Major acts in recent days (08-12-08)

Beijing tops innovation list

Beijing tops a nationwide city innovation list, according to a report released by the China City Development Research Institute recently.

Shanghai, the business and financial center, and Shenzhen, which borders Hong Kong, ranked second and third on the list, ahead of Guangzhou, Tianjin and Chongqing.

Cheng Andong, the institute's executive director, is quoted by Xinhua as saying that cities, which generate 70 percent of China's gross domestic product and are home to over 90 percent universities and research agencies, play a key role in building China into an innovative country.

The cities should develop more advanced technologies to help transform the growth mode and structures of the national economy, Cheng says.

Investigation order issued

Henan Provincial Higher People's Court recently issued an investigation order to authorize lawyers the right to investigate and collect evidence.

An investigation order is a document issued by the court to a lawyer when the people involved in a civil case cannot obtain related evidence. The lawyer can use the investigation order to collect evidence from related units and individuals.

As the investigation order represents the court and judicial authority, no individual or unit can decline to cooperate. The courts have the right to punish the heads of those units that refuse to provide evidence.

An investigation order is provided for lawyers with an eye to guarantee the collection of evidence. An Investigation order should be applied and used under rigid conditions. To apply for an investigation order, a lawyer must specify the reasons on an application. In order to avoid lawyers abusing the system, every investigation order should include the investigation contents, the name of the lawyer using the order, the name of the law firm the lawyer belongs to, and the expiration date. The investigation order system is currently carried out only in the IPR tribunal of Henan Provincial Higher People's Court. Wuhan of Hubei province has completed its pre-stage research and is communicating with related administrative law-enforcement departments to issue implementation rules at proper time.

IPR cases rise

China's courts handled more than 20,000 cases related to intellectual property rights (IPR) in the first 10 months of this year, rising nearly 40 percent year-on-year, Xinhua reports.

Local courts around China heard 20,806 IPR cases at first instance trials, up 36.9 percent; 3,251 cases at second instance trials, up about 50 percent, says Xi Xiaoming, vice-president of the Supreme People's Court.

The number of IPR cases asked for retrials after the second verdict amounted to 92, surging 162 percent year-on-year, Xi says.

"The massive growth in the number of IPR cases proves that verdicts in these kind of cases draw wide attention from society," Xi says.

The range expansion of IPR cases also contributed to the sharp increase, Xi says, adding that IPR violations the courts received vary from franchising, domain names, logos to IPR agents.

In order to improve the trial ability over these cases, the Supreme Court designated dozens of courts to handle specific IPR cases, including 71 courts on patent violation, 38 on new plant varieties and 43 on layout-design of integrated circuits.

Greater penalties

Chinese courts will impose greater penalties on IPR violations to allow the judiciary to play a leading role in the country's overall IPR protection strategy, a senior court official recently told a forum.

"We should make sure that we can enable IPR holders to get enough compensation, which should deprive the infringer of any benefit and make the consequences for their actions dire," Xi Xiaoming, vice-president of the Supreme People's Court, said at a national work conference on IPR-related trials in Chongqing.

Compensations should also include costs that IPR holders have incurred to maintain their rights, the amount of which could be calculated separately from the compensation given by court rulings, he said.

The courts will also adopt more "provisional measures" prior to final verdicts on IPR cases to protect victims.

IPR enforcement

The State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) has approved the operation of 44 IPR enforcement assistance centers nationwide since the launch of the program in November 2007, says SIPO Deputy Commissioner Zhang Qin.

SIPO plans to open a total 100 such centers in the near future.

The program is conducive to improvement of IPR legal environment and efficient operation of IPR system, Zhang says. It also allows easier access for companies, in particular export-oriented ones, to protect their rights.

Asian Games IP protection



The Regulations on IPR Protection of Guangzhou Asian Games were passed by the Guangzhou government recently.

The regulations include 20 articles specifing the concepts of intellectual property rights for the Asian Games, the behaviors of IPR infringement, the responsibilities of related departments, the communication and coordination mechanism between departments, and the resolution approach to IPR disputes.

Zhang Guangning, mayor of Guangzhou, emphasized that attention should be paid to the importance of IPR protection of the Asian Games and IPR publicity as well as law enforcement besides the legislation work.