According to Tian Lipu, last year, the drafting of the Draft Amendment of the Patent Law (for Approval) and the Draft Regulations on Service Inventions (for Approval) had been basically completed; the amendment of the Measures for the Compulsory Licensing for Patent Implementation, Provisions on the Methods for Labeling Patent Marks and Procedures for Administrative Reconsideration was completed; the National Copyright Administration completed the Draft Amendment of the Copyright Law (for Approval) and submitted it to the Legislative Affairs Office of the State Council; the State Administration for Industry and Commerce positively cooperated with the Legislative Affairs Office of the State Council to promote the amendment of the Trademark Law; the Draft Amendment of the Trademark Law was passed at the executive meeting of the State Council after discussion, and submitted to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress for discussion and approval.

In 2012, the number of acceptance, approval and registration of intellectual property in China also kept on increasing substantially. Tian Lipu said, according to statistics, there were more than 2 million cases accepted for applications of invention patents, utility model patents and design patents; there were approximately 20,000 cases accepted for applications of PCT international patents; there were 1,648,000 cases accepted for application of trademark registration last year in China, with the accumulated number of cases of trademark application achieved 11,360,000; there were 688,000 cases of work copyright registration and 139,000 cases of software copyright registration, both reaching a new record; it is noteworthy that while the number of intellectual property increased rapidly, departments in China also paid more attention to enhance the quality orientation of intellectual property.

It was understood that the courts effectively employed pre-litigation temporary measures in protecting intellectual property rights. According to statistics, over the past 3 years, Chinese courts accepted 212 cases of pre-litigation temporary injunctions, 800 cases of pre-litigation evidence preservation and 220 cases of pre-litigation property preservation related to intellectual property rights, all with an approval ruling rate higher than 85%.

According to the person in charge of the intellectual property tribunal of the Supreme People's Court, the top 10 cases and the top 50 typical cases announced this time were selected from the 148 cases submitted by the high people's courts and the 366 intellectual property cases concluded by the Supreme People's Court in 2012. These cases have typical significance in law application and great social influence, not only exhibiting the achievement and strength of intellectual property juridical protection by Chinese courts, but also providing examples of rights protection that can be used for reference for the parties involved.

Below we present introductions to the "SANY" well-known trademark protection case and the U.S. Ashland patent and trade secret case represented by Unitalen:

1 "SANY" well-known trademark protection case

SANY Heavy Industry Co., Ltd (hereinafter referred to as SANY Heavy Industry) is the owner of the exclusive right to use the registered trademark "SANY". Without the permission of SANY Heavy Industry, Maanshan Yonghe Heavy Industry Science and Technology Co., Ltd (formerly known as Maanshan SANY Heavy Industry Machinery Manufacturing Co., Ltd, hereinafter referred to as Yonghe Company) included "SANY" into its enterprise name, and used "SANY Heavy Industry", "SANY Machine Tool" and other marks on its machine tool products, outerior wall of plant, advertisements and website homepage. Accordingly, SANY Heavy Industry filed a lawsuit of trademark infringement and unfair competition.

Changsha Intermediate People's Court of Hunan Province issued the first instance judgment that Yonghe Company should stop the trademark infringement and unfair competition activities, and compensate SANY Heavy Industry for the economic loss of RMB 400,000 Yuan. The High People's Court of Hunan Province affirmed the original judgment in the last instance.

SANY Heavy Industry is a well-known domestic enterprise, and its registered trademark "SANY" is extensively known to the relevant public. Yonghe Company highlighted the "SANY" mark on its machine tool products, and included "SANY" into its enterprise name. According to stipulations of the Trademark Law, the courts recognized the registered trademark "SANY" owned by SANY Heavy Industry as a well-known trademark, and ruled that the activities of Yonghe Company constituted trademark infringement and unfair competition. Through the juridical recognition of well-known trademark, the judgment effectively protected legitimate rights and interests of the trademark right owner, with positive significance in maintaining normal economic order, suppressing activites of "disguising for famous brands" and "free riding", and promoting brands of well-known enterprises.

2 Patent and trade secret case of U.S. Ashland

Please click http://www.unitalenlaw.com/Newsletter/newsletter80.htm#9 for the case details.

The invention patent infringement dispute between Changsha Shenxiang Universal Machine Co., Ltd and Hunan Guangyi Science and Technology Co., Ltd & Hunan Guangyi Grinding Equipment Co., Ltd

[Case Brief] Changsha Shenxiang Universal Machine Co., Ltd (hereinafter referred to as Shenxiang Company) is the exclusive licensee to implement the invention patent (patent number: ZL94110912.7). Hunan Guangyi Science and Technology Co., Ltd (hereinafter referred to as Guangyi Science and Technology Company) had been found constituting infringement by people's court for manufacturing and selling products infringing upon the above patent of Shenxiang Company, and had been ordered to stop manufacturing and selling the products infringing upon the involved patent immediately and to compensate Shenxiang Company for economic loss of RMB 500,000 Yuan. However, Guangyi Science and Technology Company never stopped infringement activities during the original case litigation period and after the court judgment took effect, instead, it sold products infringing upon the involved patent together with Hunan Guangyi Grinding Equipment Co., Ltd, advertised and offered for sale of infringing products on its website and trade journals. After hearing, the people's court considered that the two defendants' acts of selling and offering for sale had constituted infringement upon the patent of Shenxiang Company, and ordered the two defendants to stop manufacturing, selling and offering for sale of the products infringing upon the involved patent immediately, and to delete the advertisements infringing upon the involved patent immediately; Guangyi Science and Technology Company was ordered to compensate Shenxiang Company for the economic loss of RMB 600,000 Yuan, and Hunan Guangyi Grinding Equipment Co., Ltd was ordered to bear the joint and several liability within the limit of RMB 400,000 Yuan.

[Significance of Typical Case] The case is one involving repeated infringement. After being found constituting infringement upon the invention patent of Shenxiang Company and being ordered to pay damages, Guangyi Science and Technology Company continued selling and offering for sale of the products infringing the involved patent, so the right owner filed a lawsuit against the infringement acts of selling and offering for sale again. Taking into account the repeated infringement activities of Guangyi Science and Technology Company, the people's court distinguished the liability for compensation for infringement by Guangyi Science and Technology Company as repeated infringert and Hunan Guangyi Grinding Equipment Co., Ltd as first-time infringement in the case, and ordered Guangyi Science and Technology Company, the repeated infringer, to bear more liability for compensation than that of its first infringement, intensifying the punishment for repeated infringement.