Trademark infringement

The Trademark Office of State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC) has announced the 10 typical cases of trademark infringement in the first half of 2006.

It said during the first half of the year, administrations for industry and commerce have transferred 60 suspected criminal cases of trademark infringements and 61 criminal suspects to public security organs.

Of the ten cases, seven cases involved foreign trademarks, five cases had the total economic value of more than one million yuan (US$126,000), and two cases had been adjudged by the courts.

Piracy crackdown

China has jailed nine people in its latest campaign against piracy as a 100-day intensive crackdown on piracy continues.

Wang Guimei in Xiamen, East China's Fujian Province, was sentenced to prison for 13 years for illegally operating and profiting from pornography. He was also fined 40,000 yuan (US$5,063), according to the national anti-pornography and anti-piracy office.

"The severe punishment demonstrates the government's determination to battle piracy and protect intellectual property rights," the office says.

Three people in Ningbo, East China's Zhejiang Province were also given 13-year prison sentences for selling pirated publications.

The 100-day campaign started on July 25 and is said to be unprecedented in terms of its duration and number of government departments involved.

Last month, China destroyed nearly 13 million pirated CDs, DVDs and computer software as part of the campaign.

Eyewear company wins case

Bausch & Lomb, a world leader in the field of contact lenses, has won a case against Shanghai Yuantong Optical Co Ltd for trademark infringement and unfair competition.

Under the judgment by the Shanghai 1st Intermediate People's Court, Yuantong should stop the infringement, publish an apology in relevant media to eliminate the bad effects and compensate 20,000 yuan (US$2,532) to the plaintiff.

The US company said it registered the trademark "Boshilun" in traditional Chinese characters in China in 1987 and had filed an application of trademark registration for "Boshilun" in simplified Chinese.

Investigations by the court indicated that the so-called "US Bausch & Lomb Co Ltd" was a company registered in Hong Kong. Since the trade name of the company is quite similar to Bausch & Lomb (Hong Kong) Ltd, the company has been ordered to cancel or alter its trade name.

The court held that, as the contact lenses of "Boshilun" were famous in China, Yuantong committed trademark infringement and might mislead the public by using the words "Boshilun" on its contact lenses, materials for publicity and advertisements. Yuantong also committed unfair competition by stating that the trademark "EEDAI" was authorized by US Bausch & Lomb Co Ltd.

Model city

The Workshop for Construction of the National Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Model City was held in Chengdu, Southwest China's Sichuan Province. Government leaders and officials from IPR offices of the 10 model cities attended the meeting and held discussions on the construction of IPR model cities.

Deputy Commissioner of the State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) Zhang Qin made a brief summary of the previous work on model cities, introduced the overall situation on the current IPR work and the formulation of a national IPR strategy.

In addition, work arrangements for the next phase were made at the workshop.

This is the first get-together for the leadership of the 10 IPR model cities since the establishment of an IPR model city in 2005.

The main task of the workshop was to sum up and exchange the progresses and experiences of the construction of national IPR model cities, and discuss the new acts to strengthen the construction of IPR model cities.

Traditional medicine

The national high-level training course on TCM (traditional Chinese medicine) IPR protection was held in Zhuhai, Guangdong Province.

The training course is a national continuing education programme, which is sponsored by China Institute for History of Medicine & Medical Literature under the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences. Domestic authorities were invited to give lectures and many experts and professors from universities and institutions throughout the country participated in this course.

An official from the State Administration of Chinese Traditional Medicine said the standardization of TCM has become an important field in TCM work, and as a national programme the standards will be significantly improved during the 11th Five-Year Plan period.

Hong Kong reward

In a bid to curb piracy in the business sector, Hong Kong government will increase the maximum reward for reporting on piracy from HK$5,000 (US$642.5) to HK$30,000 (US$3,855) and commission an independent Software Asset Management (SAM) contractor to provide businesses with free consultancy services and help them manage their software assets.

At a ceremony to launch the Business Software Certification Programme and the Reward Scheme to Combat Illegal Use of Software in Business, Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology Joseph Wong said that these programmes are aimed at raising awareness of and respect for intellectual property rights (IPR) in the business community. He said about 30,000 organizations would be approached.

The certification programme, jointly organized by the Intellectual Property Department and the Business Software Alliance, is a pilot scheme whose efficacy the government will review to decide on the way forward.

(China Daily 10/30/2006 page9)