As many as 1,439 registered trademarks for agricultural products and seven trademarks of geographical indication have been approved by the State Administration for Industry and Commerce in 2012, said the Guizhou Intellectual Property Office.

The aggregate number of registered trademarks of agricultural products in Guizhou has reached 8,532, accounting for 21.54 percent of total registered trademarks in the province. The newly-registered trademarks have increased by 12.86 percent over the same period last year.

In 2012, 10 kinds of crops and flowers were submitted for plant variety protection, and 21 agricultural products applied for geographical indication protection.

The agricultural products trademarks and geographical indications play a very important role in the economic development of rural areas through increasing rural resident incomes and the added value of agricultural products, said Ding Kun, deputy director of the Guizhou Provincial Bureau for Industry and Commerce.

The enterprises in Guizhou have realized the importance of the trademarks with the development of the Guizhou trademark strategy. In 2012, the total number of trademark applications increased by 68.53 percent over the same period last year. The number of approved trademarks increased by 30.77 percent over the same period last year.

The growth in the total number of agricultural products trademarks and geographical indications has promoted the development of agricultural industrialization and marketization.