On April 23, 2019, the 10th meeting of the Standing Committee of the 13th National People's Congress has adopted the decision to amend China’s current Trademark Law, which will come into effect on November 1, 2019. This is the fourth amendment of the Trademark Law since 1993, 2001 and 2013. Following are major amendments: 1. Article 4, Paragraph 1, is amended as follows: Any natural person, legal pers

The quantity of intellectual property (IP) created by China increased in 2018 and their quality also improved, according to the National Intellectual Property Administration. The number of invention patents owned by individuals and organizations on the Chinese mainland reached 1.6 million by the end of 2018, an increase of 18.1 percent over the previous year, said Shen Changyu, director of the administration, at a

An executive meeting of the State Council of China held recently has determined the measures to reduce government fees and service charges, including further reduction of patent filing fee and annual fee from July 1. Significant dip is required, for example, a plunge of fee for trademark registration renewal from 1,000 yuan to 500 yuan. "Further reduction of patent filing fee, annual fee, and trademark regist

Beijing International Horticultural Exhibition is the highest-level and largest-scale professional exhibition held by China since Shanghai World Expo in 2010. Standing at the stage of international exposition, Beijing Expo will showcase the latest new varieties, technologies, products and concepts the world has to offer. "Beijing Expo will last up to 162 days. Securing IPR protection will not only guarantee the

Visual China Group is in trouble. At a time when the country has pledged to strengthen its protection of intellectual property rights, the country's largest stock images provider has been accused of abusing them — and even resorting to blackmail — to make a profit. VCG sparked an outcry nationwide last week after it claimed to own the copyright to the first-ever image of a black hole, the work

Solomon Islands has joined the Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization as WIPO’s 192nd Member State. WIPO Director General Francis Gurry received on April 4, 2019, the instrument of accession to the WIPO Convention from Ambassador Barrett Salato, Permanent Representative of the Solomon Islands to the United Nations and other International Organizations in Geneva. (Photo: W