Patent and brand expo

The Fourth China International Patent and Famous Brand Expo was recently held in Suzhou, capital of East China's Jiangsu province.

The Expo had 716 booths in a 5,000 sq m exhibition, a 42 percent increase over the previous event. Thousands of patent technologies and branded products were exhibited.

Representatives from more than 20 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions and seven countries and regions, including the United States, Australia and South Korea took part in the event.

The expo held five meetings emphasizing the partnership of industry and university research to advance the transfer of scientific and technological achievements.

Kiwifruit dispute

A New Zealand kiwifruit marketing company took a Jiangsu Province fruit trading company to court, accusing it of trademark infringement and asking for 300,000 yuan in compensation.

Shanghai No 1 Intermediate People's Court heard the case yesterday. A verdict is pending.

New Zealand Zespri Group Ltd, the world's largest kiwifruit marketing company, sells the fruit in about 70 countries and regions. It entered the mainland market in 1998 and registered its trademark as Zespri with a logo showing sunbeams.

But company officials say they found a similar trademark and logo on kiwifruit sold by Xishu Fruit Trading Co in the local market earlier this year.

They reported the case to Shanghai Administration of Industry and Commerce, as Xishu's fruit bore the trademark Znishio and a similar sunbeam logo. The watchdog seized about 100 crates of fruit and labels.

Zespri told the court that Xishu then continued selling the fruit with the similar trademark, which also appeared on its website.

Internet cafe in court

Five United States movie studios have filed a suit against a Beijing online movie provider and a Shanghai Internet cafe for copyright infringement and are seeking more than 3.2 million yuan compensation.

Columbia Pictures Corp, Universal City Studios, 20th Century Fox Film Corp, Paramount Pictures Corp and Disney Enterprises Inc allege that the Internet cafe installed software developed by the operator of Jeboo.com and broadcast the films without the approval of the studios.

The Internet cafe offered 13 movies, including Night at the Museum, X-Men United and Pirates of the Caribbean, the movie makers said.Jeboo.com, which claims to be the biggest provider of authorized movies online in China, was sued for enabling the cafe to infringe on copyrights.

In addition to compensation, the studios are calling on the defendants to immediately cease the practice and make a public apology.

"All the audio and video products on Jeboo.com are provided by our partners. Jeboo.com has the right to provide download services through the Internet for them according to contracts signed between Jeboo.com and our partners," said Jeboo.com in a statement.

Haier questions GE design

Only seven months after the global introduction of its new free-standing side-by-side refrigerator, Chinese home goods giant Haier said it had found similar design from US-based General Electric on Bestbuy.com. The firm said the two models share almost the same appearance and size of the freezer compartment.

Guan Enhua, the product manager of the US division of Haier, said the firm will deal with the issue of intellectual property rights according to relevant regulations.

He declined to reveal if the Chinese company will take legal action against the suspicious product.

"If it meets market demand, Haier considers it a contribution to American consumers," he said.

Industry experts point out that it might be a good trend if domestic products are noticed and studied by international giants.

Haier recently developed the new design and put the freezer in the upper part of the refrigerator compartment in a move to meet the living style of US consumers.

As the fourth-biggest large home white appliance manufacturer in the world, Haier achieved more than 100 billion yuan in turnover in the global market last year.

The second-largest refrigerator maker worldwide, Haier's business has now expanded to 16 countries and regions.

(China Daily 12/08/2007 page9)

2013-07-17