KTV operators taken to court

The China Audio-video Copyright Association (CAVCA) recently filed lawsuits in seven courts in Beijing against 100 Beijing-based KTV operators for allegedly refusing to pay royalties for songs and MTV videos they used.

The list includes popular KTV operators such as Tongyishouge and Huayangnianhua, the association says.

CAVCA, which is responsible for charging KTV operators, began to send notices to Beijing-based operators on September 27. It urged them to pay the royalties before October 10 and warned of legal actions if they failed to meet the deadline.

"Operators refusing to pay royalties would not only pay for using the products but also for their infringement on copyright," says Wang Huapeng, the association's director-general.

The association didn't rule out the possibility of further legal actions against other Beijing-based KTV operators.

At present only about 10 operators out of more than 1,000 Beijing-based karaoke bars pay royalties for the copyrighted audio-video products they use, according to CAVCA.

Last year, 15 provincial-level areas, including Beijing and Guangdong, decided to collect karaoke copyright royalties. The practice has been spreading nationwide. KTV operators must pay a daily charge of up to 12 yuan for each karaoke room for the use of musical and video products.

Nikon sues bike seller

The Shanghai No 1 Intermediate People's Court has accepted a lawsuit by Nikon Corp against Zhejiang Nikang Electric Vehicle Co and an electric-powered bicycle seller surnamed Pan for trademark infringement and unfair competition, Shanghai Daily reports.

Nikon is seeking 2 million yuan compensation. It said the Zhejiang company used a "Nikom" logo, similar to Nikon's, on its electric-powered bicycles. In addition, the company's name is the same as Nikon's Chinese translation.

Company loses lawsuit

Wanfang Data, an Internet information content provider in China, has been ordered to pay more than 1 million yuan for copyright infringement. The company included 364 unpublished masters and doctorate dissertations in its database. The dissertations were then sold to public and college libraries for profit, the court of Chaoyang District in Beijing said recently. Wanfang Data also charged Internet users money to view and download the dissertations.

Wanfang Data was ordered to pay between 2,300 yuan and 5,100 yuan in damages to 364 academics. It was ordered to remove the plaintiffs' dissertations from its database and publish an apology on its website.

New licensing deals

Mobile search and text input company Zi Corporation has entered into new Chinese licensing agreements. Zi has extended its eZiText licensing agreements with Guohong Communication and Digital Technology Company, an OEM focused primarily on the Chinese domestic market, and with UTStarcom for its mobile device division in addition to the previously announced deal with UTStarcom's IPTV set-top-box division.

Zi also announced an agreement with Longcheer Telecommunication (HK) Limited, one of the biggest ODM's in China, which has licensed eZiText in several languages for use in its mobile handsets. As well, CK Telecom, a Shenzhen manufacturer, has licensed Zi's handwriting recognition product, Decuma.

Under these agreements, Zi will receive both licensing fees and royalties.

Online trademark registration

The National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Finance recently issued a preferential policy to promote registering trademarks online and raise the quality and efficiency of the work of trademark registration.

The fee standard of registering trademarks online is 20 percent lower than that of registering trademarks on paper. The fee for each trademark registered online is 800 yuan.

Patent application subsidy

Guangdong government will soon offer subsidies for domestic and foreign patent application in 2008.

Each granted domestic invention patent can be subsidized between 1,000 yuan and 30,000 yuan. Invention patents granted by the United States, Japan and European counties would be subsidized with 30,000 yuan each.

Fighting Internet piracy

Chongqing Municipal Copyright Bureau recently carried out a four-month special campaign against Internet infringement and piracy and punished 38 Internet infringement cases.

The campaign focused on four areas, namely Internet, LAN, Olympic copyright and private server.

The bureau found three cases of broadcasting 2008 Beijing Olympic Games illegally on the Internet.

IP protection for exhibitions

A seminar on IPR protection in the exhibition industry was recently held in Shanghai by Shanghai Convention and Exhibition Industries Association (SCEIA). Shanghai Intellectual Property Administration (SIPA) sponsored the seminar.

Gao Xiaomei, SIPA's deputy director said at the seminar that protecting enterprises' IPRs during exhibitions and supporting their innovation are the pragmatic activities of implementing the Compendium on China National IP Strategy. The sponsoring units of exhibitions are responsible for the IP protection and their active participation would play an important role in the establishment and improvement of IP protection mechanisms in exhibitions.

(China Daily 10/27/2008 page9)