With the launching of patent fee reform in Europe, it is an inevitable trend to reform the patent fee on the third generation mobile communication (3G) technology in China, said a senior Chinese expert.

Cao Shumin, vice director of the telecommunication institution under the Chinese Ministry of Information Industry (MII), released the information at a national telecom forum held in Beijing recently.

Cao said it will be a trend in China to reform the 3G patent fee mechanism since the European standardization organizations have started reform on patent fee, which limits the highest patent fee under five percent of the total income gained from the patent.

This is the first time for Chinese information official to talk about 3G patent fee issue in public.

Intellectual Property Right (IPR) has become the most important weapon in worldwide technical competition and business wars, especially in the global process of standardization, said Cao.

Cao said IPR issue concerning the 3G technology has always been a focus in China's information industry, and it is even regarded as one must to resolve before China launches its first 3G license.

The government has been cautious towards 3G development as it concerned so many companies and involved huge investments.

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