Sino-UK Olympic cooperation

The British Embassy in China and its consulate in Chongqing held a Sino-UK forum on protection of Olympics and sports brands on May 17 in Chengdu in Southwest China.

As Beijing and London are the next two hosts of Games, there are increasing demands for cooperation between the two countries on how to protect Olympic intellectual property and famous sports brands.

Over 60 delegates from the embassy, officials of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games and outfitter Nike discussed trends in the sports industry and measures to protect Olympic IPRs, trademark protection and foreign brand protection in China.

Countering fakes in Guangdong

The Guangdong Entry-exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau said on May 16 that it has begun 10 measures to help electric, electronic and machinery exports in the province, including a strict inspection of IPRs, including checks on tickets of origin and trademarks.

Counterfeit products, together with the appreciation of the yuan - as well as increasing technical barriers and anti-dumping charges, along with rising costs of raw materials - have hurt exports of electric, electronic and machinery products, which total some $200 billion a year in the province.

Earlier this year, customs in Guangzhou even found a fake BWM SUV with almost the same appearance as a genuine vehicle.

New TV patents

The website of the People's Daily said on May 15 that 10 top Chinese TV makers have produced over 500 patents in their joint venture Zhongcailian Co Ltd, the role of which is to build a collective patent pool and increase bargaining power.

An officer from Changhong, one of the 10 companies, said the joint venture will promote innovation among member companies, build a shared patent pool and popularize IPs.

The 10 companies each contributed 1 million yuan to the joint venture that was formed as a response to a US policy to stop sales of analog TVs from March and royalty charges levied by some international patent holders.

Clothing complaint

The Guangzhou Intermediate People's Court recently ruled that a clothing company in the city infringed the copyright of Tencent, the largest instant messaging service company in China, and mandated that it must pay 250,000 yuan in compensation.

Tencent contracted with a firm to design a logo using a penguin for the company in 2000. A year later, Tencent registered the logo as one of its copyrights.

A clothes wholesaler also registered the trademark, using exactly the same design. The trademark was transferred to the company in 2005, which brought the complaint from Tencent.

(China Daily 05/28/2007 page9)

2013-07-17