Illegal publications

China seized more than 58 million illegal publications, four pirated DVD production lines and investigated 10,000 cases of intellectual property theft during the 100-day anti-piracy campaign.

The campaign, which was launched by the Ministry of Culture, Ministry of Public Security and eight other departments under the central authorities, lasted from the middle July to the end of October.

More than 880,000 State workers, market supervisors and members of the judiciary were involved in the campaign.

The 100-day anti-piracy campaign has terrified gangs and individuals involved in piracy and illustrates China's resolve in fighting piracy and protecting intellectual property, according to an official with the General Administration of Press and Publication.

R&D growth

Chinese large- and medium-sized industrial enterprises invested 125 billion yuan (US$15.8 billion) in research and development (R&D) in 2005, an increase of 31 per cent year-on-year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

R&D funds represented 0.76 per cent of prime operating revenue in 2005, compared with 0.71 per cent in 2004.

Large- and medium-sized industrial enterprises are starting to play a bigger role in innovation as government policies in support of corporate innovation begin to take effect, according to an official with NBS.

Statistics show that large- and medium-sized firms received 4.54 billion yuan (US$574 million) of R&D funding from the government, a year-on-year increase of 28.6 per cent.

China's R&D investments represent 1.34 per cent of GDP, compared with 2 percent in developed countries.

NBS points out that less than one- fourth of large- and medium-sized enterprises carry out research and development activities and less than 10 per cent own patents.

International seminar

An international seminar on registration of marks, co-hosted by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC) was recently held in Dongguan, Guangdong Province.

The theme of the seminar is "challenges and benefits of developing countries' application of Madrid System for the International Registration of Marks."

Participants analyzed the significance of developing countries' access to the Madrid Alliance.

China joined the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks in 1989 and joined the Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks in 1995.

In the last 18 years, application for Madrid international registration of marks originated in China has increased continuously, from 9 of 1989 to 1,334 of 2005.

As of September 30, there were 1,432 applications in 2006.

KTV fees

The copyright watchdog has brushed aside threats by some KTV bar owners to boycott a national royalty plan, saying it would not be pressured.

According to a plan unveiled by the National Copyright Administration (NCA) earlier this month solicited for public opinion, KTV bars will have to pay 12 yuan (US$1.50) in royalties per karioki room each day starting from the end of the year.

The watchdog says copyright owners have designated the China Audio and Video Collective Administration (AVCA) to levy the fees on their behalf.

Meanwhile, the AVCA, whose formation is yet to be officially approved, has transferred the fee-collection job to the China Audio and Video Association (CAVA).

KTV club operators question the legitimacy of the AVCA as a fee collector but NCA said collective management through a designated association is the best way to solve any royalty disputes.

Some KTV operators in Shanghai and Guangzhou argue that it is unfair to charge fees based on the number of rooms because not all are used every day. They believe that fees based on music usage is far more reasonable.

But some analysts say that the fee rates were decided after looking into profits of KTV bars and negotiations with some operators.

(China Daily 12/04/2006 )