Beijing

South Korean inspection visit

An IP organization and civilian societies from South Korea recently inspected Chinese shops' infringement of South Korean brands and trademarks at the Silk Street Market. A representative from the inspection team said that they hoped South Korean brand owners would consider ways to prevent patent and trademark infringements before entering markets in China.

huanqiu.com

Earthquake warning system ready

China's earthquake early warning network with independent intellectual property rights will be put into use soon, said officials from the China Earthquake Administration. The network, which is the largest of its kind in the world, includes 5,010 early warning stations and covers an area of 2 million square kilometers with a population of 650 million people, who can download a free app to receive warnings.

China IP Newspaper

Zhejiang

Rise in fakes seized

Ningbo customs announced that during the past five years they seized more than 170 million items that violated intellectual property rights in import and export cargoes. The total haul involved nearly 5,600 intellectual properties and had a combined value of 165 million yuan ($26.8 million). Customs officials said that the number of knockoffs increased during recent years. There were 117 such cases in the first 11 months of this year, which accounted for 30 percent of all IP-related cases.

People.com.cn

Chongqing

Medicine loan granted

Chongqing Pharscin Co was granted a 20 million yuan ($3.24 million) loan from a local bank after pledging three medicine invention patents. It was the biggest IP loan in the city's medicine industry. The three patents were valued at 60 million yuan by a third-party evaluation company. It took a month to value the patents and get the loan, said the company's founder You Hongtao.

Chongqing Evening News

Heilongjiang

Increased rewards for innovation

The provincial IP and finance administrations jointly issued next year's innovation incentive policies, which included increased awards for newly authorized patents and valid invention patents by local organizations and individuals. The award for an invention patent that is valid for three to five years will double from 2,000 yuan ($324), and the award for a utility model or design patent will increase from 400 yuan to 500 yuan.

hlipo.gov.cn

Guangdong

Online IP court up and running

The court of Nanshan district in Shenzhen city launched an online hearing center for IP cases on Dec 4. The move was the first of its kind in China, court officials said. Parties or agents involved in IP cases can file lawsuits online and judges will examine cases and give their decision within three working days. The center has accepted about 500 cases since it started test operations in October.

Daily Sunshine

Hong Kong

Difficulties in rights protection

Industry insiders said it was a challenge to manage growing IP risks amid fierce competition, with the protection and development of IP gaining importance in China. The comments were made at a seminar co-organized by China Daily roundtable summit and the Business of IP Asia Forum last week. Yao Yingjia, chief designer of Lenovo Group, said it became harder to protect a single IP, and those that "own a basket of related patents" enjoy much more strength.

China Daily