Relevant official of the Law Department of State Intellectual Property Office said, as specified in Chapter III of the first part of current Examination Guidelines, “the patterns shown when the product is electrified, such as the patterns on the electronic watch dial, the pattern on the screen of mobile phone, software interface, etc.” are listed into situations where design is not patentable. Such regulations which exclude graphic user interface designs from design patent protection are proposed to be modified. First, delete the existing regulations to eliminate barriers of product design protection of graphic user interface; Second, adjust the situations where design is not patentable to "patterns shown on the display which are irrelavant to human-computer interaction or implementation of product features." This is because not all patterns displayed on product display device shall be given patent protection, e.g. the electronic screen wallpaper and screen which are unrelated to human-computer interaction and product features during the opening process; the graphic layout of website and game interface unrelated to product features. Meanwhile, it is proposed to modify requirements on product design, add provisions on design drawings or photographs and brief descriptions; as for the modification of Chapter V of Part IV of the existing examination guidelines, it is proposed to add provisions on considerations in determining whether the product design is obviously different from the prior art.

Tian Lipu pointed out that, with joint efforts of both sides, the preparatory work for China's accession to Hague system went on smoothly, and that he believed China’s accession would promote new vitality to the Hague system which is an important intellectual property service system, and provide better service for the world users.

After the meeting, SIPO and WIPO signed the Cooperation Agreement on Development of Infrastructure Services to Support the Sharing of Patent Examination between World Intellectual Property Organization and the State Intellectual Property Office.

As it was also the time when the decision of modifying the PRC Trademark Law was made after the Third Review of the fourth session of the Twelfth National People's Congress Standing Committee, this forum invited experts of NPC Law Committee, intellectual property judges from the Supreme People’s Court, Beijing High People's Court, Changsha Intermediate People's Court, leadership of China Trademark Association, intellectual property executives of well-known domestic companies, as well as senior consultants on intellectual property. The participants had in-depth discussions and exchanges on the background of modification and understanding of the modified clauses of the current trademark law, the future trademark administration and judicial enforcement standards, corporate intellectual property management, patent litigation trends, network copyright protection and other hot issues, to clarify the direction for enterprises and explore the best IP solutions.

The patent dispute of invention infringement filed by Ashland Licensing and Intellectual Property Limited and Beijing Tianshi Specific Chemical Technology Co., Ltd. against Beijing Response-Chem Specialty Chemical Technologies Co., Ltd., Suzhou Rip Industrial Additives Co, Ltd and Wei Xingguang.

For case details, please click: http://www.unitalenlaw.com/Newsletter/newsletter80.htm # 9

This annual meeting got strong collaboration with the most important associations in the field of IPR in Italy, such as AIPPI, INDICAM (Italian anti-counterfeiting organization), AICIPI (Italian Industrial Property and Industrial Organization Consultants Association), LES (Licensing Executives Society).

The annual IP meeting of Parma University is one of the most important meetings in the field of Italian intellectual property law. The topic of this year is the protection of intellectual property law in Chinese furniture industry. Prestigious judges, scholars, intellectual property lawyers and IP directors from China and Italy were invited to the meeting and gave speeches.

After discussion, the two sides exchanged views on specific issues, and reached formal agreement on specific content of strategic cooperation. The Zhejiang University of Technology Law School will establish a "Practice Base for Law and Intellectual Property Teaching and Research" in Unitalen, and hire senior lawyers and agents from Unitalen as visiting professors to introduce IP classic case and practical knowledge to students; meanwhile, Unitalen will set up a "Unitalen Training Base" in the Law School, for exchanges with students on IPR applications and management, etc. In addition, the two sides will cooperate in many aspects such as topic research, case studies, resource sharing, practice and teaching.

Mr. Yu, the director, said that currently there is a good potential for development of the intellectual property industry, but it lacks applicable talents and the talent pool is insufficient. It is expected that the personnel training plan through cooperation with research institutions can cultivate more talents for the entire industry.

The engagement by the panel, on the one hand, reflects the fine tradition of Unitalen’s active participation in social and public affairs with professional knowledge as an influential member in the IPR industry, on the other hand, illustrates the fact that Unitalen’s capability in legal affairs of intellectual property has been widely recognized.