IP industrialization

Hunan University and the Zhuzhou municipal government recently signed a comprehensive cooperation agreement to enhance cooperation on promoting IP commercialization and industrialization.

According to the agreement, the two sides will develop cooperation on scientific research, achievement transformation and talent cultivation. Hunan University will provide technological support for accelerating the process of new industrialization. And the Zhuzhou government will create more beneficial conditions for the transformation and creation of technological achievements of Hunan University.

Fighting textbook piracy

The Hebei provincial bureau of copyright recently issued an open letter to primary and middle schools in Hebei province and appealed to them to refuse piracy, to maintain the normal order of the publication and distribution of textbooks and tapes and create a healthy growth environment for primary and middle school students.

The open letter says that the school vacation is the peak period for pirated textbooks and tapes. The copyright administration departments have cracked down on pirated textbooks and tapes, but some schools still purchase and use pirated textbooks and tapes.

The primary and middle schools are expected to pay attention to piracy suppliers and provide clues to the copyright administration departments. The bureau will reward informants who provide true information.

Top 500 brands

Fifteen Chinese brands were listed among the world's top 500 brands in 2008, the World Brand Lab, compiler of the list, recently announced.

China National Petroleum Corporation, China Merchants Bank and Tsinghua Tongfang were three newcomers into the list, while 12 Chinese brands retained their position from the previous year.

The 12 brands are Haier, Lenovo, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, State Grid, Bank of China, China Life, Changhong, China Railway Group, Air China, Sinopec, CCTV and China Mobile.

In the 2008 list, China ranked the seventh in terms of the number of listed brands, moving up one place from last year. The United States saw the most number of 243 listed brands, followed by France and Japan.

Harvard University was appraised to be this year's most influential brand. Coco-Cola and Citigroup took the second and third respectively.

Among the top 500 brands, the University of Oxford had the longest history of 912 years.

Chaired by Robert Mundell, 1999 Nobel Prize laureate in economics, the World Brand Lab ranked the top 500 brands according to their market shares, brand loyalty and global leadership.

Invention exhibition

The 6th China International Invention Exhibition will be held at China (Suzhou) International Expo Center on October 16. More than 30 delegations from Asia, Europe, North America and Africa will participate in the exhibition. The International Federation of Inventors' Association, one of the sponsors of the exhibition, will hold its 40th anniversary and annual meeting during the exhibition.

With the theme of public innovation and harmonious development, the exhibition will last four days.

The exhibition is supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology, the State Intellectual Property Office, the All-China Federation of Labor, the Chinese Association for Science and Technology, the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League, and Jiangsu Provincial People's Government.

R&D investment

Centrally administered State-owned enterprises (SOEs) invested almost 100 billion yuan in research and development (R&D) in 2007, up 40.8 percent from the previous year, the State assets regulator said recently.

The State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission said about 150 such SOEs allocated 98.7 billion yuan to R&D, comprising 26.9 percent of national R&D investment.

As of the end of 2007, these SOEs employed 1.02 million people in the science and technology fields and 465,000 people in R&D, up8.8 percent and 4.7 percent, respectively, over the previous year.

Fuwa symbol infringed

The Yiwu Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine recently launched an Olympic-related IPR protection campaign. The administration has since June found 16 cases infringing Olympic symbols, worth over 800,000 yuan.

The Olympic mascots, Fuwa, was most frequently infringed as 500 watches, 330 toys and 350 school bags all bear the symbol of Fuwa without authorization.

Website inspection

The Shandong Provincial Copyright Bureau, the Department Public Security and the Communications Administration will jointly combat Internet piracy, strengthen protection of Olympic copyright and intensify supervision of online copyright from June to October. Local influential portal sites, commercial websites, campus websites and entertainment websites will be focus of the inspection.

NEC trademark

The Beijing No.1 Intermediate People's Court recently entered the first instance decision for the infringement of NEC trademark and unfair competition. It ordered defendants Zhuhai Yuehua Electronic, Yuehua Technology and Shenzhen JEEJA Electronic to stop manufacturing and sales of infringing products and defendant Beijing Century Yuehua to cease sales of infringing products. The four defendants shall also indemnify NEC 1.15 million yuan in damages. Other claims of NEC are denied.

NEC registered its trademark in China in 1979. The Zhuhai Administration for Industry and Commerce imposed administrative enforcement against Zhuhai Yuehua Electronic and Yuehua Technology and destructed a large number of counterfeit NEC keyboards. NEC then sued the four defendants for serious quality defects of the counterfeit keyboards that damage its reputation.

(China Daily 07/21/2008 page9)