When counting the most disorderly network fields of the year 2010, the field of network video must be listed as number one. The chain of events can be listed from the beginning of the year, which started with “circle litigation” and highlighted rights protection, to the end of the year, with the appearance of charged videos. Youku.com was the first to be listed on NASDAQ, with Tudou.com and Ku6.com following steadfastly in its wake. Throughout the year, news about the network video companies and IP issues developed month by month. In the coming year, the legal addition of network videos is still the aim in the network field.

 

 

The conflict between China’s two famous network companies, 360 and Tencent, was temporally settled under the coordination of Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, which also eased the various affected netizens. Shortly after the settlement, CEO of Shanda Literature, Hou Xiaoqiang, spoke continuously through Twitter and calleding for publishing houses and writers to unite for a combining litigation against Baidu, China’s leading search engine, in order to protect works from being counterfeited online. Projecting from the trend of 2010, online rights protection has stepped into the mainstream.

 

 

The “Temporary Regulation on Administration of Online Goods Trade and relevant Services” law which was drafted by the State Administration of Industry and Commerce went into effect on July 1, 2010. The hot issue of “Real Name Registration” is for online stores that came into the market legally. No doubt that this regulation will greatly balance information symmetry in the process of online shopping and better protect the legal rights of consumers.

 

 

 

On February 2, 2010, the newly amended Guidelines for Patent Examination and Rules for Implementation of the Patent Law of People’s Republic of China were put in force at the same time. The purpose for the amendment this time is to ensure the smooth implementation of both. The elaboration of the contents of these laws and regulations will help to improve their and educate the public on changes regarding the process of the patent examination.

 

At the Eighteenth conference for the eleventh Standing Committee of the National People's Congress held in the morning of December 21, 2010, members of the Standing Committee discussed the Draft of Intangible Cultural Heritage Law in individualized teams. Issues include the following: Distinguished Traditional Chinese Culture; favorable protection for minority nationalities and remote areas; encouragement of the protection by the whole society; possible prohibition of the investigation of Intangible Heritage carried out by organization from abroad; and revoking the capability of successors who lack the skills or knowledge to carry on the cultural heritage. These are among the most attractive issues currently being focused on.

 

 

The “Registration of Copyright Hypothecation Procedures” was promulgated by the State Copyright Bureau and was put in force as of January 1, 2011. The Purpose for the promulgation of the law is to improve the registration of copyright hypothecation work and provide legal support for the marketization of copyright. It is also a requirement for the proper functioning of “jus rerem” (Law of Real Rights), “Copyright Law” as well as the “State Intellectual Property Strategic Rules.”

 

 

“Registration of Patent Right Hypothecation Procedures” newly amended by State Intellectual Property Office was put in force on October 1, 2010. Based on “Patent Law”, “jus rerem”, etc, the amendment was aimed at the use of patent right and transformation of capital, secure the realization of debt and regulate the registration of patent right.

 

 

 

 

The Hangzhou Intermediate People’s Court decided that the Xinjing Newspaper should sue its opponent Zhejiang Online in 7,706 separate litigations. The case was viewed by many as a copyright protection case between a typical news paper and an on-line news station. After the decision was released, the issue of whether newspapers are being used as “free-of-charge content suppliers” for Internet sites arose again. After four years of litigation, the Xinjing Newspaper had to settle out of court with its opponent and received compensation far less than its original expectation. In this way, traditional newspapers still need to fight for their right protection and shake off their identity as “free-of-charge content suppliers” for online sites that use their articles without compensation.

 

 

The Executive meeting of the State Council was held on October 19, 2010. Premier Wen Jiabao chaired the meeting and decision was made that both anti-intellectual property infringement and anti-counterfeiting actions should be carried out around the country for half a year. Local governments took a series of actions related to the decision. It is believed that this action will play an important role in intellectual property protection in quite a long while.

 

 

The intellectual property infringement case between ORACLE and SAP had been ongoing for a long time which is typical in the software industry. After four years, ORACLE won the case. A Federal Court of California in the United States decided that SAP pay 1.3 billion dollars compensation for infringement of ORACLE’s intellectual property. It is an expensive price for SAP.

 

 

The R&D of China’s High-Speed Railway

Research and development of China’s high-speed railway attracted attention around the world as the domestic “He Xie Hao” (CRH) ran at a speed of 486.1 kilometers per hour. Administrator Tian Lipu of SIPO said: “We bought technologies from Germany, France, Japan and Canada and paid patent fees according to international rules. How can it be called copy while we make innovation on the basis of these technologies by our own ideas and according to our specific conditions?”

 

 

A large number of participants joined “China First Patent Auction” held by the Computer Studio of Chinese Academy of Science. Seventy patents related to intelligent information, wireless communication, integrated circuit and the Interne of things were publicly auctioned, which included eight patent portfolios, thirty eight patents with basic prices and twenty four patents without basic prices. It is expected that this transaction mode will be extended around the country.

 

 

In the year 2010, Chinese enterprises continued their acquisitions aboard. Several hundred cross-boarder acquisitions were made in the field of energy and mineral resources, manufacturing industry as well as service industry, with a total value of several hundred billion US dollars. Intellectual property was considered as the most important elements by enterprises during the acquisition. Through acquisition, Chinese enterprises got chance to developed new products by research and development on the basis of original technologies. This is the new attempt of Chinese enterprises in the year 2010.