The Intangible Cultural Heritage Law shall enter into effect as of June 1st 2011.

When giving the work report of the Supreme People’s Court, Wang Shengjun said that in 2010, the courts of all levels tried and concluded 48,051 IP related cases, up 32.96% year-on-year. The Court strengthened the publicity of legal system for protecting intellectual property rights, published the White Paper on Judicial Protection of Intellectual Property Rights in China, and relevant annual reports and typical cases, launched website featuring judicial protection of intellectual property rights, increased the transparency in the judgment of IP related cases, and guaranteed the judicial fairness.

When giving the work report of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, Cao Jianming said that in 2010, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate protected the order of market economy according to laws, actively participated in the special action against infringements on intellectual property rights and against the manufacture and sales of counterfeit and poor-quality commodity, and sued 5,642 criminal suspects for infringing intellectual property rights or manufacturing and selling counterfeit and poor-quality commodity, up 14.1% year-on-year.

In 2010, from China 6,552 applications for patent for invention were submitted to the USPTO, 2,049 to the EPO, 1,001 to the JPO and 496 to the KIPO, representing yearly increments of 7.1%, 27.7%, 12.3% and 16.4% , respectively.

Considering the application route, the data shows that over 70% applications submitted from China to foreign countries were submitted under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT). These PCT applications will continually enter into the national stage, and the number of applications submitted from China to major countries and regions in the world will be steadily growing.

Societe Civile de Chateau Lafite Rothschild (hereinafter referred to as “Lafite”) is a world-famous wine manufacturer, and LAFITE is a top-grade brand in the wine industry. Recently, the trademark infringement case Lafite vs. Shenzhen Jinhongde Trade Co., Ltd.(Jinhongde) and Hunan Biological and Pharmaceutical Group Health Industry Development Co., Ltd, represented by Unitalen lawyers Li Yongbo and Zhang Yazhou, was tried and concluded by Changsha Intermediate People’s Court of Hunan Province. The Court ordered in its judgment that the defendant Jinhongde shall immediately cease the use of marks that infringe the plaintiff’s trademark rights on the wine products produced and sold by the defendant, on defendant’s website (http://www.lafitefamily.com ) and in its promotional materials. In accordance with Section 2, Article 5 of the Anti Unfair Competition Law, the Court held that the Chinese “拉菲” is the unique name of the plaintiff’s well-known products, and thus ordered that the use of “拉菲世族” by the defendants constitutes unfair competition. The court further ruled that the defendants' false advertisement and promotion on its website (http://www.lafitefamily.com ) and its promotional brochures constitutes unfair competition; and ordered the defendants to make public apology and eliminate ill effects, and to pay Lafite damages of RMB 300,000.

On March 27th 2011, CCTV’s Topics in Focus reported on the serious situation of various infringing and counterfeiting LAFITE wines appeared during the National Sugar and Wine Exhibition held in Chengdu. Dozens of infringers such as 拉菲世族, 拉菲帝国, 拉菲领域, 拉菲传奇, and so on, came in great numbers infringing Lafite’s IP rights by using “拉菲”, which caused confusion to the public and disorder to the market. This Judgment against “拉菲世族” made by Changsha Intermediate People’s court is the first lawsuit brought by Lafite in China, during which the recognition that "拉菲" is an unique name of well-known products laid a legal foundation for Lafite to maintain its civil rights and interests in China based on the Anti Unfair Competition Law in future. At present, the brands being sued for infringing Lafite’s intellectual property rights include 拉菲世族, 拉菲帝国 and 珠海拉菲特.In addition, the police officials of Shenzhen and Wuhan are initiating criminal procedures against some counterfeiters such as 拉菲贵族 for suspicion of counterfeiting. Chinese government is always in the position of attaching great importance on IPR protection for foreign enterprises in China. Currently the nationwide Special Campaign on Fighting against IPR Infringement and Counterfeiting runs through the country, and therefore the above legal actions taken by Lafite safeguard its own legitimate rights and interests well. On March 27th 2011, CCTV’s Topics in Focus reported on the serious situation of various infringing and counterfeiting LAFITE wines appeared during the National Sugar and Wine Exhibition held in Chengdu. Dozens of infringers such as 拉菲世族, 拉菲帝国, 拉菲领域, 拉菲传奇, and so on, came in great numbers infringing Lafite’s IP rights by using “拉菲”, which caused confusion to the public and disorder to the market. This Judgment against “拉菲世族” made by Changsha Intermediate People’s court is the first lawsuit brought by Lafite in China, during which the recognition that "拉菲" is an unique name of well-known products laid a legal foundation for Lafite to maintain its civil rights and interests in China based on the Anti Unfair Competition Law in future. At present, the brands being sued for infringing Lafite’s intellectual property rights include 拉菲世族, 拉菲帝国 and 珠海拉菲特.In addition, the police officials of Shenzhen and Wuhan are initiating criminal procedures against some counterfeiters such as 拉菲贵族 for suspicion of counterfeiting. Chinese government is always in the position of attaching great importance on IPR protection for foreign enterprises in China. Currently the nationwide Special Campaign on Fighting against IPR Infringement and Counterfeiting runs through the country, and therefore the above legal actions taken by Lafite safeguard its own legitimate rights and interests well.