IP Scene

Beijing

Better protection for new plant varieties

China is stepping up efforts to revise its regulation on new plant varieties, affording them greater protection. It was announced at an event celebrating the 20th anniversary of the country's entry into the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants. The event was held by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, and the National Intellectual Property Administration. Over the past two decades, some 26,000 applications for new plant varieties were filed in China, enabling the country to rank top in the world for them in 2018.

Beijing Business Today

Anhui

Trademarks continue to increase in Q1

The latest data from the Anhui Provincial Administration for Market Regulation show that new trademarks surged 74 percent year-on-year to more than 51,570 in the first quarter. That has enabled the province's total registration inventory to have surpassed 484,690 by the end of March, an increase of 47 percent from the same period last year. In 2018, new trademark filings from the province reached 201,000, the first time for it to surpass the benchmark of 200,000 applications. The momentum continued in the first quarter of this year, increasing 19.8 percent year-on-year to more than 48,170 filings.

Anhui Daily

Hubei

Service alliance for sports events formed

A legal service alliance dedicated to sports events and competitions was recently founded during a forum in Wuhan. The alliance was founded by 28 entities, including the China (Wuhan) Intellectual Property Protection Center and the Wuhan Arbitration Commission. The new group aims to create a standard legal service system for sports competitions, build a public service platform, conduct related research and offer consultancy services. Its secretariat is located in Beijing.

China Intellectual Property News

Guizhou

Report details growth in patent applications

The provincial government released its 2018 white paper on Guizhou's intellectual property protection and development on Friday. More than 14,990 invention patent applications from the province were filed last year, up 7.97 percent from 2017. The number of new trademark filings jumped 36.5 percent to nearly 73,390 in 2018 from a year earlier. The number of copyrighted works from the province surpassed 1,200, three times that of 2017, according to the report.

Gog.cn

Sichuan

Province ranks No 2 for GI agri-products

Government data show the province has 166 agricultural products marked with geographic indications, ranking No 2 nationwide. A GI trademark corresponds to a specific geographical location and works as a certification that the product possesses certain qualities related to the origin. The province also boasts more than 1,380 green food products., ranking second in western China. To ensure the safety of green food raw materials, the province has built 61standardized production centers.

Xinhua

Hainan

Performances staged at gala event

A gala night played host to a feast of intangible cultural heritage last week in Haikou. The audience enjoyed performances of lion dancing, Hainan Opera and Hainan puppetry among others. The gala night is part of a series of exhibitions and performances of local heritage, scheduled to run from May 13 to June 8.

Hainan Daily

(China Daily 05/23/2019 page17)