Major acts in recent days (08-03-03)

IPR trials on the rise

China's number of IPR trials has continued to increase over the past eight years, with the proportion settled and not appealed rising to 79.9 percent. Settlements through mediation increased from 47.45 percent to 55.48 percent during the period, according to data presented last month to a conference on IPR trials.

Cao Jianming, vice-president of the Supreme People's Court, said that civil cases relating to intellectual property heard by courts throughout the country totaled to 77,463 in 2007, up from 74,200 in 2001, while second-trial civil cases increased to 16,439 from 15,988.

Courts at all levels increased mediation in IPR cases, solving disputes, promoting harmony and improving the efficiency in handling IPR cases, Cao said.

Cultural heritage artists named

China's Ministry of Culture recently announced 551 artists with official sanction to carry forward the country's intangible cultural heritage, including the Peking Opera and the Mongolian Pastoral Song, Xinhua News Agency reports.

Peking Opera master Mei Baojiu, 73, was among the artists listed. His father, the late Mei Lanfang, was one of the 20th century's most respected performers of the form.

One of China's most important traditional theatrical genres, Peking Opera has been proclaimed an intangible cultural heritage enjoying State-level protection.

The State Council, China's Cabinet, has included 518 art forms as intangible cultural heritage in categories including folk literature, folk music and dance, traditional opera, ballad singing, cross-talk, acrobatics, folk fine arts, traditional handicrafts, traditional medicine and folk customs.

Four Chinese art forms have been listed by UNESCO as world intangible cultural heritage, including the 500-year-old Kunqu Opera, known for its graceful movements and poetic lyrics, the 3,000-year-old guqin seven-string zither, the Twelve Mukams, a 12-part suite of ancient Uygur music, and the Mongolian Pastoral Song.

Shenzhen patent funding rises

Funds to support patents in Shenzhen of South China's Guangdong province will be increased to 110 million yuan this year from about 80 million last year, a colloquium of patent enterprises heard recently.

The meeting discussed new trends and existing problems in Shenzhen IPR protection work. The city will increase funding for patent applications to create a better environment and advance the work of hi-tech companies.

Shenzhen's existing measures to promote IPR work include strengthening support for patent applications, issuing a strategy outline and enabling more independent innovation, participants at the meeting heard.

More than 30,000 domestic patent applications were filed in the city last year, a 20.45 percent increase over 2006. Among them 19,198 were invention patents, accounting for 71.92 percent of the total in Guangdong.

Goubuli becomes 'Go Believe'

Tianjin Goubuli Group Corp, a 150-year-old maker of stuffed buns, has begun hanging English signs with the name Go Believe on its branch restaurants.

The English title sounds similar to our Chinese name - Goubuli and Go Believe, said Zhang Yansen, company chairman.

The Goubuli brand first appeared in 1858. There are various explanations for its name, the most popular of which is that a poor village boy nicknamed Gouzhai - puppy - went to Tianjin and apprenticed at a food shop at the age of 14. Years later he started his own business making steamed stuffed buns.

Each bun has 15 wrinkles and looks like a chrysanthemum. Soft and delicious, the bun soon attracted numerous customers.

Gouzhai became so busy at the shop he had no time to speak with customers, who complained that Gouzhai sells buns but does not speak to people.

The saying was then shortened to goubuli, which means Gouzhai does not speak to people.

Final Lacoste verdict

Beijing High People's Court has rendered a final decision on a high-profile legal battle, upholding the validity of the trademark Cartelo owned by a Singaporean company, which was challenged by the French clothing maker Lacoste.

The name Cartelo, a Singaporean crocodile, was registered in China in 1993, a move that Lacoste, known for its trademark crocodile imprint, later challenged.

The Trademark Office of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC) denied that challenge in 2003 and proceeded with registration.

Lacoste filed for re-examination by the Trademark Review Board, a part of SAIC, which affirmed the trademark office's decision in 2005. Lacoste then filed suit in Beijing No1 Intermediate People's Court. The court reversed the trademark review board's decision, which the board and Cartelo went on to appeal.

The High Court held that the two trademarks have been coexisting for years and have their respective reputations and distinctiveness, sufficient enough that the general public can distinguish between them. The court then reversed the No 1 court decision and upheld the review board's ruling.