- Beijing

Sharp rise in IP cases

Courts across the nation settled about 100,000 intellectual property rights cases last year, according to a recent work report by the Supreme People's Court, a sharp rise over the average of 55,600 between 2008 and 2012. Experts said the increase indicates both improved IP awareness and more cases of infringement. At the same time prosecutors nationwide filed criminal charges against more than 8,800 suspects for alleged violations of trademark, patent, copyright and trade secret laws, according to the Supreme People's Procuratorate's work report.

China Business News

- Henan

On-site trademark help

The Zhengzhou administration for industry and commerce recently established the province's first trademark protection office at a local company to help in trademark searches, registration, transfers and licensing. It will also handle trademark complaints.

HENAN BUSINESS DAILY

Cultural heritage display

The Xuchang Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Center recently organized a pictorial exhibition at the city's Guhuaijie Primary School to help students learn more about local culture. The display included illustrations of ethnic dances, the production method for beeswax and the story of famed artist Wu Daozi. The city now has more than 100 intangible cultural heritage items, including three on the national level.

Henanphoto.com

- Liaoning

Fake-branded watches

Customs at Dalian airport recently detained a passenger leaving for Osaka, Japan who was found carrying 55 fake-branded watches. The goods were packed in four tinfoil bags in his luggage and carried the brands including Piaget, Omega, Cartier, Breitling, Rolex and Chanel. Customs officials discovered the cache as it went through the security check equipment.

China Inspection And Quarantine Times

- Gansu

Illegal booksellers detained

Enforcement officials from the culture administration in Lanzhou city recently detained two booksellers in the Gansu Political Science and Law Institute that sold pirated books to students. They found more than 800 books at the scene. Most of them covered art and science, and there were also textbooks and reference books. They were sold for 10 yuan ($1,6) while the genuine versions are priced at up to 100 yuan each.

Lanzhou Daily

- Hubei

Center for clothing rights

A specialized intellectual property rights center for the clothing industry was recently founded in the provincial capital Wuhan, the first of its kind in the nation. The center is aimed to provide services in patent applications, protection, consultation and dispute mediation, and will help restrain wrongful competition by local clothing companies, said government officials. Wuhan is now home to around 1,600 clothing manufacturers and has China's largest women's clothes market.

CHANGJIANG TIMES

- Guangdong

Karaoke bill for wrong songs

A karaoke lounge in Qingyuan city was recently ordered to pay more than 30,000 yuan in compensation to the China Audio-Video Copyright Association for using 33 songs without authorization. It was also required to delete the works from its song list.

Guangzhou Daily

(China Daily 03/26/2014 page17)