Major acts in recent days

Online patent system

The State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) began development of an online patent approval system on August 1 in Beijing.

Yang Tiejun, vice-commissioner of SIPO, says the system will take a year to finish, with a new website expected to be operational next August.

SIPO says the project will make China a global leader in online patent approvals and significantly raise the efficiency of patent applications and approvals.

The project is a key part of China's e-government initiatives during the 11th Five-year Plan (2006-10).

Partnership on commercial use

National Patent Technology Exhibition and Exchange Centers in Beijing and Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, formed a partnership on July 27 in Beijing to promote commercialization of patents.

It is the second agreement between two such centers, after those in Beijing and Tianjin teamed up on July 24.

SIPO has identified 19 centers in the country and aims to build a national patent exchange network in which centers can work with each other and share information to assist patent owners or buyers to exchange information more efficiently.

Copyrights forum

The official intellectual property website www.ipr.gov.cn and the China Online Anti-piracy Union held an online forum on protecting copyrights on July 30, discussing protection and defending copyrights on the Internet.

Xu Chao, deputy director of the copyright department of the National Copyright Administration, and writer Yu Qiuyu said at the forum that legal and judicial protection is important to copyright protection, but raising consumer awareness is just as important.

Help to innovators

The Ministry of Science and Technology, the State Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC), and the All-China Workers Organization have called for applications for assistance from innovative enterprises, according to an August 1 posting on the www.ipr.gov.cn.

Domestic companies that focus on scientific and technological fields as outlined in the mid- and long-term scientific and technological development guidelines for 2006 and 2020 can apply to receive financial, technological and consulting help from the government.

Market for copyrights

Xiamen city in East China's Fujian Province will open a patent market this year to help exchanges between patent owners and users, the Xiamen Evening News said on August 3.

The city will build an office where patent owners can demonstrate their technologies, and along with buyers, receive professional consultation from government departments. It will also develop an online information database with an investment of 2 million yuan.

Court: Pay Adidas

The Hunan High Court has ruled that two companies in Shanghai must pay 250,000 yuan to Adidas for infringing on its trademark, Changsha Evening News reported on August 2.

The court ruling came after adidas sued the two companies and their dealer in Changsha, Hunan Province, for unfair competition.

The court heard that the US subsidiary of Adidas licensed the two Shanghai companies to make a brand called Accepter, but the two companies also printed labels and boxes that were not licensed by Adidas USA International Group and also required its dealer in Changsha to decorate a shop using Adidas USA on its posters.

Trademarks database

Thirteen provinces and autonomous regions in western China will work together to build an online database for famous brands of companies whose trademarks have been infringed upon. Industry and commerce administrations in the 13 regions will be responsible to stop violations.

According to a July 24 report on China National Radio, Chongqing Municipality is one of the initiators of the program. By the end of last year, Chongqing had 25,000 trademarks, including 250 famous and 17 well-known trademarks, but as many as 30 Chongqing-based trademarks were registered in other regions.

Batik protection

Folk artist Hong Fuyuan received copyrights for eight of his batik works from the intellectual property and local authorities in Anshun city of Southwest China's Guizhou Province, it was reported July 24 by China National Radio.

The move illustrates that local copyright, intellectual property departments and folk artists all realize the importance of using legal means to protect their work.

Anshun is famous for batik works and is regarded as home to the traditional art, but unlicensed copies have hurt artists like the 66-year-old Hong, named one of the top-10 folk artists in China, so local authorities registered his copyrights for free.