Priority cartoons named

China's State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) has recommended 11 animated series that are seen as the elite of the country's home-made cartoons. TV stations should make their broadcast a priority, the administration said on its website earlier this month.

The 11 cartoons published have been selected by SARFT's local branches and the China Central Television Station (CCTV), with SARFT having the final say.

The cartoons include Young Di Renjie, featuring the story of Di, a historical magistrate and a detective of the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD). CCTV produced the 26 episodes.

Another cartoon on the list is a production of the Hunan Great dreams Cartoon Media Ltd Co, one of its Homer & Landau Cartoon series. The 30-episode cartoon tells the story of struggle between the righteous and the evil.

These cartoons have made their way into the final recommendation list because they are deemed excellent domestic products and can make the domestic animation industry prosperous, according to the administration.

China's cartoon industry produced more than 101,900 minutes of animation last year, a 23 percent jump over 2006 when the output was 81,000 minutes, SARFT's figures show.

Microsoft 'model city' pact

Shijiazhuang Municipal People's Government and Microsoft (China) Co Ltd recently signed an agreement to jointly construct a model city for copyright protection.

The two sides will carry out cooperation in publicity campaigns, launch certification and training in software asset management, encourage computer sellers to pre-install genuine operating systems and select model enterprises in software legitimation work.

Since last May, Microsoft (China) has established cooperative relations with many cities and co-founded the local "Copyright Protection Model City" to protect intellectual property rights, promote independent innovation and enhance public awareness of IPR protection.

Karaoke bars warned

The copyright administration in southwest China's Yunnan province recently told two karaoke bars to stop copyright infringement on a number of songs in their respective databases or face severe punishment, a Xinhua News Agency report indicated.

It was the first time for a local copyright administration to take such actions against copyright infringement at karaoke bars, which observers say will set a precedent for other provinces.

The Yunnan Provincial Copyright Administration sent two advance notices on administrative punishment to the two bars, namely Kunming Haoledi and Shanshijiudu, ordering them to delete related songs from their databases or face the "severe punishment" of deleting the entire catalogue.

The administration investigated the bars after receiving complaints from the China Audio and Video Association (CAVA) and Music Copyright Society of China (MCSC) in January.

Zhang Yanhui, a spokesman for both CAVA and MCSC in Yunnan, says the organizations had evidence that Haoledi bars in other cities were also illegally using music and music videos. They planned to take further measures against the chain of bars.

Budweiser wins case

The Foshan Intermediate People's Court made the first judgment on a case in which Budweiser (Wuhan) Beer International Inc sued a beer company in Henan province for patent infringement and unfair competition.

The court ruled the defendant to stop manufacturing and selling the infringing products and compensate a total of 300,000 yuan to the plaintiff, according to a report from NTD Patent & Trademark Agency.

In the summer of 2006, tinned beer with the brand name of "Bailong Tongwei" appeared in more than 30 cities in China. The beer's package was similar to that of Budweiser beer in color and design. The words that mean Budweiser Beer International Group Co Ltd were also obvious on the packaging tin, which lead consumers to mistake it as a new Budweiser product. However, the beer was much cheaper than Budweiser beer.

Budweiser investigations indicated that the infringing beer was manufactured by a beer company in Henan Province. In October 2007, Budweiser instituted a proceeding against the manufacturer of the infringing beer, the designer of the packaging and a distributor in Foshan. Budweiser requested the defendant stop the unfair competition, stop manufacturing and selling the infringing products and compensate a total of 1.5 million yuan.

Gucci wins trademark suit

Italian fashion house Gucci has won a trademark infringement lawsuit against a shoesmaker based in Jiangsu province, a Xinhua News Agency report says.

Senda Group Co Ltd, a well-known Chinese shoemaker, was ordered to pay Gucci 180,000 yuan in compensation for infringing on the latter's trademark featuring an interlocking "GG" pattern, according to the ruling handed down by the People's Court of Shanghai Pudong District.

The representative of Gucci SPA says the company found Senda's ladies sandals bearing the "GG" logo were sold in Shanghai in August 2006.

The trademark has been in use since 1961 and was approved for exclusive right by China's industrial and commercial authority in 1999 and 2002, the representative said.

The court ruling said customers might be misled into thinking the sandals were jointly designed by Senda and Gucci or that the style of sandals were produced and sold with Gucci's permission.

(China Daily 04/21/2008 page9)

2013-07-17