ChinaDaily briefs about some IPR related subjects:
Walt Disney versus Mickeyle (no not Mickey), a Shenzhen based children’s clothing manufacturer in a trade mark infringement law suit before the Shenzhen Medium People’s Court on February 20. “Walt Disney asked Mickeyle to stop using its trademark and demanded reparations of 600,000 yuan (US$74,600). “
In March 2003, the Chengdu Administration of Industry and Commerce found that a local information technology company had installed 55 pirated copies of Adobe software in 22 of its computers for commercial purposes.” Adobe Systems filed a lawsuit against the company in the Chengdu Intermediate People’s Court and after two years it received 300,000 yuan (US$37,300) in reparations. The fourth time Adobe had won in China in an IPR case and the first such victory for an international software company in western China.
Criminal enforcement of IPR: “The People’s Court at Ouhai in Wenzhou, East China’s Zhejiang Province, recently sentenced ZIPPO lighter counterfeiter Zhen Shengfen to prison for one and a half years and fined him 100,000 yuan (US$12,400). In March 2005, the Wenzhou Ouhai Administration of Industry and Commerce searched a department in a routine check and found 32,980 counterfeit ZIPPO lighters and 6,000 fake lighter shells. All the lighters and shells were labelled “ZIPPO” and “MADE IN USA”. The administration immediately informed US authorities of the situation. Zhen was quickly arrested. The counterfeit lighters had an estimated average market price of 6.2 million yuan (US$770,000).”
Wu Yi, the Chinese Vice-Premier and also the head of the State IPR Protection Working Group, 
has urged domestic businesses to shoulder greater social responsibility for the protection of IPR. during a conference on February 23 in Beijing on IPR protection and independent innovation. Conference participants, including China Construction Bank, China Telecom, Lenovo, and Siemens China, signed a written proposal appealing to businesses to use only legal software. Wu pledged that the Chinese Government will continue to push IPR protection in the years to come, and promised to set up reporting centres in 50 major cities throughout the country.
Besides a new case of preregistering in Hong Kong well-known Chinese trademarks in order to ransom them, is covered. IP Dragon will elaborate on this practise. And according to ChinaDaily Changhong’s chip and Hisense’s Hiview chip developed last year are seen as evidence of Chinese TV companies’ shifting focus from TV assembly to technological research and development.
Read the ChinaDaily brief here.
