties. Smalland medium-sized businesses often find them unaffordable, and farmers are not always willing to adopt them. Data is stored by different departments, being fragmentary. The technologies are not always consistent with international standards. These issues can be solved by provision of governmental subsidies to optimize costs, creation of a national data platform, and promotion of international standards for technologies. In the future, in order to create a reliable, smart system for protecting agricultural intellectual property, new technologies (5G and AI) should be combined with conventional methods. This will support China’s agriculture and promote its positions in the global market.