IP scene

Tianjin

New mediation committee

The municipality recently launched its first intellectual property people's mediation committee in Haihe High-tech Development Zone, which houses a large number of small-and mid-sized tech companies. The committee will focus on dealing with IP disputes among those companies and also provide a one-stop service for patent consultation, management and protection, organizers said. It has a staff of five.

Morning Post

Beijing

Copyrights up 20% in 2014

Statistics from the National Copyright Administration show that 1.2 million copyrights were registered last year in China, up nearly 20 percent from the previous year. Of them, the number of software registrations surpassed the 200,000 benchmark for the first time. Beijing ranked first in copyright registration, accounting for more than half of the national total. Shanghai ranked second, at 19 percent.

Guangming Daily

Media stand against piracy

Eight Internet media outlets including Ifeng News and Sohu News jointly announced a copyright protection statement on March 15, World Consumer Rights Day, to boycott piracy and protect readers' interests. They called for a market where copyright is well respected and said such a market would bring hard-working content producers respect from other creators, attention from content consumers and satisfactory economic returns.

Xinhua News Agency

Hunan

Chaint commercializes robot

Changsha Chaint Robotics Co recently launched its latest homemade light industrial robot, the first of its kind in the province that has realized commercialization. The robot can operate in a small space and be used for welding, palletizing, transportation and in the automobile industry. The company manager said the robot can carry products weighing up to 20 kilograms and has a 1.7-meter radius of action. Twenty robots have so far been built.

Science And Technology Daily

Yunnan

Traditional crafts on display

More than 7,000 handicrafts made by hundreds of local women were on display at Longtan Park in Qujing from March 3 to 15. The exhibits are a reflection of the women's love of life, said Zhang Xiangming, deputy mayor of Qujing, at the opening ceremony. They show a strong local cultural flavor, as the city is home to eight ethnic groups including the Yi, Miao and Yao peoples, Zhang said, adding that the exhibition also helps preserve the city's intangible cultural heritage.

Qujing Daily

Guangdong

Design contest kicks off

The province's first intangible cultural heritage-inspired creative design contest, which kicked off earlier this month, is now soliciting entries from around the globe. Organizers require the entries combine traditional elements and creative approaches in their work, whether they are graphics, objects or in other form. Candidates also need to reflect the traditional Guangdong culture and be able to be industrialized, organizers said. The application period is open until June 1 and an awards ceremony is scheduled to take place on June 13.

chinanews.com

Innovation commission

A technological innovation commission was unveiled in the provincial capital of Guangzhou, becoming the second of its kind in the country after Shenzhen. The establishment is also a result of government reforms in the southern city. With the goal of creating a high-quality and vivid innovation ecosystem, the organization will focus on leveraging tech resources and stimulating creativity across the city, Ma Zhengyong, the commission's director, said at the opening ceremony. "We will work to coordinate research forces in the city, help companies improve their R&D capacity, promote tech innovation and industrialization," he said.

Guangzhou Daily

Fujian

Govt promotes use of patents

The Fujian provincial government recently published a plan to promote the use of patents. The government is encouraging private organizations to help transfer patented technologies and agencies can get subsidies worth 1.2 percent of the transactions made to industrialize such technologies, of up to 50,000 yuan ($8,000) for each deal. The government will also earmark an annual 10 million yuan fund for patent-collateralized loan interest designed for small and medium enterprises from 2015 to 2017.

fujian.gov.cn

(China Daily 03/18/2015 page17)