Beijing

1st mobile Internet monopoly case

The Beijing No 2 Intermediate People's Court will hear "the first monopolization suit in China's mobile Internet business" on Thursday, in which smartphone app maker Beijing Emiage Technology Co sued anti-virus software maker Qihoo 360. The plaintiff said it had developed an electronic business card management system with patents, but part of its functions were blocked by a product of Qihoo, which has been installed on 70 percent of smartphones in China. It claimed the defendant "suppressed the development of patents by domestic app makers".

Shandong

Patent expert database completed

The Qingdao Intellectual Property Office recently completed a patent expert database. The 321 featured experts, selected from local universities, leading companies, research institutes and IP agencies, are the most authoritative in IP legal practice. The database will provide "strong support" in human resources for policymaking, patent information utilization, technology transformation and patent protection in the city, local officials said.

Qingdao Intellectual Property Office

Hubei

Universities auction patents

Six patents by four universities in the province were recently auctioned in Wuhan, for a combined value of 4.54 million yuan ($741,655). The most expensive item, which sold for 1.88 million yuan, was a technology developed by Hubei University of Chinese Medicine to make herbal shampoo. An executive of the company that acquired the patent said it would generate an eight-digit profit. Another nearly 100 patents developed by those universities were displayed and promoted after the auction.

Science and Technology Daily

Jiangxi

Online market for ceramic copyright

China's first online market for ceramic design copyright opened on Monday. Developed by a ceramic institute in Jingdezhen, a national center of the ceramic industry, the portal offers creations for daily use, art appreciation and sanitary use for copyright transfer or license. "Online trading in ceramic designs is a new trend and a beneficial attempt. It's worth recommending to more sectors," said Lai Zhengbing, director of the province's copyright protection center.

Xinhua

Tianjin

400 'positive' trademarks

A local resident, Gao Yuan, spent about 360,000 yuan registering some 400 trademarks using 100 phrases he picked from dictionaries and books, which "can convey positive emotions and optimistic attitudes". He said the idea was inspired by news of a foreign man who sold glass bottles pasted with positive words six years ago.

Daily News

Guangxi

Region plans innovation exhibition

The Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region will host an innovation exhibition in Wuzhou city from Friday to Sunday. Some 760 items will be displayed, most of which are the region's latest scientific achievements. Themed "Innovation drives development, invention creates future", the expo will also include a series of patent-related events, such as patent promotion campaigns, auctions and patent match-making, as well as a market selling branded local snacks to visitors, such as soybean milk.

gxnews.com

Guangdong

IP court to open by year-end

An intellectual property court is expected to be unveiled in Guangdong at the end of this year, as one of the first three in the nation. It will hear cases that involve highly technical issues such as patents, new plant varieties, integrated circuit designs and technical knowledge. Last year, courts in Guangzhou settled nearly 10,000 IP cases, about one-third of the province's total and one-twelfth of the nation's. The other two new courts will be in Beijing and Shanghai.

Nafang Daily

Gao Yuan shows the trademarks he has registered. Wu Di / for China Daily