17 CHINA DAILY WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 01, 2012 ipspecial Innovation key to Harbin’s future By WANG XIN in Harbin commercialization of research Song, who entered offi ce this [email protected] achievements early this year. January, said despite the overall 72.4 To date, it has attracted 136 sound economic situation, the Making enterprises the driv- major research projects from city’s GDP growth in the first ers of innovation is crucial to percent rise many renowned universities, half of this year was only 6.1 increasing the commercializa- in the number of patent applica- including Harbin Institute of percent, a record low in recent tions by companies in Harbin last tion of research results, said year, compared with 2010 Technology, Zhejiang Univer- years, partially resulting from Song Xibin, mayor of Harbin, sity and the Chinese Academy a drop in industrial growth capital of Heilongjiang province of Sciences. and effi ciency, a refl ection of its in Northeast China. Th e city government’s initia- unbalanced industrial structure. “We need to create an inno- tives to commercialize patents “It is imperative that Harbin vation-friendly environment have enabled Harbin to gain the use new technologies and pro- and encourage companies to leading position in the compe- duction procedures to upgrade upgrade their innovation mech- tition for the status of the fi rst its traditional sectors and anisms and set their sights on Winning the honor group of national IP model cit- improve their competitiveness. connecting their proprietary (of being one of the ies, said Lu Yi, deputy director At the same time it must devel- research and development with fi rst IP model cities) of the State Intellectual Prop- op strategic emerging industries the world’s frontier technolo- ‘‘ erty Offi ce’s Coordination and and modern services, as well as gies,” Song said. shows that the city has Administration Department. accelerating the construction “Neither the government or entered a new stage SIPO unveiled the list in late of a modern industrial system,” companies should be afraid that is characterized April. he said. of investing in innovation,” he by innovation- “Winning the honor shows “We will continue our eff orts added. that the city has entered a new to capitalize on our rich research The city government has driven industrial stage that is characterized by resources, better our IP man- initiated a program for patent restructuring.” innovation-driven industrial agement system, and encourage analysis and released industry restructuring and a shift in companies’ proprietary innova- SONG XIBIN strategic research reports since MAYOR OF HARBIN development model,” Song said. tion,” he said. 2005 to help improve the envi- “It will bring historic oppor- He said his government will ronment for the creation, use, tunities for our city’s sustainable further promote the coop- management and protection of development,” he added. eration between industry, aca- intellectual property. scores of universities and col- Home to a series of well- demia and research institutions The reports cover various leges with 37 academicians and established industries, Harbin to conduct industrialization- fields, including biomedicine, more than 400,000 technologi- has contributed greatly to Chi- oriented and interest-sharing environmental protection, cal professionals, Harbin is at na’s successful space and deep- research, with a focus on a range aerospace and aviation, new the forefront of the nation’s sea missions. of sectors including aviation, materials, electronics and mod- research and development. As a traditional industrial bio-products, new materials, ern agriculture. Th ey contributed about half of center, Harbin boasts many renewable-driven equipment Th ese eff orts have been suc- the city’s total patent fi lings, said “fi rsts”, such as the nation’s fi rst and machinery, electronic cessful as more than 13,000 pat- Li Wenyi, an offi cial of the city’s tractors, transistor radios, ana- information and green foods. ent applications were fi led in the IP offi ce. log computers, glass-fi ber rein- Exploring diversifi ed models city last year, very nearly double How to turn the advantage in forced plastic and arc wielding in trade and fi nancing to facili- the number fi led in 2010. research into industrial strength robots. tate IP commercialization is And patent fi lings from com- is a pressing issue for the city, Yet at the same time, due also on the agenda, he said, add- panies grew by 72.4 percent in according to local offi cials. PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY to the accumulated industrial ing that the authorities’ goal is 2011, compared with 2010. Th e authorities have poured A robot developed by Harbin Engineering University performs a gymnastic exercise on the horizontal structure, the city is vulnerable to improve the city’s core com- Home to hundreds of 10 billion yuan ($1.57 billion) bar. With scores of universities and hundreds of research institutions, the city of Harbin has a strong to the domestic and interna- petitiveness and build it into a research institutions and to establish a platform for the capacity for innovation. tional macro environments. national IP leader.

Chinese companies ipscene need to know and 1 LIAONING Neusoft workers arrested use their IP rights More than 20 employees of Neusoft ’s medical and healthcare By ZHANG ZHAO department were recently arrested 1 but also utility model patents by Shenyang police, who charged the [email protected] are important for Chinese com- workers with infringing on the com- panies to compete in Russia,” pany’s intellectual property rights. Th e innovation capacity and he said. Th e suspects say they were instruct- intellectual property rights envi- He said Russia has a “very ed by a Neusoft executive to use the company’s resources to develop out- ronment of emerging countries, effective patent system” and side projects. such as China and India, are Russian companies are given Some of them claim that they did improving sharply, noted Gan real competitiveness from pat- not know they were doing something Shaoning, vice-commissioner ents, as patents can be used as a that constituted IP infringement and of the State Intellectual Property weapon in the market. thought it was just part of “normal Offi ce, at an IP forum held last A number of reports were work”. 5 week in Beijing. unveiled at the forum, cover- THE ECONOMIC OBSERVER 2 But he said that the global ing analyses of IP law systems, 2 HUBEI development of Chinese com- service organizations and case panies is “a long-term program studies of IP disputes in emerg- Chef sues publisher, that needs much effort”. Chi- ing countries. wins nese companies must know and Since 2009, SIPO has been An intermediate court in Huangshi 6 utilize IP-related laws and rules analyzing the intellectual prop- ruled that Qingdao Publishing Group to protect their rights overseas. erty environment of China’s should apologize to plaintiff Chen 3 In order to do this, “the IP major export destinations, Xurong, a renowned chef, and pay him 4 more than 2,000 yuan ($313) for vio- administrations must take an including their related laws and lating his copyright. active role in encouraging them policies, lawsuit studies and the Chen who has developed a series of to protect their rights and tell strategies of local companies. recipes based on local cuisine autho- them how”. SIPO has so far released rized the publishing house to release In this way, he said, “China 12 reports on the intellectual several cookbooks. Another cookbook published by the same company con- will be able to deal with the property rights environment of tained a recipe, the text and graphics increasingly severe international various countries and regions, of which were almost identical to one in his Since 2003, the two sides have co-held number of registered patents was 30 percent University of Technology. competition and let IP-related including the United States, the book. a seminar on IP and development of small from 2004 and 2010. Co-founded by the school and the Xian- Th e court said the recipe at issue in the and medium-sized enterprises, an event that Patent applications from the city reached men IP Offi ce, the center is designed to off er work become part of its national European Union, Japan and has taken place in many cities of Guang- around 80,000 fi lings last year, 45,000 of training and consultancy, popularize IP economic development”. South Korea. case is not one that is commonly known among the public, and it contained innova- dong, including Guangzhou, Shenzhen and which were granted. awareness, conduct research and promote the Co-hosted by SIPO and the Organized by SIPO and tions by the chef. Dongguan and benefi ted more than 2,000 commercialization of patents. China Intellectual Property Soci- hosted by the China Intellectual Th e court ruled that the company, as a companies. XINMIN.CN Xu Wendong, chief of the city’s IP offi ce, Uniform standards for IP management said at the signing ceremony in July that he ety, this year’s International Intel- Property Society, the fi rst Inter- publisher of Chen’s books, was aware that he 6 co-released by the Guangdong provincial IP FUJIAN hopes the center can make full use of the lectual Property Environment national Intellectual Property is the creator and still used the words without authorization, which constituted piracy. offi ce and HK Productivity Council began to New facility to drive university’s advantages in manufacturing and Forum invited experts from Environment Forum was held in take eff ect in October 2010. information majors to foster IP professionals home and abroad to focus on July 2010, with the aims of guid- CHINA INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY And during a campaign to fi ght counter- innovation in law, policy and management. the intellectual property rights ing companies to protect their NEWS feits and piracy nationwide that lasted from An IP education and research center is environments of India, Russia rights overseas, and help them November 2010 to June 2011, the two sides expected to be unveiled soon at Xiamen SIPO.GOV.CN 3 GUANGDONG further enhanced their already close ties and and South Africa. understand relevant foreign IP initiated an operation named “Sea Dragon”. Russia recently became a laws and information. Bottled water bandits Guangdong customs investigated 43 infringe- member of the World Trade busted ments involving HK and Macao, and HK cus- toms handled 13 cases of infringement. Th e Organization, and Gan said that This page is jointly Industrial and commercial enforcement its participation “will increase offi cials in Huiyang district, Guangzhou move was listed among the 10 major national published by the State raided two shops suspected of selling fake IP protection events of last year. the importance of developing Intellectual Property nations in WTO negotiations”. Yibao bottled mineral water. CHINA INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY Offi ce and China Daily. Th e suspects failed to prove that they NEWS Aleksey Zalesov, deputy To comment or contribute, bought the products through legal channels. managing partner and head of please e-mail ipr@ Th e counterfeits were bottled in some small, 5 SHANGHAI the legal department of Sojuz- chinadaily.com.cn unknown factories using water from the tap or nearby streams, according to enforcement patent, Russia’s leading IP law or contact editors at City aims to be Asian IP fi rm, said that the economic ties offi cials. +86-10-6499 5774. “Without required procedures including center between Russia and China are disinfection, they could pose serious product Th e Chinese mainland’s fi nancial center increasing every year. safety risks,” they said. also aims to lead the Asia-Pacifi c region “The activity of Chinese in terms of intellectual property by 2020, companies in Russia is increas- SOUTHERN DAILY according to the city’s IP strategy. China has developed a more mature IP ing, however, compared with 4 HONG KONG system that is adapted to its own specifi c situ- the activities of Western compa- ations and now needs to have a greater voice nies, it’s still small,” said Zalesov, HK, Guangdong mark 10 in international rule-making, said Lu Guoq- who encouraged Chi- yrs as partners iang, chief of the city’s IP offi ce. nese entrepreneurs to apply for Th e number of patent applications in Hong Kong and Guangdong IP authorities Shanghai grew at an average annual rate of 24 more patents in Russia. celebrated the 10th anniversary of coopera- percent and the average annual growth in the ZHOU DONGCHAO / CHINA DAILY “Not only invention patents, tion between the two sides. Financial hub Shanghai also plans to be the IP center of the Asia-Pacifi c region.