IP scene

Beijing

Chinese Brand Day launched on May 10

Multiple ministers and central government departments have designated May 10 as the annual Chinese Brand Day to increase brand awareness. Before the next Chinese Brand Day, the government will roll out a national plan to promote homegrown brands' development, said Wang Dong, an official with the National Development and Reform Commission, adding the commission is working with other departments to discuss details.

Economic Information Daily

Guangdong

CAS takes US Cree to court over LED dispute

CASIP, an intellectual property operator owned by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, has filed a patent complaint against United-States-headquartered LED maker Cree and Cree Huizhou Solid State Lighting with the Guangzhou IP Court and the Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court respectively. It claims they have infringed patented technologies developed by CAS. Some of Cree's LED products using the patents involved in the dispute are sold in China, CASIP said. Currently, CAS has nearly 1,000 patents concerning LED manufacturing, according to the plaintiff.

Sciencenet.cn

Zhejiang

Counterfeit trademarks seized in Hangzhou

Hangzhou Customs announced in late April that they seized 343,000 counterfeited international trademarks in March, which were intended to be exported with other shipments. The counterfeited labels include big names, such as Italian luxury fashion house Prada and leading sportswear manufacturers Adidas, Nike and Reebok. Separately shipping goods and trademark labels to combine them abroad is a new tactic infringers are using to escape customs' inspection, local officials said.

Customs.gov.cn

Customs officials seize illegal labels in Hangzhou. Yao Feng/China Daily

Shaanxi

Free trade area service center established

The IP operation and service center in the Shaanxi free trade area, which launched in the Chanba Ecological Zone last week, will provide services including policy consultation, patent information search, training and legal aid in IP disputes. It will focus on services at exhibitions and in cultural businesses. Six companies signed agreements at the launch ceremony to become the first in the free area to receive services from the center.

Xi'an Evening News

Shandong

Yantai police raid 40 locations, arrest dozens

The Yantai police recently announced that they investigated 73 criminal IP cases in a series of special campaigns from the beginning of 2014 to the end of last month. They raided more than 40 locations that manufactured, sold and stored counterfeits over the period, arresting 119 suspects. They found more than 2 million counterfeit goods and labels in the cases, which had total potential value of 180 million yuan ($26.1 million).

Yantai.dzwww.com

Guangxi

Region sees nation's highest patent growth

There were three invention patents for every 10,000 residents in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region on average last year, up 49.9 percent from 2015, according to statistics from the region's science and technology department. The growth rate was the highest nationwide. Last year, the government launched a number of major scientific and technological programs, including graphene-related technologies and some new crop breeds.

Nanning Evening News

Sichuan

Chengdu global fair draws intl experts

Part of the Chengdu Global Innovation and Entrepreneurship Fair earlier this month, an international forum on intellectual property and urban innovation-driven development drew nearly 300 representatives from across China, Austria and the United States. Attendees, including government officials, judges and executives from Fortune 500 firms, compared notes on how IP leads urban innovation-driven development. The annual fair, which debuted in the provincial capital in 2015, reported deals involving patented technologies worth nearly 6.2 billion yuan ($898 million) last year.

(China Daily 05/18/2017 page17)