Civil IP cases rise

Chinese local courts accepted 24,149 civil IP cases during the first 10 months of this year, up 30 percent year on year, according to statistics released by the Supreme People's Court recently.

The statistics show that during the period local courts accepted 20,806 civil IP cases of the first instance, up 36.9 percent year on year, 3,251 civil IP cases of the second instance, up 49.5 percent, and 92 civil IP cases of retrial, up 162.8 percent.

After the implementation of the newly revised Civil Procedure Law, the number of cases applied for retrial accepted by various higher people's courts and Supreme People's Court grew dramatically. From April to October, Supreme People's Court accepted 142 cases applied for retrial, 1.5-fold of the total number of 2007.

"The great increase of IP cases indicates that the state and people from all walks of life are attaching great importance to IP case trials," Xi Xiaoming, vice-president of Supreme People's Court, said at the Working Symposium on IP Trial of Courts Nationwide held in Chongqing recently.

Intermediate courts

A total of 71 intermediate courts are appointed to be able to try IP cases, including the two appointed this year, according to statistics released by Supreme People's Court recently.

The statistics show that the numbers of intermediate courts that are authorized to try cases of new plant variety and layout of integrated circuit reached 38 and 43 respectively. Sixty one grassroots courts can try some IP cases after approval, including the 21 appointed this year.

In addition, the court setups nationwide continue to explore reforms to the IP case trial system and to develop a system to optimize resource allocations. Preliminary statistics show that currently nine intermediate courts and 14 grassroots courts have launched the pilot project of letting one tribunal trying all types of IP cases.

Trademark objections

To strengthen the efficiency of trademark registration and standardize the work of trademark objection, the Trademark Office under State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC) recently issued a circular to trademark applicants and trademark agencies to explain issues concerning trademark objection.

The circular pointed out that, according to provisions of the "Trademark Law" and "Implementation Regulations for Trademark Law", the application for trademark objection should contain clearly defined requests and fact-based written explanations.

If the objection is raised concerning violations of Article 28 and 29 of Trademark Law, the application shall state the application number or registration number and title of the previous trademark, and provide appropriate evidence.

If an objection is raised for violations of other provisions of Trademark Law, there should be clearly expressed reasons, facts and appropriate evidence.

The written expression should be written in a manner that makes it easy for the opposing party to reply. If there is no clear basis for requests and facts, the Trademark Office will not accept it.

Fighting fake coins

China Gold Coin Inc, the only professional company under the People's Bank of China dealing in gold and silver commemorative coins, has just launched a campaign to fight against an increasing number of fake coins.

The major differences between the coins launched by the central bank and other souvenir coins is that the first type will have a face value on the coins, an official from the China Gold Coin Inc said. However, many sellers try to mix these two types of coins up to make profit.

(China Daily 01/05/2009 page11)