IP scene

Beijing

Reforms open up fair playing field

A working body of China's top legislature has ordered the annulment of a number of local ordinances on "renowned trademarks", which allow local governments to grant such titles to certain brands for promotion. Officials said such ordinances, meant to encourage enterprises to increase their brand-building awareness and improve product quality, had partly played a positive role. However, they are now outdated as selective support from the government is thought to potentially cause discrimination and result in unfair competition.

Xinhua News Agency

Customs cooperate cross-regionally

Customs authorities have seized 1 million products in 46 batches involving intellectual property rights infringement in the ongoing Longteng special operation, the General Administration of Customs announced recently. The nationwide operation was launched on Sept 1 and will last until the end of November. It is part of the administration's plan to nurture Chinese companies with IP advantages in their exported goods. Customs authorities are cooperating cross-regionally, partnering with other enforcement agencies during the operation.

Legal Daily

Tianjin

China leads world in biotech patents

China applied for 30 percent of the world's patents in the industrial biotech sector from 2014 to 2016, two institutions of the Chinese Academy of Sciences announced in Tianjin. Over the period, 57,559 patent applications in the sector were published in China, topping the world with a compound annual growth rate of 14.3 percent. Among those applications, 86 percent were filed by Chinese people. About 22,000 industrial biotech patents were granted in China over the same period.

Xinhua News Agency

Hunan

Local Changsha alliance unveiled

The province's first intellectual property alliance has been unveiled in Changsha. Co-funded by the Hunan IP Information Service Center, the Hunan IP Exchange and local company Kinglory Group, the alliance aims to improve the competitiveness, risk resistance and sustainable development of Hunan's IP service agencies. It will help local companies to commercialize their innovation achievements. There are currently 75 IP agencies in Hunan with 925 licensed agents.

Sanxiang City Express

Jiangsu

Report identifies key GDP driver

The Jiangsu IP Information Service Center published a report on intellectual property-intensive industries last week. According to the report, 102 companies in the province were recognized as IP-intensive last year. The IP-intensive industries involved about 6 million employees and generated added value of 2.4 trillion yuan ($361 billion), which means 12.6 percent of the province's employees contributed 32.1 percent to its GDP.

Xinhua Daily

(China Daily 11/16/2017 page17)