Peimeng · Newsletter January 25-29
Welcome to this week’s IP Cafe. Here’s May. Now let’s take a cup of coffee and enjoy the following five minutes with me.
Let’s quick browse the headlines:
China (Shenzhen) IPR Protection Center Pre-examination Quality Management Bulletin
In order to improve the quality of patent pre-examination, China (Shenzhen) Intellectual Property Protection Center announced on August 12, 2020, the "Administrative Measures for the Pre-examination Service of China (Shenzhen) Intellectual Property Protection Center and Agency Pre-examination Service (Trial)". Since the promulgation of the management measures, three agencies have been issued warnings for violating relevant regulations, 37 filing entities and 26 agencies have been required to rectify and postpone the submission of pre-trial cases due to a pre-trial case failure rate of more than 50%, and one filing entity disqualified for filing.
Yanjing suspected of copied Taishan beer’s packaging and was ruled to stop infringement and compensate 500,000 yuan
Shandong Taishan Beer Co., Ltd. sued Beijing Yanjing Beer Co., Ltd. for unfair competition. The People's Court of Dongcheng District, made a first-instance judgment on December 29, 2020. It determined that Yanjing Beer's behaviour of production and sell of "Yanjing 7 Days Fresh constituted unfair competition with the products of "Taishan Puree 7 Days". After comparison, the Court held that the packaging of "Yanjing 7 Days Fresh" and "Taishan Puree 7 Days" were basically the same, that is, the front shows that the whole is composed of the art number "7", "Taishan", "Yanjing", puree, beer and other font elements. The Court ordered Yanjing to stop the production and sales of related products and compensate Taishan Beer with 500,000 yuan.
More than 1,000 IPR Protection Assistance Agencies Established in China
At present, there are more than 1,000 intellectual property rights protection assistance institutions in China. In 2020, more than 33,000 applications for rights protection assistance will be processed, and more than 43,000 consultation and guidance services will be provided. In addition, there are currently 194 universities and 386 social organizations participating in rights protection assistance services, more than 5,200 national intellectual property protection volunteers, and more than 5,100 rights protection assistance experts. In April 2020, CNIPA revised and launched the China Intellectual Property Rights Protection Assistance Online Service Platform, which further facilitated rights protection for right holders and the general public.
CNIPA Released Notice on Further Strictly Regulating Patent Application Behavior
On January 27, 2021, China National Intellectual Property Administration issued a notice on further strictly regulating the behavior of patent applications, it mentions:
Efforts should be made to guide the number and quality of patent applications to adapt to the level of regional economic development, industrial development needs and technological innovation capabilities, scientifically set various work indicators, strengthen quality guidance, and effectively play a leading role in high-quality development indicators. Moreover, adjust and improve policies such as funding and rewards, completely cancel funding for patent applications, and focus on strengthening support for subsequent transformation and application, administrative protection and public services. Clean up and standardize patent applications’ order, resolutely crackdown and effectively curb irregular patent applications that are not aimed at protecting innovation, and promote the high-quality development of the intellectual property.
Summary of 2020: Chinese IP System to a New Height
On January 22, CNIPA released yearly statistics on patent, trademark, geographic indication (GI) and layout design of integrated circuit in its first quarter press conference of 2021 in Beijing. All major statistics met expectations in 2020, indicating another step upward for the Chinese IP system. In 2020, China granted 530,000 invention patents. At the year's end, the number of valid invention patents grossed 2.213 million (excluding Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan).
The number of registered trademarks in China was 5.761 million. China contributed 7,553 international trademark filings under the Madrid System. China received ten applications for GI protection and approved six GI products. IP authorities across the nation handled more than 42,000 administrative disputes over patent infringement. The society's satisfaction over IP protection scored at 80.05, exceeding 80 points for the first time.
In 2020, there were 12,039 patent and trademark pledge financing cases, grossing 218 billion yuan of loans, up 43.8% and 43.9% respectively.
Those for this week’s news. For more IP events in China, please visit www.chinaiptoday.com. See you next Saturday and enjoy the weekend.
