IP protection scored low by the public

China received a social satisfaction score of 63.69 points for its intellectual property protection in 2012. The score indicated an overall low evaluation by the public in this regard. This investigation showed that the public was more concerned with IP protection and dissatisfied with issues such as the severity of intellectual property violations, the processing timeliness of intellectual property disputes, and the amount of compensation payable by infringers.

A private research group has been conducting the survey annually since 2011. It is administered in twenty-seven provincial capital cities and targets three specific demographics: IP rights owners, IP professionals and the general public.

Source: IPR in China

China and Indonesia signs MOU

On April 9th, Commissioner of State Intellectual Property Office of the People’s Republic of China Tian Lipu met the Indonesian delegation of IPR led by their Minister of Ministry of Justice and Human Rights of Indonesia, Amir Syamsudin. After the meeting, a memorandum of understanding on IPR cooperation was concluded.
During the meeting, Tian Lipu pointed out that the IPR system reflects the wisdom of people and is playing a crucial rule in national economic prosperity as well as scientific and technological progress. Though created by industrialized countries, IPR systems can be utilized in developing countries as well and are positive in promoting cooperation in different countries, in which China is a good example. The two sides also exchanged opinions on IPR systems, IPR information database etc.

Source: China IP News

New progress on China's software legalization

After central and provincial governmental departments in China have completed software legalization, by this April, 62.15% municipal governments and 32.85% official authorities at county level will have eliminated the use of pirated software.
In May, as a move of the national inter-ministerial conference on software legalization to check local fulfillment of the obligations, an inspection working group was formulated by officials from eight central authorities, including the Ministry of Finance, National Copyright Administration and SIPO, targeting 16 provinces, municipalities as well as 14 central governmental departments. The inspection saw welcome improvements on software assets management on the whole, but also a lack of awareness and financial support in several areas, which deserved more attention.

Source: IPR in China

HK launches IP exchange

Hong Kong’s first online intellectual property trading platform, known as the HKIPEx, was launched on April 18th. Built by local companies, it serves IP creators, companies, professional service providers and other IP stakeholders, providing them a secure and reliable online trading system and lower trading cost. Walter Yeung, chairman and CEO of the organization, said the creative industry of Hong Kong has a much bigger market-the Chinese mainland. He expects the city to become a regional IP trade hub in the near future.

Source: China Daily

China busts online piracy website

Beijing police have arrested 11 suspects allegedly involved in a major online provider of high-definition film downloads, whose scale of piracy was described by authorities as “unprecedented.” The action is China’s latest effort to strengthen intellectual property rights protection, following the destruction of some 29.44 million pirated publications, including audio and visual products and books, earlier this year.

In another development, a revised draft of the Copyright Law was submitted to the Legislative Affairs Office of the State Council for approval in April.

Source: Xinhua

Nation condemns US' IPR watch list

The Chinese government expressed deep regret about the United States’ decision to once again put China on its “priority watch list” of countries that are not providing protection of intellectual property rights or fair access to US companies.
It is the ninth consecutive year that the Office of the United States Trade Representative has placed China on its watch list. The other countries on the list are Algeria, Argentina, Chile, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Russia, Thailand and Venezuela. Ukraine was the first designated “priority foreign country” in 11 years.

China’s Ministry of Commerce said the central government has made strides to improve IPR protection, legislation and enforcement. The ministry also said the Chinese government “attaches great attention to commercial-secrets protection,” and that “China is willing to enhance cooperation with other governments, including the US, to improve the world’s IPR protection.”

Source: China Daily

[Enterprises]

Mobile patent search now available

A patent search application for mobile devices was recently launched, enabling users to have more convenient access to patent information via cell phones. Developed by the China Patent Information Center, the app can be used on Android-based devices, and it will eventually be extended to other systems, such as iOS and Window 8 in the future. The app allows access to the patent databases of countries across the globe, including China, and provides online translation for patent names and summaries, said Ning Long, director of the Center. Registered online users can view the full text of patents and receive microblog services with tailor-made patent information, he said.

Source: China Daily

China's supreme People's Court to hear AMSC cases against Chinese wind turbine maker

AMSC, a Devens technology company in the wind energy and power grid industry, said that China’s Supreme People’s Court has scheduled a hearing on May 29th to review the jurisdiction of AMSC’s software copyright infringement cases against Sinovel Wind Group Co. Ltd.

In 2011, AMSC filed several lawsuits against Sinovel in China, alleging contract breach and IP infringement, and seeking more than $1.2 billion in damages and payments. According to John Powell, AMSC’s general counsel, the case is a test for whether China will protect the IP rights of all companies-both foreign and domestic.

Source: boston.com

Founder type releases its “Brother Chalk” font

Domestic font developer Founder Type recently unveiled a new font designed by Cui Xianren, a renowned street artist whose hands were badly burnt in a fire. According to a contract signed by the two sides in 2011, Cui will have the copyright over the font for the next 50 years.

With more than 400 days of development, the font is the nation’s first one created by and named after a street artist. At the unveiling ceremony on April 23rd in Beijing, Cui received 15,000 yuan ($2,400) in presale income.

Before the font was officially unveiled, it was pre-sold on Taobao, China’s largest online shopping portal, and the Xiaomi app store for Android smartphones at a price of only 2 yuan. There were nearly 7,000 sales of the font on the two platforms in a week.

Source: China Daily

Unauthorized “Star Wars sequel” faces copyright reality

Three recently published science fiction novels by Chinese writer Zheng Jun have stirred up controversy with their claim to be a “sequel to Star Wars” on the book covers. The works do not have authorization from Lucasfilm, the copyright holder of the legendary US movie series owned by creator and director George Lucas.

Zheng admitted that he never thought about authorization, claiming he wrote “just a fan’s work, not the original works,” which is clearly stated in the introduction. His three-episode series expands to 1,000 years after the Star Wars stories. Zheng wrote the first episode in 1999 and finished the last in 2008. He said he wrote the books because the stories in the original Star Wars “turn less and less interesting as they go on.”

He added that the promotional material on the cover billing his books as a sequel to Star Wars is the result of negotiations with his publisher Chongqing Publishing Group. “If there is any dispute about the copyright, we will try to solve it in the framework of the law,” said the writer. “It is our duty to maintain good order in copyrights.”

Zhang Hongbo, director-general of the China Written Works Copyright Society, said using the title Star Wars is not necessarily copyright infringement, but could constitute unfair competition because the name might mislead consumers.

Source: China Daily

Zero IP complaints at first technology trade fair in Shanghai

Shanghai’s first technology-oriented trade fair employed diverse measures and services to protect the intellectual property rights of participants, said local officials.

Watchdogs included Chinese and overseas IP experts, corporate representatives, delegations from government agencies, the State Intellectual Property Office and the World Intellectual Property Organization.

According to organizers, the efforts paid dividends with zero IP complaints filed during the China Shanghai International Technology Fair, a fourday event to mark the creation of a permanent center of technology exchanges.

Under the theme of innovation-driven development, intellectual property protection and promoting trade in technology, the fair that started on May 8th attracted more than 28,000 professionals from 36 countries and regions.

An Intellectual Property Protection Day was also held during the event that included an IP protection conference, development briefing session and a Shanghai brand development forum.

Source: China Daily

Amazon in troubled water over third-party pirates

When Amazon China first opened its online sales to third-party book suppliers in 2011, then-President Wang Hanhua warned the company should be very cautious in the selection of agents and bookstore owners to guarantee genuine, legal titles. His fears have now become a reality, according to a report in the Oriental Morning Post that said many major publishers have filed complaints with Amazon over piracy.

Due to its international reputation, most consumers believe all books sold on the Amazon site are genuine, said the local publishers. If consumers then receive pirated or poor-quality books, they blame legitimate publishers that might not have even printed the book.

To fight the practice, Amazon China suggests publishers buy suspect books and lodge a complaint. But many publishers say it is a challenge for them to prove allegations. “Some third-party sellers do not provide receipts, the address and name are also blurry sometimes,” said Chen.

Source: China Daily

Haier set for 3D printing technology

Haier Inc, the biggest household appliance maker in China, is entering the 3D printing industry to improve product quality, said a government official.

The Shandong-headquartered conglomerate is developing additive manufacturing---also known as 3D printing---applications, according to Zhang Xinqi, mayor of Qingdao. But he did not disclose Haier’s investment in the technology. “The 3D printing industry needs government support because the cost of implementing such technology in China is high,” said Zhang.

Revenues from the 3D printing industry in the country are likely to hit 10 billion yuan ($1.6 billion) in three years, making China the world’s No. 1 market for the technology, Luo Jun, CEO of the Asian Manufacturing Association, said earlier this week. However, industry experts from the US and Europe said it may take longer for China to grab the top position because other countries are also adding investment in the industry.

Source: China Daily

[Global News]

1 UK

UK law allows anyone to use Instagram images

Professional and amateur photographers will have to face changes to UK’s copyright law, which has been modified in order to allow others to use pictures posted in sites like Instagram, Flickr and Facebook. New changes are included in the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act, a package of measures which was passed by Britain’s Parliament on April 26th and moves power from citizens to US companies. Pictures published in these websites are copyrighted because they have an author. However, when creators cannot be contacted, images can be considered as “orphan works” and can be used without permission, the Act affirms. Despite campaigners against the law saying this makes exploitation of images posted on the internet easier, the UK government said the act made “copyright licensing more efficient.”

Source: New Europe

2 Switzerland

World Health Assembly: IP considerations play key role in final outcomes

The 66th World Health Assembly adopted a range of public health resolutions and decisions, some with key IP implications, including a decision to convene a technical meeting on new public health R&D projects, a compromise on improving the quality of the international medicine distribution system, and resolutions on both neglected tropical diseases and non-communicable diseases.

Source: IP Watch

3 US

WiLAN settles with Dell and enters licensing agreement

Often accused of being a patent troll, nonperforming entity WiLAN wrangled a settlement out of Dell with details of the deal remaining confidential.

Source: The Motley Fool

4 US

Suing over a Nobel

On May 15th, California surgeon Rongxiang Xu announced that he is suing one of the Nobel Prize’s winners, Shinya Yamanaka, who was honored for his work on stem cells along with fellow scientist John Gurdon.

Xu, founder of the regenerative medicine company MEBO, claimed in his suit that Yamanaka is guilty of slander of title, defamation, trade libel, unfair competition, and negligent interference with prospective economic advantage. A press release said that Xu had patented the ability to turn differentiated somatic cells into stem cells before Yamanaka stated that he had done the same, detracting from Xu’s reputation.

Source: The Scientist

5 Denmark

Ministry: EU patent court may require referendum

Denmark’s Justice Ministry has determined that joining the European Patent Court would involve devolution of sovereignty to the European Union and may require a referendum under Paragraph 20 of the Constitution. According to Ritzau’s information, the government is to table Danish participation in the Patent Court during the next parliamentary session. Passage would require a 5/6 majority under the Constitution.

Source: POLITIKEN.DK

6 New Zealand

New Zealand government rules out patents on computer software programs

The New Zealand government backed down from plans to allow the patenting of computer programs in the face of fierce opposition from the high-tech industry, which feared it would be opened up to harassing lawsuits from foreign multinationals. Commerce Minister Craig Foss released a supplementary order paper to the Patents Bill currently before Parliament, which clearly stated that computer programs should not be patentable. However, the main opposition Labour Party called it a humiliating back down from plans that had caused uproar in the country’s burgeoning IT industry and threatened to smother innovation.

Source: Xinhua