Beijing

Annual patent conference

The Patent Information Annual Conference, the largest of its kind in Asia, is scheduled to open on Sept 11. More than 1,500 government officials, company executives, research institute representatives and intellectual property information service providers are expected to attend. The two-day meeting will discuss various topics on patents, ranging from Chinese companies going abroad to corporate intellectual property management. The annual event started in 2010 and aims to promote international exchanges on patent information, organizers said.

China Intellectual Property News

Hunan

Funds for top performers

Mayor Award funds for IP protection will be handed out in the provincial capital Changsha this year in a move that is a first for the province. The special fund earmarked on a yearly basis will be awarded to those "making outstanding contributions to IP protection", according to the city's IP office. In addition, the city government plans to offer free training to executives and IP managers in local companies in three years.

Hunan Daily

Hubei

Startup success

Just 16 months after his IT startup was founded in the provincial capital Wuhan, returned overseas Chinese Peng Bin signed a sales contract worth nearly 100 million yuan ($16.2 million). The contract was for 60,000 sensors developed by his company to monitor temperature and humidity levels in pharmaceutical transportation and storage facilities. The device can collect data to help evaluate whether the environment meets the appropriate standards. The tech university graduate owns more than 30 patents and migrated to Australia in 2010.

Chutian Metropolis Daily

Shanghai

Fake goods seized

In a joint operation, local and UK police seized more than 15,000 faked trademark labels and captured five suspects, including four UK nationals. The investigation started in late February and found a group purchased counterfeit goods and labels from Guangdong and then mailed them to Liverpool with a faked customs declaration. The case involved more than 30 million yuan ($4.9 million) in potential retail value.

China Police Daily

Anhui

Largest online copyright case

Hefei police announced that they solved the largest online copyright infringement case in the province and shut down three websites that contained more than 20,000 illegal video products. A 30-year-old suspect said he built the websites at the end of 2012, renting servers from a Jiangsu-based company. He downloaded movies from overseas websites, bought pirated DVDs and uploaded content to his websites. He made illegal income of nearly 1 million yuan from advertising.

anhuinews.com

Zhejiang

Tea lawsuit filed

The industry association of the West Lake Longjing Tea in Hangzhou filed a lawsuit against a local supermarket chain, claiming that it sold tea labeled as West Lake Longjing without authorization. The plaintiff explained that West Lake Longjing is a geographical indication that only applies to certain types of tea grown in a certain area around the West Lake in Hangzhou. It asked for compensation of 200,000 yuan.

news.t0001.com

Shaanxi

Agriculture expo

A high-tech agricultural expo that is expected to open in Yangling in early November has started soliciting agricultural patents from around the world. The five-day event will display new technologies, release research findings, promote transactions and offer tech training and consultancy services, organizers said. Departments at the Ministry of Agriculture are expected to announce information on new plant variety protection at the expo.

Xi'an Evening News

Guangdong

Counterfeit printer cartridges

Police and the quality supervising administration of Zhuhai city cracked down on a group making printer cartridges with counterfeit overseas trademarks including Canon, Toshiba and Nikon. More than 160,000 labels, packages and finished products, along with equipment, were found in three hideouts. Three suspects were detained at the scene and said that they had been producing the illegal products since last September. The case involved more than 2.4 million yuan, said police.

Zhuhai Daily

(China Daily 08/27/2014 page17)