Clarifying laws

The second IPR law application seminar was held in Jinan University in Guangzhou on October 22 and 23, trying to solve problems in IP lawsuits.

Jiang Zhipei, chief judge of the IPR Tribunal of the Supreme People's Court, several other senior judges from the tribunal, professors from Jinan University and IPR officers from the US and EU diplomatic missions in China responded to questions from judges, company managers, legal professionals and students in the university.

The topics included issues in patent, trademark, and copyright cases, unfair competition cases, audio and video copyrights, technological IPRs, contract disputes, new legislative developments and rulings on IPRs.

Jia Yimin, vice-president of Jinan University, said that due to an absence of consistent ruling principles, judges and legal professionals all face ambiguities on interpretation and application of patent, trademark, and copyright laws.

Trading platform

Nineteen patent trading platforms announced on October 28 in Beijing that they would form an alliance and integrate their resources.

Luo Zhixiong, deputy director of the IP trading center with the Beijing Property Exchange, said that with the alliance, a patent needs to list in just one exchange and be promoted on the other 18 platforms, which saves energy and costs for patent holders and also facilitates buyers in finding the right patents for them.

(China Daily 11/12/2007 page9)