No.43¡¡Aug.28, 2008 |
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T: +8610 85115588 59208888
F: +8610 85110966 85110968
Web: www.unitalen.com
E-mail: mail@unitalen.com |
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Jiuzhaigou Ravine in SiChuan |
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Executive meeting of the China State Council deliberated and passed the Draft Amendment to the Patent Law |
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On July 30, 2008, the Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao presided over the executive meeting of the State Council, wherein the Draft Amendment to the Patent Law was deliberated and preliminarily passed. It was pointed out in the meeting that, to improve the self-renovation capability, build a innovative nation, accelerate the promotion and utilization of technologies and exercise all the rights that China enjoys as a party of the International Covenant, it is necessary to amend the existing Patent Law. It was also resolved that the Draft would be further amended before being submitted by the State Council to the Standing Committee of the National People¡¯s Congress (NPC) for deliberation.
In order to better display the function of the patent system, the third amendment to the Patent Law was officially launched by the China State Intellectual Property Office in the first half of 2005.
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Supreme People¡¯s Court:
Civil Cases Related to Anti-monopoly Law to Be Tried by IP Tribunals
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As of August 1, 2008, China has adopted the Anti-monopoly Law. In reviewing this law, the Supreme People¡¯s Court has issued a notice requiring that civil cases related to the Anti-monopoly Law be tried by intellectual property courts.
According to the notice, the Anti-monopoly Law is closely related to the protection of the IPR as well as to checking the abuse of the IPR. Moreover, the Anti-monopoly Law, like the Anti-unfair Competition Law, is catalogued into the competition laws. The Provisions on the Cause of Action for Civil Cases, which took effect on April this year, catalogues the monopolistic disputes and various disputes arising from unfair competition into the intellectual property disputes. By virtue of the said Provisions, the IP tribunals of the People¡¯s Courts of all levels will hear the anti-monopoly cases related to the abuse of the IPR and various others civil cases.
The notice also requires that the courts shall accept and hear lawsuits brought by any party as long as they meet the conditions set forth by the Civil Procedure Law and the Anti-monopoly Law.
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Around 21,000 trademark infringement cases have been seized by Chinese AICs in the first half of this year |
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According to Fu Shuangjian, the Deputy Director of China Administration for Industry & Commerce, in the first half of this year all local AICs have seized approximately 21,000 trademark infringement cases. The total value of seized infringement cases is 397 million Yuan with a total penalty of 175 million Yuan. Among these cases, 4,300 are related to foreign trademarks. Furthermore, 53 infringers were sentenced by the court to take criminal liabilities for trademark infringement.
As stated by Fu, the administrative enforcement of trademark infringement has been strengthened during recent years, and accordingly, trademarks can be protected more effectively. More specifically, all local AICs have made great progress on the transfer of the trademark infringement cases and have cut off channels that deal with the transfer of counterfeit goods thereby substantially limiting infringing activities. Additionally, China has established a cooperative administration network to enforce trademark protection. This has resulted in a reduction in trademark infringement and has helped to maintain order in the market.
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The Amount of Trademark Applications in China Ranks No. 1 Globally
for Six Continuous Years
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The Director of the China Trademark Office (hereinafter referred to as the ¡°CTMO¡±) of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (hereinafter referred to as the ¡°SAIC¡±) recently stated that the amount of trademark applications in China has grown rapidly. For example, since 2002 there has been an increase of 200,000 applications annually, and for the last six years China has ranked No.1 in the world in the number of trademark applications filed annually.
Since 2007 the SAIC has taken a series of measure to expedite the examination of trademark application registration. This process includes adding offices for examination, checking and evaluating the performance of the trademark examiners and adding 300 assistants for trademark examination. In addition to these changes, the CTMO signed an agreement of responsibility with the SAIC to make sure that the backlog of cases will be solved in three years.
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General Administration of Press and Publication of China: China has established Copyright Legal System in convergence with International rules |
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On August 16, in a Press Conference held in Beijing International Media Center, Deputy Director of General Administration of Press and Publication Administration (GAPPA) and National Copyright Administration (NCA) addressed that after 30 years of China¡¯s Reform and Opening-up, China has made remarkable achievements on copyright protection and has established a Copyright Legal System in line with China¡¯s national conditions and has converged with International rules.
Since 1990, China has promulgated and implemented ¡°the Copyright Law¡±, ¡°Regulations for the Implementation of the Copyright Law¡±, ¡°Regulations for Computer Software Protection", "Regulations for Copyright Collective Management", and "Regulations for protection of Information Network Dissemination Right¡±. Also, China has successively joined the ¡°Universal Copyright Convention¡±, ¡°Berne Convention¡±, ¡°Phonograms Convention¡±, ¡°Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights¡±, ¡°WIPO Copyright Treaty¡± and ¡°WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty¡±. As such, a relatively complete Copyright Legal System has been established in China.
The significant characteristics and the basic advantage of China¡¯s Copyright Protection System is the dual system of China¡¯s parallel administrative and judicial enforcement. Practices prove that the dual system meets the requirements of China's current situation and copyright protection.
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Unitalen won trademark VESTEL infringement lawsuit |
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Zhejiang Jiaxing Intermediate People¡¯s Court (¡°the Court¡±) recently adjudicated the trademark VESTEL infringement lawsuit. Vestel Electronics (the plaintiff, hereafter as ¡°Vestel¡±), represented by Gui Qingkai, a lawyer of Unitalen, won the lawsuit against Jiaxing ZhongYi Electrical Appliance Co., Ltd (the defendant, hereafter as ¡°Zhong Yi¡±). The Court ordered Zhong Yi to stop infringement immediately and pay 140,000 RMB in compensation.
Vestel is one of the largest electrical appliance companies in Turkey and Europe, the biggest exporter of televisions in Turkey and the only notebook PC manufacturer in Europe. Vestel¡¯s products cover nearly all fields of electrical appliances and are exported to 103 countries over the world.
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