Infringement of Foreign Marks Leads General Increase
in IP Violations
China is taking measures to combat trademark
violations involving overseas companies in a bid to protect their rights and
interests.
In recent months, the number of trademark infringement cases has increased
considerably, seriously harming the interests of overseas investors. According
to a report released this month by the State Administration for Industry and
Commerce (SAIC), local administrations nationwide handled 665 trademark violation
cases in the first half of the year, an annual increase of 16.3 percent. Among
them, 610 cases involved trademark abuses or the use of bogus marks of overseas
companies. The number of such cases was up more than 12 percent from the same
period last year.
An official with the administration said that China will further enhance efforts
in fighting against violations of the Trademark Law in the areas of circulation,
printing, trademark dealings, and applications to protect the rights of overseas
investors.
The SAIC has stated that:
1) Trademark infringement in China continues to rise, with a large increase in counterfeit trademarks.
2) Cases involving foreign marks have also increased.
3) With regard to traded goods, counterfeit marks increased by 23.1 percent to 3,092 violations.
4) Printing of counterfeit marks and trading on these marks increased, with the latter increasing to a total of 1,777 cases, an increase of 4.59 percent.
5) Criminal penalties and awards of economic damages has declined. Only 78 cases involving damages occurred in the first half of the year, down from 183, with compensation levels falling 64.74 percent to RMB 733,800 (US $88,643).
(Source: ChinaOnline)
Patent Market to Open
China's patent holders will soon have a public trading place to translate
their research achievements into real products when the country's first large-scale
patent trading market goes into trial operation in mid-August. The Beijing
Guozhuan Patent Trading Market is a joint venture of SIPO, the Beijing Patent
Bureau and the Dongcheng District government of Beijing with a total investment
of RMB 10 million. Located in Dongcheng District in central Beijing, the market
is reportedly the first patent market in the country.
Since China issued its first Patent Law 15 years ago, more than one million
patents have been approved and more than 700,000 patents have been publicly
announced. New patents are growing at a rate of more than 100,000 units every
year.
Shanghai, China's industrial and financial center, has received 1,617 patent
applications on inventions in the first five months this year. Statistics
from SIPO show that Shanghai led all other municipalities, provinces, or autonomous
regions in invention patent application in the five-month period. Beijing
and Guangdong, with about 1,200 and 605 patent applications respectively,
were ranked the second and third.
But contrary to the rapid growth, the number of patents resulting in actual
products has remained low. Because of the low rate, many patents were never
introduced to the market. This has severely hindered technical innovation,
and therefore economic development. Before construction of the patent trading
market, patentees had no place to sell their ideas to investors.
"The patent market will be a bridge between patentees and investors," said
an official with SIPO. The official said the patentees will be able to get
proper financial feedback as well as supporting capital for further research.
With a group of experts in wide variety of specialties, the market will provide
market analysis and consulting for patent holders. The market has set up a
service system which will provide global archives of related patents. The
market also set up it own website: www.Chinaipb.com to provide on-line
services.
(Source: Xinhua News Agency)
Chinese Shop Assistant's Name Earns Shares
A shop assistant in Shanghai has become a shareholder of a newly-established
company by letting the company use the trademark bearing his name.
Wang Zhen, 37, a shop assistant at Shanghai's Hualian Shopping Center on Nanjing
Road, now holds RMB 200,000 of shares, representing four percent of the Shanghai
Hualian Wang Zhen Information Co., Ltd.
The company, with a registered capital of RMB five million, was co-funded
by Wang, Shanghai's Hualian Shopping Center Co., Ltd., and the Hualian Household
Electric Appliance Co.
Local analysts referred to the development as the outcome of China's economic
reforms, which have greatly increased the need for product and service quality.
Wang, who sells and repairs photographic equipment, is a market analyst and
processes film. His expertise has drawn a steady stream of customers.
In the past four years, Hualian's sales of photographic equipment grew at
an average increase of 30 percent annually.
Hualian registered a trademark bearing Wang's name at the end of 1998 to further
promote its business and agreed to pay Wang Zhen a specified amount of money
each year for the use of his name.
(Source: Xinhua News Agency)
French Computer Games Maker Ubisoft Fights Counterfeiters
The French entertainment software group Ubisoft has captured a third of
the Chinese market for computer games since it began operating in the country
in 1996. In a recent interview with Agence France Presse, Corinne
Le Roy, Ubisoft's managing director, ascribes her company's success to its
willingness to wage a vigorous battle against piracy.
Ubisoft's software design studio in Shanghai employs some 300 people and
makes computer games for PCs and Sony Playstations the world over, in addition
to Chinese language products. By basing its operations in China, Ubisoft
could afford to hire outstanding software designers, engineers, and animators
for a fraction of the cost of similarly qualified individuals in Europe.
By selling its games in China for only 38 to 48 RMB, three or four times
less than the price in the West, Ubisoft put its product within reach of
many Chinese consumers and quickly expanded its market share. In 1999, the
company broke even.
Another of Ubisoft's strategies, making its games available in corner stores
and newsstands rather than simply in the big department stores, has proved
riskier. Widespread availability has invited widespread pirating, with the
fake products selling for the same price as the originals.
But Ubisoft has a strict, zero-tolerance policy towards counterfeiting;
any factory caught producing illicit copies or any website caught offering
its games as free downloads is promptly slapped with a lawsuit.
"If you sue them, they would rather copy someone else's products since most
companies donąt bother to do anything," Le Roy stated.
(Source: Agence France Presse)
Domestic Trading Companies Need to File Marks Abroad
Only 9 percent of Shanghai’s state-owned foreign trade enterprises have registered their trademarks overseas, and only 15% of goods exported from the city constitute goods that trade under their own marks. As one example, only 14% of Shanghai's textile exports are traded under their company's mark.
As a result, few brand names from Shanghai have become well-known internationally. The situation has been driven by several factors, including counterfeiting of famous brands and the limited number of companies that feel the need to file their marks overseas. Information regarding international filings is only now becoming known to many companies, and efforts of international organizations such as the International Trademark Association (INTA) to educate local enterprises has been stepped up in recent months.
(Source: ChinaOnline)
300,000 Economic Offenses Handled in Half Year
Local administrations for industry and commerce handled some 319,000 economic
offenses and irregularities in the first half of 2000, up 20 percent from
the same period last year.
The total value of these cases stood at RMB 4.89 billion, the SAIC said this
week.
Some 46 percent of the irregularities involved unfair competition, such as
the counterfeiting of trademarks. The value of such offenses almost doubled
the figure of the corresponding period last year.
During the six-month period, local administrations also cracked down on 1,879
smuggling cases, with goods implicated valued at RMB 640 million, a slight
drop from the same period last year.
(Source: Xinhua News Agency)