IP Café┃Global IP News of the Week
Good morning. Welcome come to this week’s IP Cafe. Here’s Fino. Now let’s take a cup of coffee and enjoy the following five minutes with me.
Let’s quick browse the headlines:
· IP Rights Well-Protected at Canton Fair
· Campaign Targets Online Piracy
· Binhai Seeks New Growth Momentum
· Epidemic Containment Measures Stepped Up for Couriers
· Rena Lee To Succeed Daren Tang as Chief Executive of Singapore's IP Office
Intellectual property rights are well-protected at this year's digital Canton Fair, attracting more international businesses than expected to sign contracts online during the 10-day event.
Moving the Canton Fair or China Import and Expo Fair online has brought many challenges to the IP rights protection of participating companies, said He Jufeng, the deputy director of the Guangdong Intellectual Property Office.
A special working team has been established to analyze risks, improve working plans, and coordinate diversified stakeholders to improve accuracy in the judging of IP rights infringement, enhance efficiency in safeguarding IP rights, and reduce the number of cases and impact, He said.
All the exhibitors are required to check their own products first to avoid violating others' IP rights and then they should submit all certificates or documents proving they own the IP rights to improve efficiency in judgment when cases occur.
A special nationwide campaign to crack down on online copyright infringement and piracy has been launched.
The 2020 Sword Net campaign, jointly initiated by the National Copyright Administration, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Public Security and the Cyberspace Administration of China, is the 16th special action targeting copyright infringement and piracy on the internet since 2005.
It will last four months, from June to October, and focus on five key areas in response to the emergence of some new problems.
The authorities will crack down severely on infringements related to short videos, illegal filming and recording in cinemas, and the spread of pirated film and television works through streaming media software.
They will also strengthen copyright supervision of e-commerce platforms by cracking down on the illegal use of pictures, music and videos, and will target online shops selling pirated books, audiovisual products, electronic publications, databases and network drive accounts.
The Binhai New Area in Tianjin will speed up its pace in generating new momentum in key fields, major links and important projects to promote its high-quality growth, according to a recent conference.
Binhai will cultivate more high-tech enterprises, leading innovation-driven companies and intellectual property databases and build a graded system to support sci-tech firms. It will also help "young eagle enterprises"and "gazelle enterprises" with tailored funding channels after classified selection.
The China Intellectual Property Protection Center in Binhai is to improve its services in patent examination, confirmation and right protection and further cut time needed for patent examination and authorization in some key fields.
Meanwhile, the new area will further boost the innovation ability of major platforms and accelerate the construction of a group of state-level national innovation projects, such as a technological center, an industrial center and a manufacturing park.
The State Post Bureau has urged the country's courier service providers to bolster epidemic containment measures and step up health checks of their workers to help prevent and control the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a notice published on June 16, the bureau called on the express delivery businesses to bolster safety measures in key areas, with steps to sterilize business venues and ramp up management of workers.
Businesses must offer safety education to workers and equip them with personal protection gear including masks, the bureau said.
It highlighted the need to ensure delivery services to communities that have been placed under lockdown and guarantee the supply of materials and packages to residents.
The whole express delivery sector must follow work protocols during the pandemic period and implement social distancing and regular sanitary measures, it added.
The notice followed an uptick in novel coronavirus cases in Beijing and several other provincial-level areas in recent weeks.
Mrs Rena Lee will succeed Mr Daren Tang as the chief executive of the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) from Aug 1, said the Ministry of Law on June 19.
Mr Tang will be leaving IPOS to take up appointment as the director-general of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) on Oct 1 - becoming the first Singaporean to lead a UN agency and the first WIPO director-general from Asia.
Mrs Lee is currently Singapore’s Ambassador for Oceans and Law of the Sea Issues and the Special Envoy of the Minister for Foreign Affairs.
In this capacity, she is serving as the President of the Intergovernmental Conference on an international legally binding instrument, under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction.
Those for this week’s news. For more IP events in China, please visit www.chinaiptoday.com. See you next Saturday and enjoy the great dragon boat festival.
