The Lanzhou Intermediate People's Court has fined a local art product firm 50,000 yuan for violating a patent licensing agreement.

The defendant Yanlong Co signed a one-year contract with Jiyuan Cultural Co in 2005 for authorized sale of its patented sculpture Playing the Lute on the Back.

The sculpture design was created by Sun Jiyuan, art director of Jiyuan Cultural Co, which was later granted a patent. Sun's creation was inspired by ancient murals in the famed Buddhist Mogao Caves in Dunhuang city.

Yet after the contract expired, Jiyuan found its former partner selling a nearly identical sculpture.

Yanlong told the court it sold a Fujian company's sculpture different from the one created by the artist Sun.

The court ruled that the difference was too subtle for an average customer to notice.

(Source: China Daily)