IPR action plan released

The Ministry of Commerce, a key member in the National Working Group for Intellectual Property Right (IPR) Protection, on April 2 published China's action plan on IPR protection for 2007, formulated by the working group, which includes 276 measures.

In judicial activity, China will draft, promulgate or revise 14 laws, regulations and administrative measures this year, including trademark and patent laws.

For enforcement, 14 specific actions will be taken against software piracy, infringement on patents and other intellectual property, unfair competition and fake goods. The action plan also requires related government agencies to work in concert to increase the effectiveness of legal and administrative enforcement. Training of IPR talent is also highlighted, as the country is in need of those for professionals.

SIPO to provide consultation

To mark World International Property Day, the State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) will host an open house on April 26, when organizations and individuals can join in lectures by SIPO officials and experts on patent documentation. SIPO will open its office and work procedures to the public, provide consultation and take complaints on the spot.

Interested organizations and individuals can register in advance for reservations until April 9. Those who are selected will be notified on April 19 and then join the event on April 26. SIPO also organized a nation-wide singing contest. The final was held on April 2 in Beijing as part of an effort to increase awareness on intellectual property rights. The first such contest by SIPO, it received 76 new songs from 24 provincial regions out of the 31 on the Chinese mainland and 24 qualified into the final.

IPR cases

Chinese courts heard 17,769 legal cases on intellectual property rights in 2006, according to the Xinhua News Agency, with 3,508 people jailed in 2,277 criminal cases, while the courts ruled on 14,056 civil cases. A total of 1,436 administrative cases were also adjudicated, including 454 on patents, 237 on trademarks and 735 on technical supervision.

In the same year, intellectual property offices throughout the nation also administered 1,270 patent infringement and patent cases, and ruled on 973 cases. Among them, 12 were handed over to police departments, 35 were transferred to other related departments and 469 saw law enforcement action.

Gov't: Police should try harder

The Ministry of Public Security recently required all police departments in the country to increase efforts in combating pornographic content, as well as piracy, according to the official Website of the Chinese government. Computer software and audio and video content piracy are the focus of the campaign. Police departments were told that it is a core task of their work and they must increase their law enforcement efforts. The ministry also said organizations and individuals involved in the production of pirated software and optical discs should be brought to justice immediately and forcefully.

From 2002 to 2006, police officers took action on 165,000 cases involving pornographic and pirated content, and confiscated 590 million items, including books, discs and other media.

Patent agent job fair

A job fair for patent agent assistants was held on March 23 in Wuhan, capital of Central China's Hubei Province, which also marked the beginning of a patent agent assistant training program.

In the first job fair in that area, employers offering 18 positions received almost 350 resumes in three hours. Most of the applicants held bachelor's or master's degrees. Some of them did not major in patent law at universities, which led organizers to believe that there is greater awareness about patents and patent agencies in the nation.

The number of patent filings has been growing by almost 40 percent annually in Wuhan, but there are just nine patent agencies and 50 agents, so there is increased demand for patent agent assistants.

Patent application seminar

The Intellectual Property Administration of Shantou in South China's Guangdong Province and two districts in the city offered free patent application services to companies and individuals in cooperation with patent agencies as part of an efforts at to promote patent protection in the city.

Shantou Hi-tech Patent Agency alone handled about 30 patent applications in half an hour. Those applying for patents on inventions reached almost the same number as practical patents, while the effort from individuals almost equaled that of companies.

High school students also showed strong interest and sufficient knowledge about patent application and protection, it was reported by Shantou City News.

Court rules Web portal infringed

Sina.com, the top Chinese Internet portal, was ordered by Haidian District Court in Beijing to pay 10,000 yuan in compensation for copyright infringement and to stop infringement activities.

In November, 2004, Chen Chao, composer of the popular song "Perfume is Poisonous" signed a copyright transfer agreement with Wang Hu, who paid Chen for unlimited use of his work. Wang then transferred the copyright to Taiger Impression, a record company in Beijing, which became the legal owner of the song. But Sina has been providing paid downloads of ring tones based on the song and transferred those to the Web sites of China Mobile and China Netcom for download, thus violating Taiger Impression's copyright, the court ruled.

(China Daily 04/09/2007 page9)