China E-ventions
Patent News from the Middle Kingdom
Vol. 3 , No. 7 - June 25, 2003
TOPICS THIS ISSUE:
- Honda Wins Scooter-Patent Suit
- Foreign and Chinese Automakers get along like Copycat and Dog
- Samsung R&D Center Slated for China
- Tri-Vision to Impose Patent Fees on China-made Color TVs
- Battery Makers Respond to Patent Investigation
- China Outnumbering Japan in Bioscience - Chinese Patents Numbers Rank Second
Personalizing Patents in 2003 In this edition we profile Mr. Edward Lehman the head of Lehman, Lee & Xu's International Law & Practice Group. Mr. Lehman first came to China in 1987 and was one of the first foreign legal practitioners to do so. He has a wealth of experience in dealing with Chinese and international law related matters. Mr. Lehman has a vast array of experience in dealing with some of the world's leading multinational companies and their intellectual property interests here in China. In particular, he has help several pharmaceutical companies establish their operations in China and as such he has been involved in prosecuting and protecting their patent, trademark and copyright interests. | Please get in touch
at:elehman@lehmanlaw.com | | | |
Honda Wins Scooter-Patent Suit
Japanese automaker Honda Motor Co. will have its motor-scooter-design patent reinstated after winning a lawsuit against the China's government.
Last week, the Beijing People's High Court overturned a ruling by the No. 1 Intermediate People's Court that upheld the State Intellectual Property Office's decision to cancel Honda's patent over its popular Chinese- made Stream scooter, said Yuriko Yabe, the company's spokeswoman.
Honda appealed the lower court decision soon after it was made in September last year. Honda says three Chinese companies have infringed its patent in making scooters that the Tokyo-based automaker says overly resemble the Stream. The three companies say similar designs have been published in magazines and were already being used in China.
(Source: Associated Press)
Foreign and Chinese Automakers get along like Copycat and Dog
Possible design patent breaches have been highlighted after observers noticed a compact car from SAIC Chery Automobile Co. in central China's Anhui province looked suspiciously like a model designed by General Motors Corp.
"China has no concept whatsoever about intellectual property rights when it comes to auto design," said Jia Xinguang, a Beijing-based analyst with China National Automotive Industry Institute.
The automobile in question is Chery's QQ model and was confirmed this week when the Chinese automaker rejected it had made a copy of the GM's Matiz, saying GM had "no evidence" to prove its case.
It is not the first time Chery has had to defend itself against accusations of duplicating designs. Last year, Volkswagen AG said it had determined that Chery procured original VW parts to build a competing model.
No matter how this particular issue is resolved, observers fear too many instances of real or suspected copying could potentially erode foreign makers' willingness to put money in China.
China has grand plans for three big producers -- Shanghai Automobile Industry Co. (SAIC), First Automotive Works and Dongfeng Motor Corp. -- which are expected to eventually produce their own world-class designs.
"China's small car factories don't have their own research and development capabilities," said Jia, the Beijing-based analyst. "And enforcement is weak in the field of designs." China's entry into the World Trade Organization 18 months ago, however, has become a "first lesson" in intellectual property right protection, spelling eventual protection for foreign designs, according to Jia.
"It's really the best thing about WTO membership," he said. "It will encourage foreign companies to invest more in China and at the same time, it will push China's own companies to grow up and do their own research and development."
(Source: Agence France Presse)
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Samsung R&D Center Slated for China
Samsung Electronics, the world's largest maker of computer memory chips, plans to set up a chip research and development center in Suzhou, China, according to a Samsung executive.
"In the long-term, the company has mapped out a plan to set up R&D centers for memory chips, non-memory chips and TFT-LCDs in China," the Samsung executive said. "Since the Samsung Group is entering a second phase of management reforms, Samsung Electronics will establish R&D centers earlier than planned, possibly in the second half of this year."
The R&D center in Suzhou, if established as planned, will be linked with other chip-producing divisions like production and sales, targeting the fast-growing demand for chips in China.
Samsung's China R&D center plan comes after the chip industry is slowly staging a recovery. The benchmark chip prices on the spot market have firmed up in recent weeks, though analysts are still cautious about the advent of a full recovery as seasonal factors are affecting the surge in prices.
The center in China will be Samsung's second overseas R&D facility after the first one in Austin, Texas. Samsung already secured the approval from the Chinese authorities for setting up a research center there. If the packaging R&D center is completed smoothly, other centers for memory chips and LCD technology development will be established next year.
Samsung targets to jack up its annual revenue from the Chinese chip market to $ 4.2 billion by the end of 2006.
(Source: The Korea Herald)
Tri-Vision to Impose Patent Fees on China-made Color TVs
Canada's Tri-Vision has sent out notices to several Chinese color TV makers, requiring them pay a patent royalty of US$ 1.25 per set or 0.9% of the sale price for color TVs exported to the US and Canada if they have adopted Tri-Vision V-chip technology.
According to US regulations, all color TVs exported to the US must now adopt the V-chip technology.
Tri-Vision registered its V-chip patent in Canada and the U.S in 1998 and 2001 respectively. They believe that the several Chinese color TV manufactures that have exported to the US and Canada have adopted the V-chip.
The China Chamber of Commerce for Import & Export of Machinery & Electronics Products ('the Chamber') has contacted the 8 affected color TV makers and has learned that most of them have adopted the V-chip technology. Therefore, upon their request, the Chamber will organize talks with Tri-Vision to avoid any possible lawsuit and attempt to settle on the terms of patent royalty payment.
(Source: SinoCast)
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Battery Makers Respond to Patent Investigation
Chinese battery manufacturers have become embroiled in a recently patent infringement investigation launched by the US International Trade Commission.
On a long list of companies targeted for the patent infringement investigation, seven are from the Chinese mainland. The Fujian Nanfu Battery Company is one of them. The company says it will mount an active response to the accusations. "For our company, the US market is one with huge potential and we do not want to give up this market. Therefore, not only our company, but all the Chinese companies concerned will face the issue and will respond to the charge actively."
The petition was filed by major American battery-maker Energizer Holdings together with its subsidiary. The companies claimed that imports of various sizes of zero-mercury-added alkaline batteries and component parts from 26 companies in different countries and regions violated their patent, and asked for permanent general exclusion and cease-desist orders.
China is the world's largest manufacturer and exporter of the specified battery with 75 percent of the output bound for overseas markets. Legal experts say the impact would be devastating for China's battery industry if the US International Trade Commission accepts the accusation.
(Source: CCTV.com)
China Outnumbering Japan in Bioscience - Chinese Patents Numbers Rank Second
The Japanese Patent office recently complete a survey on world patent applications, which indicated that in 2000, countries from all over the world filed as many as 180,000 bioscience-related patent applications, among which the United States had 7,000, ranking first; China had 3,600, five times greater than the previous year, ranking second; Europe with 3,200 and Japan 3,100, both having grown from the previous year.
The office believes that the reason for the skyrocketing increase of China's bioscience-related patent applications lies in achievements made by high-tech enterprises that were created by researchers from Chinese universities.
(Source: China.org.cn)
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China E-ventions is intended to be used for news purposes only. It should not be taken as comprehensive legal advice, and Lehman, Lee & Xu will not be held responsible for any such reliance on its contents.
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