IPR promises kept

China and the US are carrying out their commitments to protect intellectual property rights (IPR), and both sides are encouraged by recent progress, two US intellectual property rights (IPR) officials said in Beijing on Tuesday.

Stephen Pinkos, deputy undersecretary of commerce and deputy director of the US Patent and Trade Office, and Chris Israel, US coordinator of international IPR enforcement, made the remarks while attending a working group meeting of the China-US Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade (JCCT).

Pinkos says commitments made at the last JCCT meeting in April between China and the US are being carried out. For example, a commitment regarding the installation of legal software on computers sold in China is being implemented and the US side considers it a very positive step forward.

KTV prices soar

One of Beijing's most popular karaoke bars has boosted its prices by up to 60 per cent after China's copyright watchdog announced its proposed music video royalty fee.

Party World has raised the hourly fee of a two-person karaoke room from 59 yuan (US$7.3) to 96 yuan (US$16) and the largest room with a capacity of 12 to 15 people from 359 yuan (US$45) to 390 yuan (US $49).

The move came despite a promise last month by the bar's owner, Taiwan-based Cash Box, that it would refrain from raising prices when the proposed royalty fees were announced.

The company has a chain of more than 20 karaoke bars in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou and other cities on the Chinese mainland.

A receptionist at a Shanghai Cash Box karaoke bar says its prices had risen in July.

The Beijing branch is the first karaoke bar in the capital to announce a price hike after the National Copyright Administration (NCA) outlined plans to charge 12 yuan (US$1.5) per room per day subject to a month-long consultation with the industry.

Party World's new charges are sure to boost speculation that the royalty fee being planned by two government agencies will be passed on to karaoke customers.

Patentees swindled

According to a statistic from the Beijing IPR Reporting and Complaint Service Centre, the phenomenon of patentees, especially non-service inventors being swindled of money with fictitious facts or hidden truths is more and more severe.

Therefore, a number of government organizations, including the Beijing Working Group of Intellectual Property Rights and Beijing Municipal Intellectual Property Office, will establish a system to prevent and rectify patent swindles.

An official from the Beijing Municipal Intellectual Property Office says acts of patent swindle are too covert to collect evidence for administrative law enforcement, but that departments will focus on the major cases through consultations.

Meanwhile, law enforcement organs recommend that non-service inventors verify the quality of certification and the relevant documentary evidence of transactions.

Copyright forum

The 2006 International Copyright Forum, co-sponsored by the State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) and the World Intellectual Property Office (WIPO) will be held in Renmin University of China on September 5.

More than 200 authorities and experts in copyright-related industries from all over the world will attend the forum.

The theme of the forum is Development and Innovation in Copyright-related Industries. Experts will make suggestions to copyright-related industries in China.

Secretary-General of the forum, Liu Jie, says the meeting is an international conference hosted by the Chinese Government and related international organizations, to set up a bridge between China and international copyright-related organizations. Liu says the goal is to establish high-level dialogue among governments, enterprises and related international organizations, to push forward the development and innovation of copyright-related industries.

The International Copyright Forum will be held annually.

Brand approval

The Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) will promulgate administration measures on the use of products claiming to be among China's Time-honoured Brands.

Incomplete statistics show that only 1,600 China's Time-honoured Brands are selected by related governmental departments, but as a matter of fact there are over 10,000 enterprises with using the label of Time-honoured Brand.

In the face of the situation of abused Time-honoured Brands, MOFCOM has initiated the reconfirmation of Time-honoured Brands since June 2006.

The reconfirmation of Time-honoured Brands requires that applicants for the brand should have a history of at least 50 years.

Meanwhile, the products, services, and techniques must be particular to the applicants and have historical and cultural value. The most important factor is for enterprises awarded the Time-honoured Brand to have a good reputation and a sustainable operation.

In addition, MOFCOM will annually review the operation of reconfirmed Time-honoured Brands. Those enterprises that are found to lose their reputation will be deprived of the award.

(China Daily 08/28/2006 page9)

2013-07-17