I. Laws and Regulations
A recent Chinese court decision has hit domestic media headlines, putting the issue of copyright concerning non-human-generated content into the limelight. The Beijing Internet Court ruled in late April that a human's engagement makes a necessary condition for creations' protection under the Copyright Law, court documents showed. Yet the judges noted that having creativity alone cannot constitute a sufficient condition to be recognized as written works protected by the Copyright Law. Under China's current legal framework, a written work needs to be created by one or more humans.
China will shorten the time required for reviewing applications of high-value patents and for trademark registrations as part of its effort to strengthen the protection of intellectual property rights and improve the business climate, the State Council's executive meeting, chaired by Premier Li Keqiang, decided. "Further enhancing the protection of intellectual property rights is crucial to improving our property rights protection system. It is required by scientific and technological innovation and essential for China's greater opening-up," Li said.
China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) announced new rules for patent agents and agencies. They will include supervision, punishment and law enforcement. CNIPA called for patent agencies to conduct self-regulation and sign a pledge to act lawfully and ethically. It also called on local authorities to investigate lawbreaking patent agents and agencies and punish them. CNIPA will supervise related illegal cases if needed and make sure they are well dealt with. CNIPA said it would collect information about illegal behavior from members of the public, investigate and transfer tipoffs to local bureaus. CNIPA plans to withdraw policy support for agencies which applied for unlawful patent applications in the first half of 2019.
Recently, the State Administration for Market Regulation of China promulgated the Rules on Regulating the Applications for Trademark Registration (Draft Inviting Comments), providing concrete measures for curbing such malicious applications. Article 4 of the revised Trademark Law provides that the malicious applications for trademark registration shall be rejected if they are not driven by actual needs in obtaining the exclusive rights of trademark and not for the purpose of use. In order to supplement the revision of the Trademark Law, China's top market watchdog drew up this Draft Inviting Comments and refined the operational aspects of the revised contents of the Trademark Law. The Draft, which consists of seventeen articles, reaffirms the principle of good faith and the orientation of applying for trademark registration on the premise of the willingness established by the Trademark Law and provides for the types of actions and legal consequences of the malicious applications for trademark registration not intended for use and identifies the factors for evaluating what is not intended for use by trademark registration authority and lists specific sanctions.
A new regulation targeting patent disputes in the e-commerce sector took effect in early September in Beijing, a city home to major online shopping portals in China, including JD, Gome and Dangdang. The move is aimed at preventing infringements and accelerating the process of dealing with disputes, according to the Beijing Intellectual Property Office. Local enforcement officials said the rollout will enable them to reduce the period of settling online patent disputes from three months to 45 days.
II. Government Policies
According to the Trademark Office (TMO) of CNIPA, China's self-developed electronic document-sending system for the post-registration formalities of the Madrid Trademark International Registrations is now comfortably transmitting during its first-month operation, having successfully delivered 124 documents to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) as of July. The IT system is another key milestone in electronic communication between China and the Madrid system since the online debut of the Madrid filing system on June 21, 2018.
CNIPA is promoting IP-collateralized financing services. "The new policy will focus on optimizing the IP-collateralized financing service system, enhancing innovation in services and improving risk management," an official with CNIPA Zhao Meisheng said. Government data show that the use of patents and trademarks as collateral is already popular across China with 58.35 billion yuan ($8.49 billion) in loans granted in the first half of 2019, an increase of 2.5 percent year-on-year, benefiting more than 3,000 projects. The number of the projects funded with patent-collateralized loans surged 33 percent year-on-year to nearly 2,710 during the six-month period, involving 13,000 patents.
The government will hold three closed-door meetings regarding the implementation of the Foreign Investment Law, customs clearance facilitation and the protection of intellectual property during the multinational leader's summit in Qingdao, Shandong province, in October, senior officials said. These meetings will be hosted by the Ministry of Commerce, the General Administration of Customs and China National Intellectual Property Administration from Oct 19 to 20. These government branches will announce new policies and collect opinion from participating companies during the meetings, said Qian Keming, vice-minister of commerce. The Ministry of Commerce is overhauling existing laws and regulations, and amending laws that are inconsistent with foreign investment regulations to ensure that the Foreign Investment Law can be smoothly implemented on Jan 1,2020, so as to make the investment environment in the country more healthy and friendly, said Qian.
Shenzhen is exploring a mechanism of introducing and transforming more international commercial rules in the Qianhai Special Zone, a recently released three-year action plan for Qianhai's legislation development said. The document said a plan to introduce more Hong Kong-type regulations is also being prepared in order to learn from the neighboring city's legislative experience in industrial development and social management. The plan will also speed up seeking support from the National People's Congress, China's top legislative body, and the State Council to temporarily adjust or suspend the application of a list of national laws and administrative regulations in Qianhai. Special regulations in key sectors, such as intellectual property protection, trading, investment and social credit, are also expected to be launched.
As of July 30, a total of 192 trademark acceptance windows have been set up nationwide by CNIPA, with accepted trademark applications of various kinds reaching 343,000. 84 windows are also available to stakeholders filing applications for pledge registration, with the amount of obligation reaching 6,317 million yuan, winning wide recognition.
III. Law Enforcement
Several ministry-level departments, including those responsible for food safety, water resources, and banking, have responded recently to issues of public concern. Revised measures for administering food safety spot inspections will take effect on Oct 1, the State Administration for Market Regulation said in a notice. The measures, originally formulated in 2014, were revised as part of efforts by the administration to further regulate such inspections, strengthen supervision of food safety and guarantee public health. The new measures, approved last month, clarify the intent and scope of food safety spot inspections and the procedures required in carrying them out. The measures will be also applied to spot inspections of vending machines, unmanned supermarkets and other food traders without service staff, according to the notice. Under the new measures, food producers or traders that refuse spot inspections without due cause will face stronger punishment. Organizations responsible for testing of samples gathered during inspections will be barred from such work for five years if they engage in illegal activities.
Information technology specialists said the application of artificial intelligence has been a trend in fighting online fake goods on e-commerce platforms such as Taobao in recent years. As online shopping has become more popular among Chinese people, some big enterprises, including e-commerce giant Alibaba and Amazon, have tried taking advantage of technologies, especially AI, to identify counterfeit goods, according to Ji Shouling, dean of the College of Computer Science and Technology at Zhejiang University. "Our IPR protection actually is a set of algorithm technology systems, and AI is a core," said Lu Quan, a senior algorithm expert from Alibaba. "The systems are based on a database that has massive information on characteristics of online or offline fake products collected by our company as well as our experience fighting counterfeits over the past 20 years." By providing clues to IPR infringement, the company has helped public security departments in 31 provinces and 227 counties or districts bust 4,289 workshops and 4,439 people on suspicion of producing and selling fake goods over the past three years, according to its statistics.
The Intellectual Property Court of the Supreme People's Court recently conducted its first circuit hearing in East China's Shandong province, successfully settling a complex case through mediation. During the mediation process, the parties finally agreed in writing to drop the lawsuits as well as the patent invalidation application, and that a payment should be made to the patent holder for use of its patent. By integrating a circuit hearing with mediation, the court managed to realize the revocation of multiple lawsuits at the same time, and to settle the case in just a month or so, avoiding the time-consuming litigation process. The court has been committed to building a diversified solution system for intellectual property disputes since its establishment, which has started to bear fruit.
"Bing Dwen Dwen", an official mascot for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games, and "Shuey Rhon Rhon", an official mascot for the Beijing 2022 Winter Paralympic Games, made its public debut at Beijing's Shougang Ice Hockey Arena on September 17, 2019, with 871 days to go before the opening of the 2022 Winter Games. Two special applicants came to the receiving hall of the Patent Office under CNIPA one day earlier. They are the officials of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in representation of the Committee to file an application for eight design patents including labels, signs and graphical user interfaces (GUIs) relevant with the mascots of the Games. "Olympic mascots are intangible properties. Protecting mascots with IP is a must for promoting continuous development and safeguarding the image and reputation of the Games. The application received this time is an important part of the IP protection package for the mascots," said a principal of CNIPA's IP Protection Department, adding that the preparation work for the 2022 Winter Games cannot go without the strong support of IP. On top of the design patents application filed, the two officials also filed 270 trademark applications, inter alia, seeking protection for the mascots' names in both Chinese and English.
CNIPA announced that under the Administrative Regulations for Special Symbols, an application of the logo for events in celebration of the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC) filed by the State Council Information Office (SCIO) for special symbol registration was approved, certified to be used on all 45 categories of the International Classification of Goods and Services for the Purposes of the Registration of Marks from August 27, 2019 to August 27, 2023. The logo was unveiled by the SCIO on this past June 3. According to the Office, the logo may be used nationwide at festive events and public outreach activities in connection with the 70th anniversary and is prohibited for commercial advertisement, trademark composition or any other commercial activities as well as at private celebrations and funerals. Meanwhile, products affixed with the logo shall be close to the theme of the anniversary and misuse and abuse is forbidden.
Several ministry-level departments, including those responsible for food safety, water resources, and banking, have responded recently to issues of public concern. Revised measures for administering food safety spot inspections will take effect on Oct 1, the State Administration for Market Regulation said in a notice on Friday. Under the new measures, food producers or traders that refuse spot inspections without due cause will face stronger punishment. Organizations responsible for testing of samples gathered during inspections will be barred from such work for five years if they engage in illegal activities.
China's alcohol brand Kweichow Moutai's trademark application for "national banquet" was rejected by the Beijing Intellectual Property Court, Sina Finance reported on Tuesday. The trademark for "Moutai Guoyan" or "Moutai for national banquet" applied to liquor products may lead mis-recognition of the quality and ranking of Moutai, the court said. Meanwhile, if "Moutai Guoyan" became a registered trademark for alcohol and enjoyed exclusive usage rights, it would be unfair to other industrial players and have certain negative impacts on public interests, according to the court.
IV. Events and Campaigns
CNIPA has set up a patent office in Lhasa, capital city of Tibet autonomous region. The office has begun business since 29, July. Approved in 2017, it is the 34th patent office set up by the administration across the country.
CNIPA has set up a center to help enterprises better solve intellectual property rights disputes overseas, the administration said. "The center will collect IPR-related difficulties and problems that the enterprises met in other countries and then guide them to deal with the disputes," said Zhang Zhicheng, director of the administration's protection department. Meanwhile, an information sharing platform will also be improved to ensure enterprises can find IPR-related documents and reach IPR specialists in a timely manner as well as offer them more efficient legal services, he said.
China will further strengthen the protection of intellectual property rights as part of effort in effectively protecting the lawful rights and interests of all types of market actors, fostering a more enabling business environment, boosting technological innovation, and deepening international cooperation, the State Council's executive meeting chaired by Premier Li Keqiang decided. Premier Li pointed out that strengthening the IPR protection is the consistent position of the Chinese government. All companies registered in China, be it domestic or foreign-invested, will be treated as equals, and the lawful rights and interests of foreign businesses will be safeguarded. Strengthening intellectual property protection across the board was clearly set out in the Government Work Report this year.
China's commerce ministry said that positive progress has been made in the 27th round of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) negotiations. During the negotiations, participants exchanged views on issues including trade of goods and services, investment, rules of origin, trade remedy measures, intellectual property rights as well as e-commerce, Assistant Minister of Commerce Li Chenggang told a press conference. More than 700 representatives from 16 RCEP members participated in the negotiations held from July 22 to 31 in Zhengzhou, capital city of central China's Henan province, according to Li. Li said China will work with all sides involved to push for completing the negotiations within this year.
The Second China International Import Expo (CIIE) would be held on November 5 to 10 at Shanghai National Convention & Exhibition Center. Relevant preparatory work is under way. "We released the Second CIIE Action Plan 100 days before the opening ceremony, launching a city-wide 100-day IPR protection campaign from August 1 to November 10," said Rui Wenbiao, Director General of Shanghai Intellectual Property Office (SHIPO). The Action Plan requires judicial departments, police and IPR departments in Shanghai to work together to beef up IPR protection, administrative enforcement and customs enforcement, deliver heavy blows to IPR crimes, streamline tipping formalities, fine-tune dispute resolution mechanisms, create an ambiance pro-IPR protection. Priority examination for patents related to exhibits at CIIE is one of the major measures for IPR protection.
Luo Chuandong, Vice-president of the Supreme People’s Court, met with Richard Arnold, Chancery Division Judge at Britain’s High Court of Justice, at the Intellectual Property Court of the Supreme People’s Court on Aug 22. The two exchanged thoughts on the professional trial of intellectual property cases, among other issues. Luo said that the Intellectual Property Court has been making progress in improving its professionalism, applying new information technology, enhancing judges’ expertise, carrying out circuit hearings and deepening international communications since its founding. He hoped that the court could strengthen its cooperation with countries like Britain as well as international organizations in the intellectual property field. Arnold applauded the achievements made by the Intellectual Property Court and said he hoped that courts of the two countries could further enhance their communication and cooperation.
As agreed by CNIPA and Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS), their PPH pilot project would be extended for another 2 years from September 1, 2019 to August 31, 2020. There is no change to the requirement and processing concerned with the filing of PPH requests with both agencies. The initial PPH pilot project was launched in September 1, 2013, extending twice in 2015 and 2017 respectively.
Recently, CNIPA Deputy Commissioner Gan Shaoning led a delegation to Mongolia and had a bilateral talk with Tsendiin Nyamdorj, Minister of Justice and Internal Affairs of Mongolia. Gan Shaoning expressed thanks to Ministry of Justice and Internal Affairs of Mongolia for its high attention to and strong support for IP cooperation between China and Mongolia. He pointed out that China and Mongolia, linked by rivers and mountains, have maintained practical cooperation in IP and achieved gratifying results since they signed the inter-governmental agreement in 2005. They have conducted frequent interactions and good cooperation in China-Mongolia bilateral cooperation, China-Mongolia-Russia trilateral cooperation and under the “Belt and Road” Initiative. He hoped that both sides could take the visit as an opportunity to further expand and deepen practical cooperation in various fields based on existing achievements. During the talk, the two sides also exchanged ideas on IP protection in internet industry, future cooperation in the field of geographical indication and “Belt and Road” cooperation.
Current and former leaders of foreign countries and international organizations have sent congratulatory messages to President Xi Jinping to convey their best wishes on the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. World Intellectual Property Organization Director General Francis Gurry noted in a message that China had made tremendous progress in the field of intellectual property in the past 70 years, and his organization highly appreciates China's support for multilateralism. He said he looks forward to the Chinese people making more outstanding achievements on the path of prosperity and development in the future.
On the afternoon of September 2, the 10th Meeting of China-ASEAN Heads of Intellectual Property Offices was held in Hangzhou and CNIPA Commissioner Shen Changyu chaired the meeting and gave a speech. Li Yulin, Chair of ASEAN Working Group on Intellectual Property Cooperation (AWGIPC), attend the meeting and gave a speech. Director-general Foo Kwong Chong of Economic Integration Bureau of the ASEAN Secretariat, CNIPA Deputy Commissioner Gan Shaoning and heads of intellectual property offices of ASEAN members were present. The meeting listened to the report on the implementation of the China-ASEAN IPR Cooperation Plan for 2018-2019, and deliberated and approved the China-ASEAN IPR Cooperation Plan for 2019-2020. According to the new work plan, the two sides will further expand and deepen cooperation in improving quality and efficiency of IP examination and personnel training and interaction. The two sides agreed that the 11th Meeting of China-ASEAN Heads of Intellectual Property Offices would be held by NOIP of Vietnam in Da Nang in 2020.
V. Data and Statistics
China completed 3.52 million trademark registration reviews in the first half of this year, up 67.8 percent year-on-year, according to the 11th China Trademark Festival. So far, the country's valid trademarks have exceeded 22.74 million, ranking top in the world with every 5.2 market entities owning one on average. China has been ramping up efforts to facilitate the reform on streamlining the approval process of trademark applications and improve the quality and efficiency of intellectual property review procedures. Review cycle of trademark registration was shortened to less than five and a half months. Meanwhile, registration fees for trademark renewals decreased 50 percent to 500 yuan and the fees for changing trademarks fell from 250 yuan to 150 yuan from July 1, according to the National Development and Reform Commission.
According to the Evaluation Report on China Intellectual Property Development Status issued by the Intellectual Property Development and Research Center under CNIPA, China's comprehensive IP development index reached 257.4 in 2018 (100 in 2010), an increase of 17.9% from the previous year. IP utilization in China is now on the fast track. According to the Report, in 2018, China's IP utilization index reached 234.8, an increase of 28.5% over 2017, and an increase of 134.8 points on the basis of 100 points in 2010.
China is ranked 14th among more than 100 economies worldwide in a benchmark innovation ranking in 2019, moving up three spots from last year and strengthening its position as a leading innovative nation. The 2019 edition of the Global Innovation Index (GII) report gave China an overall score of 54.82 out of 100 with top ranks in patents by origin, industrial designs and trademarks by origin, as well as high-tech and creative goods exports.
China saw a decrease in applications for invention patents and trademark registration during the first six months of 2019, according to CNIPA. Data from the administration show that in the first half of the year, the number of invention patent applications reached 649,000, down 9.4 percent year-on-year, and trademark filings numbered 3.44 million, a decrease of 4.1 percent over the same period last year. A CNIPA official said the decrease came on the heels of an increasingly optimized intellectual property structure. "The number of these applications meets our expectation and is the outcome of our work on optimizing filings structure and improved creation quality," said Ge Shu, head of the planning and development department at CNIPA, at a news conference in Beijing.
According to the latest statistics released by CNIPA, the first half of 2019 witnessed a steady increase in published patent applications in countries along the Belt and Road. As revealed, 3,125 patent applications filed by China in these countries in the first half of this year were published, 13 more than the same period last year while patents granted registered at 1,558. According to the indicators displaying patent strength, the average number of claims of these granted patents is 14.8 and the average number of members of these patent families is 12, manifesting the solid quality of these granted patents from China and Chinese companies' refined desire in strategically mapping their quality patents overseas.
More than 3,000 foreign companies from 150 countries and regions have confirmed their participation in the second China International Import Expo (CIIE) in November, said Sun Chenghai, the deputy director of the CIIE bureau. Shang Yuying, deputy secretary-general of Shanghai municipal government, said the city has seen the spillover effect of the expo. Up to July, the year-around transaction platforms in the city have listed more than 13,000 products of 558 exhibitors from the first expo and imported goods worth 75.2 billion yuan ($10.9 billion).
China has been fostering strict protection of intellectual property by law, leading to a growing number of foreign patent applications, said an official from CNIPA. From January to July, foreign applicants filed 92,000 invention patent applications in China, a year-on-year growth of 8.3 percent. Also, 149,000 trademark registration applications were filed, up 13.1 percent compared with the same period last year, said Gan Shaoning, deputy head of NIPA. In conversing with a group of foreign journalists, Gan attributed the rises to the application of measures designed to strengthen IP protection in the country. These measures included amending laws and regulations, accelerating the construction of a national IP credit system and carrying out joint punishment on dishonest behaviors.
Beijing saw a surge of internet-related disputes over the past year, especially those involving online intellectual property rights, according to a court report released on Tuesday. By Saturday, the Beijing Internet Court, situated in the Fengtai district in the southwestern area of the capital, has handled 34,263 cases since its establishment on Sept 9, 2018. Online IP-related disputes, such as those involving online copyright issues, made up about 80 percent of the cases, according to the court report. Zhang Wen, the court's president, said the copyright infringements targeted various online content such as music, literature and movies and also covered a few new aspects of the internet.