At first, this paper theoretically analyzed the mechanism of intellectual property rights protection affecting enterprise innovation through import trade, then, it used the data of China customs trade and China industrial enterprises to empirically analyze the influence of intellectual property rights protection on enterprise innovation, and verifies the mechanism of intellectual property rights protection affecting enterprise innovation through import trade. The results show that :(1) the improvement of the level of intellectual property rights protection can significantly promote the innovation of innovative leading enterprises. (2) From the perspective of influence mechanism, the improvement of the level of intellectual property rights protection can significantly improve the import scale, the types of imported products and the quality of imported products of private enterprises, enterprises in patent-intensive industries and export enterprises, thus promoting innovation. China is at an important stage of implementing the strategy of innovation-driven development. We should pay attention to and give full play to the role of intellectual property rights protection and import trade in promoting the innovation of Chinese enterprises.
