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Laws & Regulations

CNIPA Issued 2020 Annual Report on Government Information Disclosure
国知局公布《2020年政府信息公开工作年度报告》

Issue Date: 2021-01-31

Effective Date: 2021-01-31

Recently, the China National Intellectual Property Administration (“CNIPA”) published the 2020 Annual Report on Government Information Disclosure (the “Report”) in accordance with the requirements of the Regulations of the People's Republic of China on Government Information Disclosure.

According to the Report, the CNIPA hosted and participated in 10 press conferences throughout the year, inviting a total of 40 Chinese and foreign media parties. The CNIPA also released information in on issues of public concern, such as the “Blue-Sky” Action and the facilitation of trademark registration reform.

In addition, the CNIPA released facilitation measures on patent application, trademark registration, intellectual property pledge financing, the "Ten Articles on the Resumption of Work and Production Supported by the State Administration for Market Regulation (the “SAMR”), National Medical Products Administration and CNIPA" and "Notice on Promoting the Application of Intellectual Property Rights and Supporting the Battle of Epidemic Prevention and Control", along with other initiatives to help prevent and control the COVID epidemic.

At the same time, important statistics on intellectual property rights were also made public, with a total of 306 invention patent, utility model and design bulletins, 48 trade mark bulletins, 32 geographical indications and official marks bulletins, and 103 IC design layout management bulletins published throughout the year.

Source: https://www.cnipa.gov.cn/art/2021/1/31/art_250_156580.html

IP News

General Secretary Xi Jinping: Comprehensively Strengthen Intellectual Property Protection, Stimulate Innovation Vitality and Promote the Construction of a New Development Structure
习近平总书记发表重要文章《全面加强知识产权保护工作 激发创新活力推动构建新发展格局》

Date: 2021-02-01

On 1 February 2021, magazine QiuShi published an article by General Secretary Xi Jinping titled “Comprehensively Strengthening the Protection of Intellectual Property to Simulate Innovation and Promote the Construction of a New Development Structure”. In the article, General Secretary Xi Jinping raises the importance of intellectual property protection to new levels.

The article proposes six initiatives:

1. Strengthen the top-level design for intellectual property protection. We should adhere to the principle of putting the people's interests first and protecting them fairly and reasonably. We should not only strictly protect intellectual property rights, but also ensure public interest and encourage innovation. We will strengthen the creation and reserve of independent intellectual property rights in key areas.
2. Improve the quality of rule of law in intellectual property protection. Accelerate the improvement of relevant laws and regulations. Improve the quality and efficiency of intellectual property trial, enhance the credibility. We should strengthen the administrative law enforcement and strike hard at the key areas and regions that are strongly reflected by the masses, where public opinion is concerned, and prone to infringement and counterfeiting.
3. Strengthen the chain of protection of intellectual property rights. We will make comprehensive use of legal, administrative, economic, technological, social governance and other means to build a large-scale protection system by opening up and improving the comprehensive intellectual property management system.
4. Increase institutional reform for intellectual property protection. We will study and implement differentiated industrial and regional intellectual property policies. We will improve the intellectual property protection system for new businesses in new fields such as big data, artificial intelligence, and genetic engineering. We should pay close attention to the implementation of the system of punitive damages for intellectual property rights.
5. Promote international cooperation and competition. We should adhere to the concept of a community of shared future for mankind, adhere to the principles of openness, inclusiveness, and diversity, and promote the development of the global intellectual property governance system towards a more just and reasonable direction.
6. Safeguard national security in intellectual property. We will manage the transfer of intellectual property rights relating to national security in accordance with the law. We will form an efficient early warning and emergency mechanism for international intellectual property risks and build a prevention and control system for foreign-related intellectual property risks.

Source: http://www.qstheory.cn/dukan/qs/2021-01/31/c_1127044345.htm

China Copyright Protection Center Released its 2020 Work Registration Data
中国版权保护中心发布2020年作品登记数据

Date: 2021-02-03

Recently, the Copyright Protection Center of China (the “CPCC”) released its data on registration of works in 2020.

The volume of works registered by the CPCC in 2020 experienced a year-on-year increase of 3% to reach a total of 240,550 works/series, in which 290,693 are works. Among the various types of registered works, 89% were artistic works, 5% were written works, 2% were film-related works, 2% were other works, 1% were musical works, and 1% were all other types of works (dramatic works, oral works, dance works, photographic works, graphic works, audio and video recordings, etc.).

In 2020, domestic registrations accounted for 97% of the total number of registrations, while foreign registrations accounted for 3% of the total number of works registered by the CPCC.

Source: http://www.iprdaily.cn/news_26988.html

NCAC Issued Ten Major Events of China's Copyright in 2020

国家版权局公布2020年中国版权十件大事

Date: 2021-02-05

Recently, the National Copyright Administration of China (the “NCAC”) selected and announced ten major events for China copyright in 2020, which is as follows:

1. The copyright system was further improved. On 11 November 2020, the 23^rd meeting of the Standing Committee of the 13^th National People’s Congress passed the decision to amend the PRC Copyright Law to improve concepts and systems relating to works and copyrights. On 26 December 2020, the 24^th Meeting of the Standing Committee of the 13^th National People’s Congress passed the Sixth Amendment to the PRC Criminal Law, which increased the statutory penalty for copyright infringement crimes and intensified crackdowns on copyright infringement.
2. On 28 April 2020, the WIPO Beijing Treaty on Audiovisual Performances came into force.
3. The Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate issued a series of judicial interpretations and documents relating to copyright, such as the "Opinions of the Supreme People's Court on Strengthening the Protection of Copyright and Rights related to Copyright”, which provides clear provisions on strengthening he protection of creators' rights and interests in accordance with the law and vigorously improving the quality and efficiency of case trials.
4. In May and November 2020, the NCAC issued the “Notice on Regulating the Order of Copyright in Photographic Works” and the “Notice on Further Improving the Examination and Determination of Evidence for Copyright Administrative Enforcement” respectively to strengthen the supervision of copyright administrative enforcement.
5. During the 2020 SwordNet campaign, the judgement of the Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province “Ghost Machine” case effectively punished the illegal acts of pirating and distributing films.
6. The results of the 2020 China Copyright Gold Award were announced.
7. The Beijing High People’s Court’s retrial of the case of sporting events copyright shows the People’s Court’s attitude towards copyright issues on sporting events, which will have a profound impact on the booming sports industry.
8. On 30 December 2020, the Chinese Academy of Press and Publication released the survey results on the economic contribution of China’s copyright industry in 2019. On 16 September 2020, the NCAC Network Copyright Research Institute issued the “2019 China Network Copyright Industry Development Report”, which shows a steady increase in the proportion and scale of economic contribution by the copyright industry.
9. In December 2020, nearly 300 well-known film and television figures and online writers issued a joint open letter, calling on media platforms to resist plagiarism, and aroused widespread public concern.
10. In January 2020, the China Audio-Video Copyright Association and other entities jointly issued the “2020 Implementation Plan for Copyright Licensing Fees in the Karaoke Industry" to improve copyright licensing and fee allocations in the karaoke industry. In addition, in response to the impact of COVID-19, relevant associations issued the “2020 Implementation Plan for Copyright Licensing and Fees in the Karaoke Industry” to reduce and waive copyright licensing and fees for karaoke establishments, help relevant enterprises to resume their operations, and stabilise the order of the copyright market in the karaoke sector.

Source: http://www.ncac.gov.cn/chinacopyright/contents/518/427096.html

2020 Intellectual Property Protection Achievements of China Customs was Issued
中国海关2020年知识产权保护成果公布

Date: 2021-02-03

In 2020, the China Customs carried out special enforcement actions for intellectual property protection including “Dragon Action 2020”, “Blue Net Action” and “Clean Net Action” and cooperated with the SAMR and other departments to crack down on illegal activities in cross border e-commerce. In addition, the “Intellectual Property Customs Protection Recordal System” was launched and a total of 15,163 cases of IPR customs filings were approved, representing a year-on-year increase of 16%.

It was reported that in 2020, the China Customs seized a total of 61,900 batches of suspected infringing goods and detained a total of 56,181,900 suspected infringing goods, a respective increase of 20% from the previous year.

Source: http://www.cipnews.com.cn/cipnews/news_content.aspx?newsId=127349

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