Beijing

IP protection office set up

The Supreme People's Court set up a judicial protection research center for intellectual property rights on March 18. Zhou Qiang, president of the court, said that the center needed to research major IP judicial issues including those caused by the Internet and offer suggestions for IP laws, judicial interpretation and policies. The center will also showcase IP judicial protection achievements in China and become an international exchange platform for IP protection.

chinanews.com

Courts reveal work in 2014

The 2014 work report for the people's courts showed that courts in China reached verdicts in the first hearings of 10,803 IP criminal cases, 94,501 civil cases and 4,887 administrative cases in 2014. The Supreme People's Court completed unfair competition and anti-monopoly disputes between Qihoo and Tencent, two software giants in China. The report said the cases was significant for regulating competition among Internet companies.

Legal Daily

Shanghai

Game developers in dispute

Chinese game developer Lilith Technology is suing its counterpart in the United States, Ucool, at a court in California, claiming that the company's mobile game, Heroes Charge, violates copyrights on its game, Sword and Tower. Lilith released Sword and Tower on iOS platforms in February 2014. Heroes Charge uses similar characters, plots and ways of playing and was launched in August, with most of its success outside China.

gamepolitics.com

Shangdong

Creatives sign up for expo

The second Qingdao-Northeast Asia Copyright Creativity Fine Products Exhibition will be held on April 30. Organizers said that the four-day event attracted more than 180 exhibitors from across the world, including publishers, animation and game developers, TV stations, design companies and industry associations. The total exhibition area is expected to be about 30,000 square meters. A book fair will be held at the same time, showcasing books from about 100 publishers.

news.qtv.com.cn

Jiangsu

Fake goods seller sentenced

A woman who sold counterfeit products on social media platform WeChat was sentenced to three years in prison with a suspension of three years and fined 135,000 yuan ($21,725) by a court in Changshu on March 20. The court found the woman bought counterfeits, including leather products carrying Chanel and Louis Vuitton logos, from Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong province, and sold them to WeChat contacts as well as in a shop in Changshu from October 2012 to March 2014.

jsfy.gov.cn

Sichuan

Patent examination center

The first patent examination cooperation center in western China started operation on March 20 in Chengdu. The center, the sixth of its kind outside Beijing, examines applications for invention patents and international patents through the Patent Cooperation Treaty. It also offers IP consultation services. The center has more than 200 examiners, but the number is expected to grow to 2,000 by 2018, when it is due to examine up to 110,000 applications a year.

Sichuan Daily

Fujian

Invention competition

The second "6.18" invention competition organized by the Inventor Association of Fujian China and other agencies in the province started on March 18. Inventions from the competition will have access to the 13th China Cross-Straits Technology and Projects Fair, which will be held in Fuzhou on June 18. Last year, 250 projects took part in the competition and 23 signed cooperation agreements with companies at the exhibition.

Fujian Daily

Guangdong

Huawei top intl applicant

Huawei Technologies overtook Panasonic to become the largest international patent applicant in 2014, with 3,442 published filings through the Patent Cooperation Treaty, according to a World Intellectual Property Organization report released on March 19. Qualcomm Inc from the United States ranked second and Chinese company ZTE took third place. The rapid growth of international patent applications showed that IP "moved from the periphery to the center of the global economic system", said WIPO Director-General Francis Gurry.

Wipo.int

(China Daily 03/25/2015 page17)