China

     1 [COMPREHENSIVE]
　　SIPO Appointed Shen Changyu as New Commissioner
　　According to the Chinese government’s official announcement, Shen Changyu has been named the new Commissioner of SIPO and Secretary of Party Committee of SIPO in January 2014. Shen Changyu graduated from Dalian University of Technology with a doctoral degree in computational mechanics in 1990 and was elected to the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2009. Prior to the present appointment, he was President of Dalian University of Technology since August 2012 and President of Zhengzhou University from February 2003 to August 2012.
     2 [COMPREHENSIVE]
　　Beijing Intellectual Property Court Hitting the First Hammer
　　Beijing Intellectual Property Court began the first trial on December 16th, with patent invalid administrative dispute case of WECOME MEDICINE INDUSTRY in Zhejiang Province suing the Patent Reexamination Board of SIPO. Su Chi, the Court’s President and Chief Judge served as the presiding judge of the first case. It is reported that the Court has accepted 221 cases since its establishment on November 6th, including 219 cases of first instance and 2 cases of second instance.
　　Guangzhou Intellectual Property Court began to accept cases since November 21st.
　　Many parties and agents had submitted the filing Guangzhou Intellectual Property Court Began to Accept Cases since November 21st materials, covering various IP areas including patent inventions, designs, exclusive right to use trademark, unfair competition, etc. The court will give correspondent reply within 7 days in accordance with the statutory review system. It is supposed to hit the first hammer of public trial after 2015 New Year’s Day.
　　Shanghai Intellectual Property Court Established
　　Shanghai Intellectual Property Court was established on November 28th. Simultaneously, Shanghai No. 3 Intermediate People’s Court and Shanghai No. 3 People’s Procuratorate were also established. At this point, the primary exploring to establish Intellectual Property Court in China was successfully completed. Wu Kailin, Vice-president at Shanghai Higher People’s Court, serves as the President of the Shanghai No. 3 Intermediate People’s Court, Shanghai Intellectual Property Court as well as Shanghai Railway Transportation Intermediate People’s Court. Li Shulan holds the post of Vice-president at the Shanghai No. 3 Intermediate People’s Court and Shanghai Intellectual Property Court.
　　China’s Supreme People’s Court Proposed to Establish the Higher Court of Intellectual Property
　　It was disclosed by China’s Supreme People’s Court on November 26th 2014 that China intended to create the Higher Court of Intellectual Property as the appeal court administering the patent appeals around China, with the purpose of shortening the trial time and unifying the judgment standards. This is the latest trend for the reform of the trial mode of IP cases.
　　3 [COPYRIGHT]
　　Hunan TV Reclaimed Its Copyrights of Self-made Programs
　　On May 9th, Hunan TV claimed the “strategy of exclusively broadcasting self-made programs on Mango TV,” sparking great concerns. The strategy stipulates that the selfmade programs from Hunan, such as the program of Where are we going, Dad and Happy Camp, will no longer be broadcasted to other network videos. But the programs already sold to other media before will be carried out in accordance with those contracts.
　　4 [TRADEMARK]
　　Beijing Daoxiangcun Won the Trademark Lawsuit against Suzhou Daoxiangcun
　　On May15th Beijing Higher People’s Court entered the final judgment, which concluded the battle for this coveted trademark claimed in both Beijing and Suzhou. The Court asserted that Beijing Daoxiangcun and Suzhou Daoxiangcun had each formed their own stable markets, which should not be broken without justified reasons. Finally it supported Beijing Daoxiangcun’s claim, and maintained the conclusion made by Trademark Review and Adjudication Board and court of first instance, which rejected the registration of Suzhou Daoxiangcun.
　　5 [COPYRIGHT]
　　"Quasi-securitization Model” of Film and TV Copyright Established
　　On May 18th, eleven senior film producers signed with Tiande Culture Property Rights Exchange Co., Ltd, the first “quasi-securitization model” of culture copyright was established in Shenzhen with expected output of about 130 million yuan. The investment and financing service platform would elevate movies, television programs, documentaries and music works through authoritative evaluation system and make them a securitized investment product. Investors can invest a movie or a TV drama and transfer or buy “shares” at any time just like they buy stocks.
　　6 [COPYRIGHT]
　　Hollywood Studios Eye China Streaming Deal to Beat Piracy
　　Hollywood’s biggest film studios had worked with Tencent, one of China’s largest Internet groups, on a Netflix-style streaming service that aimed to beat piracy by delivering new films to homes across China just two weeks after their U.S. theatrical release.
　　7 [COPYRIGHT]
　　Adidas Won Copyright Case at Court of First-instance
　　Before, Adidas filed a lawsuit against an individual surnamed Qin and Guangxi LeQiu Sporting Goods Co., Ltd. at the Beijing Third Intermediate People’s Court, claiming that a football, which the two defendants manufactured, constituted copyright infringement and that they should stop infringement and indemnify 50,000 yuan. The first-instance court confirmed the infringement and ordered the two defendants to make compensation of 11,000 yuan.
　　8 [COMPREHENSIVE]
　　WIPO Chinese Agency Opened in Beijing
　　On July 10th, the opening ceremony of WIPO Chinese agency was held in Beijing, which is the 5 of its kind to be opened worldwide after offices in Brazil, Japan, the U.S. and Singapore. Dr. Francis Gurry, Director General of WIPO, Wang Anshun, Mayor of Beijing and Shen Changyu, the Commissioner of SIPO attended the opening ceremony and gave speeches.
　　9 [COMPREHENSIVE]
　　Global Innovation Index: China Hailed for Creativity
　　China has been singled out for its embrace of economically innovative thought leadership during the release of the Global Innovation Index (GII) on July 18th, on the sidelines of the B20 and G20 Trade Minister’s meetings in Sydney. The GII executive summary noted that alone among the Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa (BRICS), China seems on track to enter the top 25 in the GII, China ranks second in innovation efficiency in 2014 on a global basis and is improving steadily along many dimensions of the GII.
　　10 [COPYRIGHT]
　　Popular Webcasts Infringing the Broadcasting Right of Second Season of I am a Singer
　　On July 11th, LeTV (Tianjin) Information Technology Co., Ltd. filed a lawsuit against Funshion, with the reason that the exclusive information network transmission right to the second season of I am a Singer was infringed, and believed that Funshion should not play the show on the Internet and through mobile clients arbitrarily without its approval. Beijing Haidian District People’s Court had concluded the case, ordering Funshion to stop infringement and pay 500,000 yuan for compensation.
　　11 [ANTITRUST]
　　Chinese Antitrust Agency Looking into Microsoft
　　A Chinese antitrust regulator said it is investigating whether Microsoft’s Windows operating system and Office business suite are a monopoly. The unexpected probe came amid an investigation of chipmaker Qualcomm’s monopoly status. Analysts said the measures targeting at the U.S. tech giants underline China’s concern over technological dependency on the U.S.
　　12 [TRADEMARK]
　　Tesla Settled Trademark Dispute in China
　　On August 5th, under the conciliation of Beijing Third Intermediate People’s Court, Tesla Motors Inc. (TSLA.O), a U.S. electric carmaker, had completely settled a trademark dispute with Zhan Baosheng who registered the “Tesla” trademark before the Palo Alto, California-based carmaker came to China that had threatened its plans to expand in China. Under the agreement, Zhan transfered website names he had registered in China, including tesla.cn and teslamotors.cn, to Tesla.

     13 [TRADEMARK]
　　Bridgestone Won Trademark Suit in China
　　Japanese company Bridgestone, which makes parts for cars and trucks, sued Momentum Star Tyre and its affiliate Hangyou Rubber Products for trademark infringement in the Shenzhen Intermediate People’s Court in October 2010. The Bridgestone claims of trademark infringement were later upheld, before the defendants appealed to the Guangdong Higher People’s Court. On January 24th, the Guangdong Higher People’s Court confirmed that two local companies must stop producing tyres using the logo “Besttone,” deemed to infringe the “Bridgestone” trademark, and pay damages.
　　14 [UNFAIR COMPETITION]
　　Baidu and Sogou Compromised in an Unfair Competition
　　By claiming the service traffic was hijacked by Sogou’s mobile browser, operator and technical service provider for Baidu, Beijing Baidu Network Technology Co., Ltd and Baidu Online Network (Beijing) Co., Ltd filed a lawsuit against Beijing Sogou Information Service Co., Ltd and Beijing Sogou Technology Development Co., Ltd in Haidian People’s Court and claimed more than 1 million yuan for their unfair competition. On August 12th, Haidian People’s Court heard the case, and finally the two parties agreed to a compromise.
　　15 [PATENT]
　　ZTE Won Four Straight Cases Against “337 Investigation”
　　United States International Trade Commission (ITC) on August 15th conducted the final verdict on the patent infringement case of InterDigital (IDC) suing Zhongxing Telecommunication Equipment Corporation (ZTE), believing that ZTE did neither violate the “Section 337” nor infringe the patent right of IDC. Until now, ZTE had won the final victory in all the “337 Investigation” launched by IDC against several Chinese companies including ZTE, which makes ZTE become the only Chinese enterprise winning the four straight cases from “Section 337” at present.
　　16 [PATENT]
　　Apple Defeated for Siri Infringement in China
　　Previously, Apple Computer Trading (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. (Apple Shanghai) was sued because one of its applications Siri was suspected of infringing the patent of “Little I Robot,” after which Apple Inc. brought an administrative lawsuit to SIPO.” The Patent Reexamination Board made the decision of remaining in force the involved patent. Then, Apple Shanghai appealed to Beijing First Intermediate People’s Court to overturn that decision. However, the Court maintained the original rule made by the patent committee to be valid. Apple Inc. continued to appeal.
　　17 [TRADEMARK]
　　Nike Failed in a Trademark Dispute
　　The international company Nike In c. instituted an administrative lawsuit after it failed in its objection to the trademark “科比 KB-KOBE” and the review of adjudication on its objection. This case had gone through final judgment in the Beijing Higher People’s Court. According to the final decision, the court held that the appeal lodged by Nike Inc. was without substance. The trademark “科 比 KB-KOBE” applied for registration by Mr. Hong was eventually maintained.
　　18 [COPYRIGHT]
　　2594 Copyrights Exported at the 21st Beijing International Book Fair, Outnumbered Importation
　　On August 31st, the 21st Beijing International Book Fair was concluded in Beijing. According to preliminary statistics, 4346 copyright agreements have been accomplished in the fair, an increase of 18.5% over 2013. Among these, 1752 copyrights were imported, a year-on-year increase of 11.1%, and 2594 copyrights were exported, up by 24% within the same period. The ratio of copyright importation to exportation is 1: 1.48. Overall, the exportation amount of book copyright in China increased rapidly and far exceeded the amount of importation.
　　19 [TRADEMARK]
　　Tencent Lost “QQ” Trademark Battle to Chery Automobile
　　Tencent Holdings Limited (Tencent) applied the “QQ” trademark for automobiles which was approved in 2008. However, this trademark was revoked in 2013 by the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board of the State Administration for Industry & Commerce of PRC (the Board) due to the objection raised by Chery Automobile (Chery). Tencent then filed a lawsuit against the Board. On September 14th 2014, Beijing Higher People’s Court made the final instance verdict, supporting the Board’s revocation. It implies that Tencent lost this trademark battle which lasts 11 years at the moment.
　　20 [TRADEMARK]
　　FACEBOOK Failed to Apply the Trademark “脸谱" in China
　　FACEBOOK, the famous online social networking platform, applied a Chinese trademark “脸谱" to use it on entertainment and other related services. However, the application was dismissed by the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board of the State Administration for Industry & Commerce of PRC (the Board). Afterwards, Facebook Inc. filed an administrative lawsuit at Beijing First Intermediate People’s Court against the Board. Currently, the court made the first instance verdict to sustain the original judgment by the Board.
　　21 [UNFAIR COMPETITION]
　　Three China’s Cement Enterprises Severely Fined Because of Price Monopoly
　　According to the National Development and Reform Commission on September 9th, because of the price monopoly, three Chinese enterprises, the Cement Sales Co. Ltd. of Jilin Yatai Group, North Cement Co. Ltd. and Jidong Cement (Jilin) Co. Ltd., were severely fined respectively 60.04 million yuan, 40.97 million yuan and 13.38 million yuan, totally 114 million yuan. It was another severe fine for price monopoly after the 12 Japanese auto parts enterprises and 23 insurances companies in Zhejiang Province.
　　22 [COMPREHENSIVE]
　　Actavis Exited China’s Generic Drug Market
　　Although the lucrative generic drug business is growing fast in China, it’s a hard market for global pharmaceutical companies, as shown by the decision of the world’s thirdlargest generic drug producer Actavis Plc left China. Ireland-based Actavis markets more than 750 products globally and operates in more than 60 countries. Its China manufacturing base is in Foshan, Guangdong province.
　　23 [UNFAIR COMPETITION]
　　Lost in Thailand Defeated With 5 Million Yuan Compensation
　　In March 2013, Wuhan Huaqi Movies & TV Production (Huaqi), the producer of Lost on Journey (a Chinese comedy film released in 2010), brought a lawsuit to the court, suing the producers and the director of Lost in Tailand (another Chinese comedy film released in 2012) for unfair competition and infringement. Beijing Higher People’s Court required Enlight and its wholly owned subsidiary Beijing Enlight Pictures Co., Ltd stop the unfair competition behavior and compensate the economic loss of 5 million yuan to Huaqi. Enlight indicated that it would continue to appeal later.
　　24 [COMPREHENSIVE]
　　First IP Insurance Policy in Jiangsu Province
　　The nation’s first comprehensive IP insurance policy was issued to a company in Suzhou Industry Park. According to the policy, Sinoma Science & Technology Co., Ltd. paid 50,000 U.S. dollars to Cathay Insurance, which will undertake its risks of all IP lawsuits for a year, with a compensation ceiling of 1 million U.S. dollars. The insured company has half of its sales overseas. If it encounters IP disputes the insurer’s legal representative is authorized to directly participate in all legal actions.
　　25 [TRADEMARK]
　　Audi “TT” Sued for Trademark Infringement
　　Zhang Xiaoping, the business owner of an automobile parts company in Kunming filed a lawsuit against Audi at Kunming Immediate People’s Court, claiming that Audi “TT” had infringed its exclusive right to use the trademark “TT,” and requiring to order Audi to selling TT sports cars in Mainland China, with compensation of 560,000 yuan. However, Kunming Intermediate People’s Court dismissed Zhang Xiaoping’s claims. Then Zhang Xiaoping appealed to Yunnan Higher People’s Court. On October 29th Yunnan Higher People’s Court heard the appeal.
　　26 [COMPREHENSIVE]
　　Converse Suing 31 International Enterprises for IP Infringement
　　Converse, a Nike-owned shoemaker with an annual sale of nearly 1.7 billion U.S. dollars, has suffered from copycat products for a long time. In October 2014, it brought a lawsuit against 31 well-known international companies such as H&M, Wal-Mart and Ralph Lauren to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, suing them for various kinds of infringements of its iconic Chuck Taylor All Star sneakers, including trademark infringement, false origin labeling, unfair competition, trademark dilution, unfair trade practice, etc.
　　27 [TRADEMARK]
　　78 Jordan Trademark Infringement Cases Heard at a Time
　　The trademark disputes of Michael Jeffrey Jordan (former athletes of National Basketball Association) v. Qiaodan Sport Co. Ltd . came to a crucial juncture. From October 27th to 30th, 78 administration appeals for the “Jordan” trademark revocation had been heard at a time of four days at Beijing First Intermediate People’s Court, but no verdict was delivered in court.
　　28 [COMPREHENSIVE]
　　Cartoon Image “Angry Birds” Won the Infringement Cases in China
　　In March 2014, Rovio Company, the brand holder of “Angry Birds,” filed a total of 15 infringement lawsuits to Nanning Intermediate People’s Court, including 5 trademark disputes and 10 copyright disputes, and required the court to order the defendants to immediately stop the infringement of its trademark right and copyright, claiming compensation of more than 600,000 yuan. In October 2014, under the conciliation of the Court, the two sides reached a mediation agreement and signed the paper of civil mediation.
　　29 [COMPREHENSIVE]
　　Lenovo Completes Acquisition of Motorola Mobility from Google
　　On October 30th, Lenovo Group, the world’s biggest personal computer maker, has fully acquired Motorola’s mobile business, making Lenovo world’s third largest smartphone maker. In the 2.9 billion U.S. dollars deal, Lenovo took over the Motorola brand and Motorola’s portfolio of innovative smartphones like Moto X, Moto G and Moto E series, as well as the future Motorola product road-map.
　　30 [COPYRIGHT]
　　IM Global Purchased the Remake Rights of Chinese Blockbuster Breakup Buddies
　　Directed by the well-known Chinese director Ning Hao, Breakup Buddies, one of the most popular blockbusters in China took in over 1.1 billion yuan since its opening in 2014. Its outstanding box office performance also attracted the attention from Hollywood. According to Variety, IM Global, one of the world leading films financing, sales and distribution enterprises headquartered in Los Angeles, purchased the remake rights of the movie’s English version.
　　31 [COPYRIGHT]
　　Chinese National Copyright Trade Center Established in Shanghai PFTA
　　On November 13th 2014, the opening ceremony for the Chinese National Copyright Trade Center (Shanghai) and the first China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone Culture Licensing Fair (CCLF) was successfully held in the pilot free trade area (PFTA) in Shanghai. It was reported that the National Copyright Administration of the People’s Republic of China officially approved on September 28th to establish the first National Copyright Trade Center in Shanghai PFTA, also being the first one in the Yangtze River Delta region.
　　32 [TRADEMARK]
　　The Application of English Trademark “Lincoln” Rejected
　　Last November, Beijing First Intermediate People’s Court made the first instance verdict towards the prosecution conducted by Ford Motor Company (Ford), the owner of the “Lincoln” brand, against the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board of the Sate Administration for Industry & Commerce of the PRC (the Board). It was reported that in September 2012, the Board rejected the application of the English trademark “LINCOLN” submitted by Ford on the ground of similarity. The first instance of the court sustained the original rejection judgment.
　　

International
　　1 [PATENT]
　　IBM Took U.S. 2013 Patent Crown
　　IBM took the U.S. patent crown again for 2013, but Qualcomm debuted in the top 10 and Google nudged out Apple as they cracked the top 20. According to data from IFI Claims Patent Services, IBM had a record of 6,809 patents and has been the top dog for the last 21 years. Samsung was No. 2 and Canon was No.3. Qualcomm had a 62% jump in patents awarded in 2013 compared to 2012 and landed in the No. 9 spot. Microsoft was No. 5. Among the top 10 rankings there were three U.S. companies and four Japanese companies - Canon, Sony, Panasonic and Toshiba; and two Korean electronics giants - Samsung and LG.
　　2 [COMPREHENSIVE]
　　Francis Gurry, Director General of WIPO Won Committee Approval for Re-election
　　On March 6th, Director General of the WIPO Francis Gurry, was recommended by the WIPO Coordination Committee to be returned to office for another sixyear term. He had been announced officially as the next WIPO Director General in an extraordinary session on May 8th--9th 2014. His second term started in October 2014.
　　3 [TRADEMARK]
　　Coach Got 5.5 Million U.S. Dollars in Counterfeit Settlement
　　While anti-counterfeiting is a tireless fight for many brands, Coach Inc. scored a 5.5 million U.S. dollars win recently by settling with the owner of a well-known Fort Lauderdale, Fla., flea market that was selling fake Coach goods. The news also came at a time when designers and major brands were battling knockoff artists who were using 3-D printing and prototypes to try to fool designer-hungry shoppers. Compounding the problem was an upswing in “superfakes” defective designer goods taken from a factory or items that were made with some authentic materials. Another telltale sign of the superfake was the price tag, which could be 500 U.S. dollars or 600 U.S. dollars, compared with a flea market special, which could sell for 30 U.S. dollars to 40 US dollars.
　　4 [PATENT]
　　Apple Fined 23 Million U.S. Dollars in A Patent Tussle
　　The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas ruled finally that Apple has to fork out more than 23 million U.S. dollars because it was found guilty of infringing six patents belonging to Mobile Telecommunications Technology (MTel), a Mississippi-based technology company. The patents at issue, U.S. numbers 5,809,428; 5,754,946; 5,894,506; 5,590,403; 5,659,89; and 5,915,210, cover various aspects of the technology behind text messaging including storing undelivered texts and what is referred to as a “nationwide communication system.”
　　5 [TRADEMARK]
　　Phillip Morris Prepared to Sue UK over Plain Cigarette Packaging
　　Tobacco giant Phillip Morris said it was prepared to sue the UK government should it implement a law mandating plain packaging for cigarettes. The law proposed that cigarettes be sold with graphic health warnings and no branding. The law aimed to improve public health by discouraging people from smoking. The UK government said in April it wanted to bring in plain packaging after a review found it could cut down the incidence of children taking up smoking. The Marlboro-maker said it was prepared to “seek fair compensation” through the courts should its branding be affected.