Rules on well-known brands

The Supreme People's Court is investigating the possibility of an interpretation about the recognition and protection of well-known brands to prevent abuse, said Xia Lijun, a judge with the intellectual property right tribunal, on November 4, according to the China Industry and Commerce News.

Xia said at a China Trademark Annual Summit in Changsha, Central China's Hunan Province, that the country's court system now has over 400 courts authorized to handle well-known brand lawsuits, which have ruled on more than 200 cases in the past six years.

Yet she said too much interest in the pursuit of well-known brand status has changed its original purpose and some unqualified brands either received the title of well-known brand or infringed on the legal rights of original brand owners. Some well-known brands, which did not survive market competition, still hold the titles.

She said the interpretation might contain stricter requirements on evidence for the ownership of well-known brands.

Fakes investigated and fined

Industry and commerce authorities countrywide investigated 2,526 fake trademark cases in the first half of this year worth 25.42 million yuan and imposed fines 14.71 million yuan on violators, according to information released at the China Trademark Festival, the Xinhua News Agency reports.

More than 1,100 cases of counterfeit brand names, packaging and decorations were also investigated. The authorities also investigated 782 cases of infringement other companies or individuals' names and levied fines of 11.7 million yuan.

From 2002 to the first half of this year, the authorities investigated 60,203 infringement cases on trademarks worth 1.42 billion yuan.

IP protection centers

The State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) recently issued a guideline for the establishment of IP protection assistance centers in the country, SIPO's website said on November 8.

The centers are intended to provide assistance to Chinese individuals or companies that have difficulty paying for costs of complex lawsuits or dispute settlements.

The centers will provide legal assistance, help applicants to assess legal costs, provide financial aid to those involved in significant overseas disputes and without adequate financing, as well as offer IP alerts on major developments and technology transfer projects.

Tibetan online piracy fight

The Tibet copyright bureau has started a two-month campaign to stop online piracy in the autonomous region, according to the website of the National Copyright Administration.

The focus of the campaign is to stop illegal downloads of movies, music, software and books from the Internet, increase inspection on Internet cafes that are sites of illegal downloading, as well as provide more education on laws and regulations about online copyright protection.

Henan to name top brands

A brand festival started in Henan, the most populous province in central China, on October 28 with a top 100 brand list to be released in December, the organizers of the festival said.

Awards for the top-100 brands, the brand of the year, the 10-most competitive brands and the 10 brands with the most potential to become world-known will be selected.

More than 600 companies have submitted materials for consideration, which will be measured by their brand power, market share, profitability, potential, sales, capital returns on investment, brand protection power and other factors.

In addition to votes from a panel of professional judges, consumers can also cast their votes through newspapers, the Internet and mobile messages.

Famous brands like Yutong buses, Shuanghui foods, and Xinfei refrigerators are already famous in China and even the world, but the province believes brands and trademarks can contribute more to economic growth and the awareness of the society about IPRs.

Publications seized

In the first nine months of the year, 110.98 million illegal publications were seized in the country, including 2.61 million pornographic publications, 2.15 million illegal newspapers and magazines, 3.48 million smuggled discs and 101.23 million pirated publications.

Statistics from a national office that fights pornographic and illegal publications show that out of the 101.23 million pirated publications, 11.63 million copies were books, 75.83 million were audio and video discs, 4.57 million were textbooks, and 9.20 million were software and electronic publication discs. During the period 35,000 shops, 799 printing and copy houses and 331 illegal websites were closed. The authority investigated 24,915 cases, with 494 people given criminal punishments.

Legal DVDs for 20 yuan

A genuine DVD of the movie that only costs only 20 yuan? That is what exactly CAV Warner Home Entertainment Co Ltd is doing to fight piracy.

On November 7, the joint venture between the Chinese firm CAV and Warner Home Video signed agreements with Paramount and DreamWorks to sell DVDs of Transformers and Shrek 3 at a price of 20 yuan.

To fight piracy, the company cut the prices and also shortened the length of time between a movie's premier and the launch of its DVD.

In the US, a genuine DVD costs $20 to $25, but a proper price range, according to research, is between 18 to 24 yuan in China. In some smaller cities, the price of genuine copies is as low as 10 yuan.

(China Daily 11/19/2007 page9)

2013-07-17