IP Scene

Beijing

Local research institute wins global award

The Beijing Research Institute of Precision Mechatronics Controls won first prize in the Responsible and Renewable Innovations category at the Quality Innovation Award 2016. The institute won the award for its development of a robotic arm designed to clean up space debris. It is the first time that a Chinese participant has won an award at the annual international competition. The event originated in Finland in 2007 and aims to offer professional assessment and help participants to improve their international profile. The 2016 awards were held in Prague in early February.

Economic Daily

Liaoning

Dalian to process trademark applications

The Dalian administration of industry and commerce has been given the green light to process trademark filings, which will improve the city's business environment, according to city officials. The Dalian administration will begin the new venture in March in a move aimed at helping local applicants reduce the costs related to the filing process. Currently, applicants must either travel to Beijing to file or employ an agency to do so on their behalf. The city hit a record-high number of annual trademark applications in 2016, surpassing 15,300.

Dalian Daily

Shandong

GI agro-products use new marketing mode

A national geographical indication experience center, which opened in Qingdao at the end of December, is exploring a new agro-brands marketing mode. A variety of local agro-products carrying GIs are on display at the center. The branded exhibits are from agricultural production hubs, rural cooperatives and family farms. Visitors can make purchases at the center or scan QR codes to access sellers.

Qilu Evening News

Guangdong

Province ranks top for high-tech companies

The province in South China ranked top nationwide for high-tech companies last year, with more than 19,800 enterprises granted the National High-Tech Enterprise status, it was announced at a provincial innovation development conference last week. Around 95 percent of the enterprises are clustered around the Pearl River Delta, with the majority being located in Shenzhen and Guangzhou. The number of high-tech companies in the province is projected to surpass 23,000 this year, according to Guangdong's provincial development strategy.

Xinhua News Agency

Jiangsu

Judicial big data center opens in Nanjing

In cooperation with the Jiangsu High People's Court and Southeast University, the Supreme People's Court opened a judicial research center of courts' big data in late January at the university in Nanjing, capital of the province in East China. The center, which is the first of its kind in the country, will focus on research and the use of big data, especially in frontier fields such as machine learning and artificial intelligence, in a bid to support the development of "smart courts", He Rong, vice-president of the supreme court, said at the opening ceremony of the center.

legaldaily.com.cn

Taiwan

Patent requests drop for 4th consecutive year

The Taiwan Intellectual Property Office announced on Feb 8 that patent filings from the island dropped 2 percent to 72,442 in 2016, representing a fall for the fourth consecutive year. Filings were affected by the sluggish economy, as both applications and annual maintenance require payment, said Hong Shu-min, director-general of the Taiwan Intellectual Property Office. The decline is also due to the fact that the island's educational authority has switched its emphasis from encouraging patent applications to stimulating industrialization, she added.

chinanews.com

(China Daily 02/16/2017 page17)