Code standard released

China has released a code standard for small commodities, making it the first country in the world to have such a standard covering 1.7 million varieties of small commodities, Xinhua News Agency reports.

The code, jointly compiled by the Ministry of Commerce, the General Administration of Customs and national standardization research institutes, was officially put in use as a national standard on November 1.

The code uses 12 digits to categorize commodities, 11 digits for trademark registration and nine digits to identify the place of origin, says Liu Bisong, a research fellow with the China National Institute of Standardization.

"In the future, the code will be able to store information such as the producer's credit and production capacity," he added.

Standardized coding allows for more effective electronic purchasing management and will assist with marketing, sales and distribution when commodities are traded internationally. The code can also help producers protect intellectual property rights and improve quality supervision, says Hu Jianping, an official with the Ministry of Commerce.

Currently, there are several internationally recognized coding standards, such as the United Nations' Certified Professional Coder, Universal Standards Products and Services Classification (UNSPSC) compiled by the United Nations Development Program and the Harmonized System (HS) standard from the World Customs Organization.

China's small commodity coding standard covers a wider range of commodities and is more precise than the above three coding systems, Liu says.

"It is possible that China's commodity standard will soon become internationally recognized, driven by China's immense export capacity for small commodities," Liu says.

China first adopted commodity coding for some exported goods in the 1980s.

Training on IP protection

Beijing 12312 and Beijing Municipal Intellectual Property Office recently held a training course on IPR Protection in France for enterprises that will attend the E-cards and Electronic Identification Technology Exhibition (Paris Card Exhibition) on November 4.

The course centered on the preparation work for the exhibition as well as the IPR protection system, procedure, and dispute handling in France, related issues and countermeasures.

Representatives from more than e-card enterprises such as Datang Microelectronics Technology Co Ltd and Beiqi Foton Motor Co Ltd participated in the training.

IPR protection at overseas exhibitions is a key work of Beijing 12312, also called Beijing Service Center for Intellectual Protection, in 2008. The center plans to hold more training courses on overseas exhibition targeting different industries.

Teenager patent applications

The intellectual property office of Baoji, in Shaanxi, and the city's education bureau, science and technology bureau recently worked out several preferential policies for patent applications by teenagers.

Baoji IP Office will establish special funds for young people for patent application and offer free training and IPR-related activities. From September 2009, students with more than one invention patent, two utility models, or three design patents could be enrolled at senior high school with a mark 5 lower than the official entry score.

Software outsourcing summit

2008 Shanghai Software Outsourcing International Summit was recently held. Shanghai municipal People's government insists on developing software and information service outsourcing industry.

In recent years, Shanghai issued a series of policies and measures to support the development of service outsourcing.

Shanghai and the Ministry of Commerce in July signed the Cooperation Agreement on Promoting the Development of Service Trade in Shanghai and proposed to give priority to the development of the service trade in the fields of finance and insurance, logistics, shipping, information technology, culture and education and international service outsourcing.

Creative industry expo opens

2008 China (Shanghai) International Creative Industry Expo was recently held at Shanghai International Exhibition Center. The exhibited products included industrial products, multimedia, architecture and interior design, brand image planning and cartoon design.

Creative industry is a technology-intensive industry, which highly depends on independent intellectual property. The organizing committee entrusted professional lawyers to work out a series of related IPR protection and implementation measures for the exhibition. Shanghai 12312 was invited to participate in the expo, offering consultations to exhibitors and professional visitors.

The expo was co-hosted by Shanghai Creative Industry Association and Shanghai International Exhibition Co Ltd.

Chongqing patent fair begins

Chongqing Patent Exhibition and Trade Fair of the Second China Patent Week will begin on November 19. The deadline for enterprises and individuals to sign up for the exhibition is November 7.

The fair will center on showcasing, trading and transferring patent products as well as technologies for small- and medium-sized enterprises and non-service inventors. Patent technologies and products of hi-tech enterprises, innovation-oriented enterprises, youths, and undergraduates will be displayed at the fair. Products in energy savings and emissions reduction will be highlighted.

(China Daily 11/03/2008 page9)