Recently, National Intellectual Property Administration of China (CNIPA) published 21 products approved for geographical indication (GI) protection and 88 enterprises approved to use the special marks thereof. So far China has granted protection for 2,380 GI products, including 2,319 domestic and 61 foreign; 8,179 enterprises are approved for use of the GI special marks. (Source: SIPO website)

Recently China Science and Technology Policy Research Center of Tsinghua University released "China Artificial Intelligence (AI) Development Report 2018". The report indicates that China has become the country with the largest numbers of AI patents in the world, slightly ahead of the United States and Japan, and the three countries accounted for 74% of the number of published patents in the worldwide range.

In 2017, the scale of China's AI market reached 23.7 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 67%, and the number of AI businesses reached 1,011, second only to the United States' 2,028. In terms of major applicants, IBM, Microsoft and Samsung are the top three filers for AI patent applications worldwide, followed by and The State Grid Corporation of China, with rapid development in AI related technology in the past five years. Meanwhile, among the Top 30 institutions holding AI patents in China, the performances of research institutes and colleges are well-matched with businesses, accounting for 52% and 48% respectively. (Source: http://www.iprchn.com/)

Recently, China’s National Copyright Administration of China (NCAC), State Internet Information Office, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and Ministry of Public Security held a joint news briefing to announce the launch of “Jianwang 2018”, a special crackdown campaign against online infringement and piracy. 　　

Starting from July, the special crackdown will last for over four months in the three key areas: special action against reproduction of copyrighted work on the internet targeting at infringement phenomenon in online media, and cracking down on unauthorized reproduction of news works and unauthorized compilation and distortion of news works, short video copyright, and copyrights in special fields. （Source: People’s Daily）

China Law Society recently published "China's Legal System Construction Annual Report (2017)".

According to the report, in 2017, the numbers of patent applications in China reached 3.698 million, an increase of 6.7%. Among them, the numbers of invention patent applications reached 1.382 million, utility model patent applications 1.687 million, and design patent applications 629,000. In 2017, the numbers of trademark applications in China were 5.7482 million, an increase of 55.7%; the numbers of examined trademark applications were 4.52 million, an increase of 36.7%. The numbers of copyright registrations in China was 2.747 million, an increase of 36.9%, including 2.001 million works with an increase of 25.2% and 745,000 computer software with an increase of 82.8%.

In terms of administrative enforcement, the report shows that in 2017, the total number of patent administrative law enforcement cases in China reached 66,649, an increase of 36.3%, including 28,157 patent dispute cases with an increase of 35% and 38,492 patent counterfeiting cases with an increase of 37.2%. AIC and Market Supervision organs nationwide handled a total of 30,130 trademark supervision and enforcement cases, with a total value of 365.45 million yuan and a total fine of 470.42 million yuan involved. On copyright part, China National Copyright Administration organized a joint inspection team to ensure use of legitimate software. A total of 389 units and 26,989 computers were inspected throughout the year, up 35.54% and 242.94% respectively. Government agencies at various levels purchased a total of 1.277 million legitimate operating systems, office and anti-virus software throughout the year, with a total value of 612 million yuan.

Litens Automotive Parts (Suzhou) Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Litens Suzhou”) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Canada Litens Automotive Group controlled by Magna International Inc., one of the world's largest auto parts manufacturers. Litens Suzhou is specialized in the manufacture of automatic tensioners and shock absorbers for automotive engines, and a world leader in providing engine tensioners and shock absorbers for internationally renowned car manufacturers such as Audi, Volkswagen, BMW, Mercedes Benz, GM, Ford, and Toyota.

Litens Suzhou filed a civil suit against Gates Unitta Transmission Systems (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Japan Gates Unitta Asia Co., Limited. which was jointly established by Gates Corporation US and Nitta Corporation Japan, and Chery Automobile Co., Ltd., for infringing upon the plaintiff’s timing transmission system. After receiving an unfavorable judgement in the first instance, Litens Suzhou turned to Unitalen for representation in the appeal proceeding.

After 3.5 years of trail, Unitalen received (2015) No. 00172 civil judgment issued by the Jiangsu High Court, which revoked the first instance judgement and ordered the two defendants to jointly compensate Litens Suzhou for economic losses of more than 9 million yuan as well as the reasonable expenses of more than 1.5 million yuan incurred in stopping the infringement.

The case involves complicated technical issues and law application issues, which brought a huge workload to the attorneys and judge. In order to ascertain the facts of the case, the court of the second instance organized 27 cross-examinations, discussions and hearings, and finally formed the second-instance judgment of 121 pages, which provides typical significance of patent infringement case. 　　

Case 1: Honda motorcycle design patent infringement dispute

As the owner of Chinese design patent No. ZL201430329219.7, Honda Technology Industries Co. Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as HONDA) filed a complaint to Shanghai IP Office against a Shanghai company for manufacturing, offering for sale, and selling products infringing on Hongda’s design patent without permission.

During inspection, Shanghai IP Office found that the Shanghai company published an advertisement for HL100T-5A model motorcycle in a magazine, which displayed the design of both the left side and the right side of the motorcycle, as well as their trademark and business name. Honda requested Guangzhou Notary Office for evidence preservation and notarized the purchase of a “HL100T-5A” model motorcycle with the invoice and the salesperson’s business card obtained on the spot. The Shanghai company argued that the motorcycle at issue was assembled with accessories purchased from other companies, which shall fall within the scope of fair use and shall not be held for infringement liability.

After review, Shanghai IP Office held that the alleged infringing product and the content in the advertisement are clearly connected with the Shanghai company, regardless of whether the accessories are manufactured by themselves or purchased from others, and therefore the Shanghai company should be identified as the manufacturer of the alleged infringing products. Based on overall observation and comprehensive judgement, all the design features of the design patent involved are reflected in the alleged infringing product. There is no difference between the overall appearances of the two, which shall be considered as identical and thus the alleged infringing product fall into the protection scope of the design patent involved. The Shanghai company is ordered to cease infringement immediately.

Case 2: Invention patent infringement dispute concerning “Product Quality Tracing & Anti-Counterfeiting System and Its Methods”

Beijing Jinyuan Maofeng New Technology Development Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as the “Complainant”), holder of “Product Quality Tracing & Anti-Counterfeiting System and Its Methods” invention patent which was granted on August 3, 2016 with patent number ZL201310058356.6., filed a complaint with Beijing IP Office against a local magazine and a liquor company who infringed upon the above patent by using the method protected under the patent involved without permission.

The Complainant provided the notarized evidence of purchasing liquor from the liquor company and the whole process of its use of tracing & anti-counterfeiting method, as well as the recorded video thereof. The liquor company provided a "Technical Service Contract" that was signed earlier than the application date of the patent involved and made prior art defense.

After inspection, Beijing IP Office held that, 1) the Technical Service Contract alone cannot be provn to contain the same technical solutions as in the claims of the patent involved, and therefore the prior art defense is not sustainable; 2) based on the notarization document provided by the complainant, combined with the recorded video, it can be affirmed that the “product tracing platform” label used by the liquor company and its tracing & anti-counterfeiting method are identical with all the technical features of the claims of the patent involved, and fall within the protection scope of the patent involved; and 3) the liquor company used an anti-counterfeiting voucher on its liquor packaging, the specific tracing & anti-counterfeiting method of which was supported by a product tracing platform hosted by a magazine, and therefore the magazine and the liquor company have constituted joint infringement. The Beijing IP Office determined that the magazine providing anti-counterfeiting tracing technology on its website and the liquor company using anti-counterfeiting tracing methods on its product packaging constituted patent infringement, and ordered the two cease infringement immediately. 　　

July 2018, AIPPI China Youth IP Seminar was held in Beijing.

During the event, Unitalen partner Zheng Bin delivered a speech on “Challenges and Opportunities for Patent Protection of Biotech Related Inventions in China”, providing insights on the development of biopharma patent protection, detailing the advantages and drawbacks of US FDA, and pointing out China’s pharmaceutical reform toward the direction of other developed countries such as the United States.

Also, Unitalen partner Zhang Hao gave a talk on the “Hot Issues of Exhaustion of Intellectual Property Rights”, and elaborated on the issues of product repair and re-engineering that relate to the exhaustion of patent rights.

Recently, Beijing IP Office and Beijing Patent Agent Association jointly issued “2017 Beijing Patent Agency Annual Report”. Unitalen continued to stay among the top ranks in the total number of patent applications and ranked No. 1 in the number of invention patent applications for the 4th time since 2014.

Ever since the publication of the Beijing Patent Agency Annual Report, Unitalen has maintained its leading position in various fields and index rankings, especially in invention patent applications, valid patent applications, and total number of patent applications, all of which are major indicators for clients to choose a patent agency.

In addition, in this annual report, the patent invalidation case of DJI’s “carrier device” represented by Unitalen was selected into the typical cases of 2017, and “the launch of the 13th Unitalen Hope Elementary School aiding program” was selected into the 2017 annual events.