The China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) Issues Report on Intellectual Property Agency Developments (2022)
Date: 11 May 2023
Recently, CNIPA Issued its Report on Intellectual Property Agency Developments (2022) containing information relating to China's patent agencies, trademark agencies, patent attorneys, patent attorney qualification exam, as well as industry regulations and major events in 2022.
According to the report, as of the end of 2022 China had a total of 4,520 patent agencies (excluding those in Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan regions), 71,466 trademark agencies, and 31,347 licensed patent attorneys nationwide. Of the 4,520 patent agencies, 397, i.e. 8.8%, had been established for more than 20 years, which suggests that an increasing number of patent agencies are prioritizing brand building, stability and continuity, while 1,931 patent agencies, accounting for 42.7% of the total, had been established within three years, which reflects the rapid growth trend of China's patent agency industry.
In relation to industry regulation during 2022, CNIPA continued to advance the Operation Blue Sky initiative in the intellectual property attorney industry, cracking down on illicit attorney activities. Throughout the year, 1,489 patent agencies were required to attend regulatory talks with the intellectual property administration departments, and 923 were instructed to make rectifications. A total of 332 administrative cases were accepted, with 238 administrative penalties being issued. These figures indicate that the regulatory systems and mechanisms have been further enhanced.
Source: CNIPA
https://www.cnipa.gov.cn/art/2023/5/11/art_53_185016.html
Short-Video Platform Douyin Issues Platform Guidelines for the Regulation of AI-Generated Content
Date: 9 May 2023
Douyin recently released a set of guidelines regarding Artificial Intelligence Generated Content (AIGC) and is seeking to establish it as a standard for the industry. The guidelines state that all participants on the platform, including creators, hosts, users, merchants, and advertisers, must clearly label AIGC to differentiate it from real-life content and prevent confusion. Publishers will be held accountable for the consequences of AIGC and must ensure that virtual individuals are registered and the users' identities behind them authenticated. Additionally, Douyin prohibits the use of generative AI technology to produce and publish infringing content, including but not limited to portrait or intellectual property rights. The platform has the power to impose severe penalties for any violations.
Source: IThome
https://www.ithome.com/0/691/389.htm
Tencent Awarded 5 million yuan (approx. US$ 700,000) in Unfair Competition Action Relating to Weixin (WeChat) and Lianxin
Date: 9 May 2023
Tencent Technology (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd. is the owner of copyright in the ‘Weixin (WeChat)’ software and Shenzhen Tencent Computer System Co., Ltd. holds an exclusive license to utilize the software. Jianxin Company and Lianshang Company owned and operated ‘Lianxin’ software, which incorporated various icons and functions of the ‘Weixin (WeChat)’ software. The Tencent companies (‘Tencent’) brought an unfair competition action, seeking damages of 10 million yuan (approx. US$ 1.4 million), indicating that awarding damages on the basis of an account of profits or statutory damages was at the discretion of the Court.
In the initial ruling, the Primary People's Court of Tianhe District in Guangzhou Municipality, Guangdong Province, found that the Defendants had engaged in unfair competition and awarded 1.6 million yuan (approx. US$ 225,000) statutory damages. As Tencent had been unable to provide evidence of the number of users, traffic and marketing costs associated with Lianxin, damages could not be calculated on the basis of an account of profits. Tencent appealed to the Guangzhou Intellectual Property Court, which increased the compensation by awarding statutory damages of 5 million yuan (approx. US$ 700,000) the maximum for a single infringement, plus reasonable costs of 200,000 yuan (approx. US$ 28,000). Tencent had argued, unsuccessfully, that it should not be limited to 5 million statutory damages as the case involved ten commercial marks or trademarks and did not, therefore, relate to a single infringement.
Source: iPolicyLaw
https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/unmeb6K02SzepxsFLNM3Hw
Blocking ‘Teen Mode’ Pop-ups on Tencent videos held to constitute Unfair Competition – damages award of 3 Million Yuan (approx. US$ 420,000)
Date: 22 May, 2023
Tencent Video and Tencent NOW Live are online media platforms developed and owned by Shenzhen Tencent Computer System Co., Ltd., Tencent Technology (Shenzhen)Co.,Ltd., and Tencent Digital (Tianjin) Co., Ltd. Both Apps provide a ‘Teen Mode’ for underage users that filters out inappropriate content. Aichengzi Company developed and operated an ‘Ad-blocker’ which enables users to automatically skip or block the ‘Teen Mode’ pop-ups when entering Tencent products. The three Tencent companies referred to above brought an unfair competition action against Aichengzi Company.
The Court determined that the App operated by the Defendant prevented users from enabling ‘Teen Mode’, thereby influencing their decisions, changing the functions of Tencent's products, and circumventing Tencent's restrictions on underage users' use of the platform. This behaviour significantly impeded and disrupted the normal operation of Tencent's products. Furthermore, blocking pop-ups relating to ‘Teen Mode’ conflicts with China's regulations concerning the protection of minors' online safety. Based on these findings, the Court held that the Defendant had engaged in unfair competition and ordered it to pay the Plaintiffs 3 million yuan (approx. US$ 420,000) in compensation for economic loss and reasonable expenses.
Source: The Primary People’s Court of Tianjin Binhai New Area
https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/26OjwebZu-zWWiU-PwDNOA
国知局发布《全国知识产权代理行业发展状况（2022年）》
日期：2023-05-11
日前，国家知识产权局发布了《全国知识产权代理行业发展状况（2022年）》，对中国专利代理机构、商标代理机构、专利代理师、专利代理师资格考试情况，以及2022年行业监管、大事记进行了分析。
数据显示，截至2022年底，中国国内专利代理机构共有4,520家（不含港澳台地区），商标代理机构数量达到71,466家，全国执业专利代理师已达到31,347人。在全国4520家专利代理机构中，按专利代理机构的成立年限来看，成立20年以上的专利代理机构有397家，占全国专利代理机构总量的8.8%，显示越来越多的专利代理机构注重品牌建设，保持稳定性和延续性。成立年限在3年以内的专利代理机构为1931家，占比42.7%，显示中国当前专利代理行业发展势头迅猛。
在行业监管方面，2022年，国家知识产权局持续深入推进知识产权代理行业“蓝天”专项整治行动，重拳打击违法违规代理行为，共约谈专利代理机构1489家，责令整改923家，立案332件，作出行政处罚238件，监管制度机制更加完善。
资料来源：国家知识产权局 2023-05-11
新闻链接：https://www.cnipa.gov.cn/art/2023/5/11/art_53_185016.html
抖音发布关于人工智能生成内容的平台规范暨行业倡议
日期：2023-05-09
近期，抖音发布关于人工智能生成内容（以下简称“AIGC”）的平台规范暨行业倡议，该平台规范指出，创作者、主播、用户、商家、广告主等平台参与者，在抖音平台发布AIGC时，发布者应进行显著标识，帮助其他用户区分虚拟与现实，特别是易混淆场景。发布者需对AIGC产生的相应后果负责；虚拟人需在平台进行注册，虚拟人技术使用者需实名认证。抖音还禁止用户利用生成式人工智能技术创作、发布侵权内容，包括但不限于肖像权、知识产权等，一经发现，平台将严格处罚。
资料来源：IT之家 2023-05-09
新闻链接：https://www.ithome.com/0/691/389.htm
“微信”遭“连信”仿冒混淆，二审改判顶格赔偿500万元
日期：2023-05-09
原告腾讯科技公司是“微信”软件著作权人，腾讯计算机公司被授予该软件著作权的专有使用权。被告简信公司、连尚公司是“连信”软件的共同经营者，灵犀公司则通过经营PP助手平台提供“连信”软件的下载服务。腾讯计算机公司主张，“连信”使用了“微信”的多个功能、图标等，构成不正当竞争，主张按照侵权获利或者法定赔偿来确定几名被告赔偿经济损失1000万元。腾讯计算机公司认为，虽然法定赔偿限额是500万元，但这是针对一个侵权行为的限额，本案涉及十几个商业标识，故主张1000万元法定赔偿额并未超出限额。
广东省广州市天河区人民法院一审认定被告构成不正当竞争，酌情确定赔偿额为160万元。广州知识产权法院二审对赔偿额进行了改判。二审法院在确定赔偿额时认为，首先，原告未能证明“连信”的用户人数、获利流量或者获客成本，无法将侵权获利作为确定赔偿数额的依据，故本案只能适用法定赔偿方式。原告主张1000万元法定赔偿，超过了法律规定的500万元限额，于法无据，不予支持。考虑到“微信”知名度及市场价值较高，三被告共同实施不正当竞争行为，主观恶意明显，情节较为严重，故而顶格使用法定赔偿额，判处被告连带赔偿原告经济损失500万元及合理开支20万元。
资料来源：iPolicyLaw 2023-05-09
新闻链接：https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/unmeb6K02SzepxsFLNM3Hw
利用技术手段屏蔽“青少年模式”弹窗构成不正当竞争，判赔300万元
日期：2023-05-22
腾讯视频是腾讯计算机公司、腾讯科技公司、腾讯数码公司打造的在线视频媒体平台，腾讯NOW直播是腾讯旗下的全民视频社交直播平台。腾讯视频和腾讯NOW直播均为用户提供了“青少年模式”，为青少年用户过滤不适宜其观看的内容，保障青少年健康科学用网。爱橙子公司开发并运营“去广告利器”App，为用户提供自动跳过/屏蔽腾讯产品青少年模式入口弹窗功能。腾讯计算机公司、腾讯科技公司和腾讯数码公司认为爱橙子公司的行为构成不正当竞争，起诉至法院。
天津自由贸易试验区人民法院审理认为，被告经营的涉案App通过影响用户选择的方式，使得用户无法通过腾讯产品首页弹出的显著弹窗提示使用青少年模式，删减、变动了腾讯产品的功能，规避原告对于未成年人使用平台的限制，已经实质性地妨碍、破坏了腾讯产品的正常运行，且涉案App屏蔽青少年模式弹窗的行为，与国家关于保护未成年人网络安全的相关规定背道而驰，具有不正当性。因此，法院认定被诉行为构成不正当竞争，酌定被告赔偿原告经济损失及合理支出300万元。
资料来源：天津滨海新区法院 2023-05-22