IN BRIEF (Page 9)

Instrument patents soar

China's musical instrument patents reached 498 last year, up a record 74.73 percent, compared with a growth rate of 9.61 percent in 2006 and 30 percent in 2005, statistics from China Patent Database indicate.

Ninety-seven percent were invention patents, 188 practical patents and 213 were exterior design patents. Percussion patents recorded the highest increase at 12 times higher than 2006.

Of new patents, 354 were from the mainland, accounting for 71.08 percent, up by 65.42 percent year-on-year. A broader range of countries and regions, including the United States, Germany, Japan and China's Taiwan province, have applied for patents on the mainland market, an increase of 3.31 percent last year.

Trademarks pass 3 million

Registered trademarks reached 3,013,700 in China as of the end of November, up 29.19 percent year-on-year, according to the working conference from the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, held in Beijing last month. Altogether over 1,000 trademarks have been identified as the "Well-known Mark", with 197 approved last year.

A series of new measures have been taken to enhance the order of trademark registrations, including combative measures against malicious application, opposition and transference. In the meantime, the administrative departments at all levels have taken firm steps to transfer the cases to legal investigations.

Counterfeit cigarettes seized

A total of 9.28 billion counterfeit cigarettes were seized nationwide last year, the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration (STMA) announced recently.

Law enforcement agencies raided 3,876 counterfeit cigarette warehouses and rounded up 7,026 people in connection with the false brands, prosecuting 3,492 people, said STMA head Jiang Chengkang.

He added that law enforcement agencies also solved 5,505 cases, each of which involved more than 50,000 yuan. Among those, 49 cases were valued at more than ten million yuan.

In 2006, the country seized 9.07 billion counterfeit cigarettes and cracked 24 major cases. Each was valued at more than 10 million yuan and resulted in the prosecution of 2,313 people in total.

China's tobacco industry generated 388 billion yuan in taxes and profits last year, a 25 percent year-on-year increase, according to the STMA.

Entertainment industry

China has launched a nationwide clean-up campaign to curb IPR violations and other dealings that are believed to be undercurrents in the country's entertainment industry, according to a Xinhua News Agency report.

The "Sunshine Project", which kicked off recently, covers more than 200,000 entertainment businesses across the country, according to the Ministry of Culture.

"Serious problems still exist in the entertainment industry, and what concerns the government most are unlicensed operations, IPR infringements, prostitution, gambling and drug use," says Liu Yuzhu, director of the ministry's culture market department.

About one million people are working at entertainment venues such as pubs, bars and karaoke lounges, according to official figures, but it is believed that the actual number may be much larger given many underground businesses.

The campaign, jointly launched by the Ministry of Culture, Ministry of Public Security and four other departments, will promote a national industrial standard on management and service at entertainment venues to clean up businesses and improve the service, Liu says.

Autodesk R&D center

Autodesk Inc has established a new research and development center in Shanghai with 1,500 employees, the biggest R&D center among multinational firms in China, the US-based design software vendor said recently.

Autodesk, the maker of AutoCAD, said the center will combine Autodesk operations and Hanna Strategies, which it acquired in November, according to Shanghai Daily report.

The Autodesk China R&D Center will be based in Pudong New Area and it reflects the company's commitment to China, according to Carl Bass, Autodesk's president and chief executive.

"Merging our talented development teams in Shanghai strengthens Autodesk's engineering operations, provides us with internal efficiencies and increases our capacities," Bass says during the opening ceremony.

Autodesk's revenue was $1.8 billion for the 2007 fiscal year with 23 percent of that coming from Asia Pacific, the fastest growing region.

No Montagut trademark verdict

The France-based Montagut trademark owner has asked the Montagut laundry company to pay 500,000 yuan in compensation for trademark infringement, the Shanghai Daily reported.

The Shanghai No 2 Intermediate People's Court heard the case recently without reaching a verdict.

Bonneterie Cevenole SARL, which was founded in France in 1956, said it has registered the Montagut trademark, its Chinese translation and the flower pattern in China.

The trademarks have been appraised as renowned trademarks in China after active promotion and use, says lawyer Zhou Dandan.

According to Zhou, Shanghai Mengjiao Investment and Management Co Ltd has used the flower pattern and word "Montagut" on its website, pamphlets and signboards of franchise stores. The behavior has violated the plaintiff's exclusive right.

The plaintiff also said that Shanghai Mengjiao had falsely claimed to a French laundry company.

Shanghai Mengjiao argues that the Montagut trademark is only protected in the fields of garments, shoes, hats and scarves.

(China Daily 01/28/2008 page9)