Abstract:     As an important institutional arrangement to promote knowledge production and technological innovation, intellectual property protection helps to improve independent innovation capabilities, protect the core interests of enterprises, and guide the innovation drive of China′s economic development. Entering the era of knowledge economy, the global economic development model and innovation logic are constantly being upgraded and reorganized. The follow-up development model that China has relied on for a long time with low factor costs and light-based innovation is unsustainable. Pioneering innovation and system innovation have become the key drivers of a country′s economic growth.
    Based on the perspective of open innovation, this paper builds a new research framework, analyzes the impact of the "dredging" and "blocking" modes of intellectual property rights on regional innovation capabilities, and explores the moderating effect of open innovation model of "dredge and blockage" combination on the relationship between intellectual property protection and innovation capability level. Based on the panel data of 31 provincial-level regions in China from 2012 to 2018, using the panel fixed effect model, this study empirically tested the effect and mechanism of intellectual property protection on regional innovation capabilities under the paradigm of open innovation, and found that:
     First, during the investigation period, under the paradigm of open innovation, intellectual property protection of strong externalities has an inhibitory effect on regional innovation, adopting the intellectual property protection model of "heavy blockage but light dredge" affects the innovation spillover effect of intellectual property rights, it is not conducive to the improvement of regional innovation capabilities.
    Second, under the regulating effect of the open innovation model of cooperative R&D between local companies and multinational companies, cooperative R&D between local companies, and industry-university-research collaborative innovation, the negative impact of intellectual property protection on regional innovation capabilities is weakened. However, it does not mean that the protection of intellectual property rights is weakened, but that under the paradigm of open cooperation, the parties to the cooperation do not obtain value through the closed protection of intellectual property rights, but jointly innovate value through market-oriented cooperation. The interaction of market-oriented interests is the key privacy that drives enterprises to choose closed or open intellectual property rights.
    Third, in different regions of China, there are significant differences in the impact of intellectual property protection on the development of innovation capabilities, and there is still much room for improvement in the overall level of intellectual property protection. The inhibitory effect of intellectual property protection on innovation output is the most obvious in the eastern region, followed by the central region, and the least obvious in the west. Under the moderating effect of open innovation, the protection of intellectual property rights in the eastern and central regions has a more significant inhibitory effect on the output of invention patents in innovation activities.
    The market-oriented intellectual property promotion model of "blocking or dredging" proposed by this paper has put forward a new idea for the market-oriented promotion and protection of intellectual property rights in China. The research results enrich the literature on intellectual property protection and regional innovation research, and have theoretical and practical reference value for the Chinese government to formulate policies to support regional innovation capabilities and intellectual property protection. 

Key words:  intellectual property protection, open innovation, regional innovation capability