Editor's note: China's intellectual property rights protection (IPR) system is improving and the country has made further efforts to protect IPR in 2010.

The government launched a six-month campaign to fight piracy in December this year. Related industries, companies and more consumers in China are also taking action against piracy to protect software rights.

China is the fifth in the world in terms of number of international patent applications. The nation's effort in IPR protection is also recognized by the World Intellectual Property Organization. 

Improved IPR protection New

 

China will strengthen its protection of intellectual property rights (IPRs), in a bid to improve the nation's capacity for innovation, said senior figures from six ministries and administrations.

Officials from the six bodies, which include the Ministry of Commerce, the State Intellectual Property Office and the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, jointly pledged at a news conference on the sidelines of the National People's Congress on Sunday to strengthen efforts to combat IPR infringements and to make IPR protection a "long-term" national task. [Full story]

3,000 people arrested for IPR violation since Nov

China investigated 56,000 trademark rights infringement cases in 2010, an increase of 9.78 percent year on year, an official said on Sunday.

During the 11th Five-Year Plan period (2006-2010), a total of 265,000 cases concerning trademark violations had been investigated, an annual average of 53,000 cases, said Fu Shuangjian, vice director of the State Administration for Industry & Commerce. [Full story]

Massive surge in patent filing

China's international patent filings surged more than 56 percent last year, leading the global growth in international filings, the Geneva-based World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) announced.

The growth rate from China was "astonishing", WIPO Director General Francis Gurry said at a news conference on Wednesday. [Full story]

 

Patent law revision: More power to collect evidence

Parties in a patent dispute can now seek help from the authorities to collect evidence, according to a revised regulation of the patent law issued by the State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO).

Evidence collection has long been a major concern in maintaining rights in court, especially in cases of intellectual property infringement.

The new regulation that will take effect on Feb 1 stipulates that parties in disputes can ask local patent administrations to investigate and collect evidence if adversaries cannot acquire the needed information themselves due to "objective reasons". [Full story]

IPR efforts redoubled

The Chinese government is "willing to actively increase" cooperation with the United States on intellectual property rights (IPR) and the nation will take a "responsible" attitude in advancing IPR protection "in the long term", said the vice-minister of commerce. [Full story]  

Supervision boosted to protect intellectual property 

The central government is making greater efforts in fighting violations of intellectual property rights by establishing a weekly updating system with more timely reports from law enforcement authorities, an official said on Wednesday.

The State Administration for Industry and Commerce urged local bureaus to report weekly progress in cracking down on copyright infringement, Chen Wentong, deputy director of the administration's trademark office, said at a national conference in Suzhou of East China's Jiangsu province. [Full story]

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Government offices to purge pirated software	Cina steps up piracy fight	China persists in fight against software piracy
Sino-US trade talks to tackle IPR and beef	China moves to take down copyright pirates	China vows to boost IPR protection
Wen urges fight against IPR infringement	China sets 10-year plan to boost patent industry	China to fight unlawful copying of famous brands
Copyright pirates walk plank	Govt bodies ordered to use genuine software	China to fight unlawful copying of famous brands
Official calls for reduction of China's IP trade deficit	China promises larger role in IPR protection	SIPO head: Halting abuse a 'top priority'
Trademark demo cities feel boost from selection	IPR campaign spreads to target online piracy

           

   

 

 

China's Huawei sues Motorola for IPR breach

Huawei Technologies, on Monday asked a US District Court to prevent Motorola from illegally transferring Huawei's intellectual property (IP) to Nokia Siemens Networks ("NSN"), officials of Huawei told Xinhua in Sydney, Australia on Tuesday.

As a leading player in providing next generation telecommunications network solutions, Huawei took this action as NSN seeks to complete its $1.2 billion acquisition of Motorola's wireless network business. [Full story]

Download website faces shutdown

Many Chinese netizens began complaining on Monday after discovering free download links for their favorite music were suddenly no longer available on a popular online site.

Verycd.com, a leading Chinese website offering free movie and music downloads - most deemed unauthorized - on Saturday removed all of its music download links and posted a note saying the move was done "to meet copyright owners' requests". [Full story]

Pioneers emerge in honoring film rights on Web

     

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Battle over rights to iPhone patents heats up	HTC sues to block US iPhone, iPad, iPod sales	Bayer execs calm about compulsory licensing clauses
Changing attitude bodes well for pioneers

 

More Chinese PC consumers do not trust pirated software: Survey

Nearly 70 percent of consumers in China feel that the use of pirated software is not as safe as genuine software, according to a Microsoft report on consumer attitudes towards pirated programs. [Full Story]

Examiners go on site for company consultation

The State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) began stationing examiners at company offices in the Zhongguancun area in Beijing in late August to help with documentation for patent applications. [Full Story]

High-tech patent fuels better car performance

With a vast number of advanced vehicles on the road and stricter controls on emissions in China, demand for better quality gasoline has skyrocketed. [Full Story] 

Copyright expo to browse digital music debate

China International Digital Music Festival will be held as part of the third China International Copyright Expo on November 20.

The event is expected to help the digital music market become more fair and healthy, Li Heng, president of the Beijing International Copyright Trade Center, said at a news conference last week.Promoting fairness in the digital music market and enhancing copyright awareness among users will help the industry achieve sound development, said Li. [Full Story]

       

Fu Shuangjian (right), vice-minister of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, talks about trademark management during an inspection of Silk Street, a popular market in Beijing. [Photo / Provided to China Daily]

More than 4,000 arrested during copyright raids  New

More than 4,000 people have been arrested for violating intellectual property rights (IPR) since last October as tougher punishments will be enforced to combat the "rampant" problem, a senior government official said on Tuesday.

Gao Feng, deputy director of the economic crimes investigation bureau at the Ministry of Public Security, told a news conference that his agency had uncovered more than 2,000 cases since China launched a six-month campaign to boost enforcement of intellectual property rights protection in October. [Full story]

Trademark awards part of push to go global

The nation's first International Golden Trademark Awards are scheduled to be handed out next year in Chengdu as industry regulators continue to encourage homegrown products to move onto the world market.

Part of the China Trademark Festival, the awards will be presented in the name of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Fu Shuangjian, vice-minister of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC), told China Daily in an exclusive interview. [Full story]

IP enforcement operation welcomed

An industry-based coalition said it warmly welcomed China's six-month nationwide intellectual property (IP) enforcement operation between October 2010 and March 2011.

It suggested that the government should communicate more about the issue, and allow foreign investors wider access to information related to intellectual property rights (IPR) issues. [Full story]

 

More Stories:

China promises better protection of IPR	China heads for top spot in patent application	IPR protection improving in China
Need for more IP professionals and centers	China's patent applications soar amid innovation drive	China, US holds joint seminar on rising IP investigations
Low carbon in spotlight at  patent week	Patent soar during 30 years of WIPO membership	Machinery heavyweights applauding Hangzhou IPR efforts

 

IPR progress remarkable 

Progress in technology and economic development would be unimaginable without the legislation now in place

During the past three decades, China has made great progress in many fields, of which intellectual property rights (IPR) legislation is one. As a participator in, and witness to this progress, I think the process deserves our attention and approval. [Full story]

Reflections on intellectual property