- Beijing

Experts talk domain names

At a seminar on Internet domain name protection held last week, legal experts and industry insiders pointed to a lack of awareness among most Web-based companies about domain names and brand protection. Since any organization can now apply for a new generic top-level domain, experts predict that there will be a rush to register domain names, which has the potential to cause trademark conflicts online.

it.chinabyte.com

-Shandong

Office ups patent incentive

The intellectual property office of Binzhou city will raise each award for top patents up to 200,000 yuan ($32,400) to encourage more major technological breakthroughs. The city had more than 4,100 patent applications in 2013, including a record 14 international patent applications through the Patent Cooperation Treaty. The office will also redouble their efforts in IP protection by coordinating with other regions and organizations for law enforcement.

LUBEI EVENING NEWS

- Jiangsu

Training strengthens innovation

For the first time in its history, the Changzhou intellectual property office will organize free IP training programs this year to further strengthen the innovative capacity of local companies and to promote the high-tech restructuring of the city's industries. The program, scheduled to begin in April, will focus on the corporate IP strategy and patent management as well as the patent applications in European countries and IP protection at international exhibitions.

JSCHINA.COM.CN

- Hunan

Province tops W China in tea

The province has 13 well-known tea product brands, and it is ranked first in western China, according to Hunan Tea Industry Association. Local tea output surpassed 160,000 tons last year, nearly one-fourth of which was exported, generating combined revenue totaling $100 million. The province also has a profound tea culture and annually many related festivals take place to help promote the local brand visibility in international markets.

HNCHA.CN

- Shaanxi

Theater noted for local opera

The Ministry of Culture recently recognized Yisushe, a century-old theater in the provincial capital Xi'an, as a landmark of the national intangible cultural heritage qinqiang opera. Founded in 1912, the theater is the oldest existing opera troupe in China and now preserves more than 800 qinqiang opera scripts. The head of the theater, Hui Minli, said they are planning to establish a qinqiang museum, displaying the scripts, costumes and stage designs of the opera.

people.com.cn

- Guangdong

Cancer drug gets approval

Shenzhen-based Main Luck Pharmaceuticals Co was granted an invention patent last week for its cancer medicine, the first of its kind in the nation. The invention provides a method to use cheap materials and eco-friendly techniques to compound belinostat, a substance widely believed to be the sole cure for some types of tumor. The medicine is also on the fast track for approval by the US Food and Drug Administration.

Stcn.com

- Guangxi

Raid nabs man for making DVDs

The police of Liuzhou city recently seized a local man who made and sold pirated videos at home. They found nearly 6,000 packaged DVDs on the scene, most of them Japanese animation. The 37-year-old suspect said he bought blank DVDs from Guangdong province, downloaded the content online and printed the packages. He also confessed that he had sold more than 10,000 DVDs via the online shopping portal Taobao since 2007.

Gxnews.com.cn

 

(China Daily 03/19/2014 page17)