Shanghai Municipal Economic Commission encouraged and supported local enterprises to fully comprehend the status of intellectual property in their industrial development and to research and formulate effective intellectual property strategies and measures through the initiative layout, the introduction & cooperation and the combination of industry, academy and research, which promoted the development of the pillar industries, equipment industry, newly-emerging industries and strategic industries. Top priority was given to supporting the study on liquid crystal patent strategy by SVA and other companies. In the meantime, the Table for the Establishment Examination & Assessment of Shanghai Intellectual Property Model Enterprises was revised and completed in accordance with the development of Shanghai’s advanced manufacturing and modern service industry. 22 units were selected as the third batch of Shanghai’s Intellectual Property Model Enterprises to be Cultivated and 5 were put on the waiting list of Shanghai Intellectual Property Model Enterprises.

Shanghai Municipal State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission compiled the Temporary Measures for Awarding the Scientific and Technological Innovation of Shanghai’s State-owned Enterprises, the Temporary Measure for Managing the Systematic Promotion of Developing the City by Science and Education in Shanghai State-owned Assets System and 3 other Measures, together with the Announcements on Compiling the Strategic Plan for Technological Innovation. All these promoted local enterprises to improve awareness of intellectual property, to establish and implement intellectual property strategies, especially to promote the management system building of intellectual property creation, application, protection and motivation, etc in industrial groups, and to strengthen the management of technological innovation and intellectual property strategies of the assets supervision organizations.

Shanghai Municipal Commission of Agriculture formulated the Provisions for Shanghai’s Promotion of Agricultural Science and Technology Development to protect the patents, new plant varieties, geographical indications of agricultural products by law. It also encouraged enterprises, organizations and individuals to apply for agricultural intellectual property with proper financial support.

Shanghai Intellectual Property Administration formulated the Shanghai Measures for Financial Support to Patent and its Implementing Rules with the focus of financial support towards invention patents. During the Shanghai International Creative Industry Week in Nov, 2007, the Services for the Registration and Recording of Creative Designs was introduced for the first time, which aims to authenticate the time and the authenticity of the creative designs of the designers through “creative envelops”. The Reference Documents for Intellectual Property Management Systems in Shanghai Commercial Enterprise was issued to further promote the protection of intellectual property in the business system.

Shanghai Municipal Administration of Industry and Commerce together with Shanghai Municipal Economic Commission, Shanghai Municipal Finance Bureau and Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision jointly compiled Shanghai Temporary Measures of the Special Fund Management for Speeding up the Construction of Independent Brands, forcefully promoting the creation of Well-known Trademarks by local enterprises. The priority was given to the support and cultivation of the agricultural well-known trademarks. 51 agricultural trademarks were put on the list for special cultivation. The Conference to Promote Shanghai’s Trademark Development was held to summarize Shanghai’s trademark development in recent years, making plans for the future development of Shanghai’s trademark course and highlighting the important role of trademarks in promoting the rapid and healthy development of Shanghai’s economy.

Shanghai Copyright Bureau held the 2005-2006 Commendation Ceremony to award the “Double Priority “& “Double Excellence” Prize in Shanghai’s copyright trade and the Top-level Forum on Shanghai’s Book Copyright Trade. The enthusiasm of the publishing units towards foreign copyright trade was enormously kindled and the publishing industry was promoted by exchanging the successful experience in copyright trade and honoring & rewarding the excellent outgoing & incoming books and the excellent units & individuals as well.

Shanghai Municipal Foreign Economic and Trade Commission together with Shanghai Municipal Economic Commission jointly compiled the Implementing Opinions on Supporting the Introduction, Assimilation and Renovation of Key Technology and Equipments, encouraging enterprises to apply for the project on the list of the Fund for Optimizing the Structure of electro-mechanical & Hi-tech Products Export which was compiled by the Ministry of Commerce, PRC. The Shanghai Measures for the Use of the Special Fund for Building the National Brands and its Operating Rules were formulated to strengthen the cultivation and creation of the famous brands in export.

Shanghai Municipal Commission of Construction and Transportation established the management system of Intellectual Property (patent) of the construction projects, clearly specifying the units in charge of the intellectual property affairs before the implementation of the project and after the official initialization of the project. The scientific and technological innovation network was established with the emphasis on the reconstructing project of the transportation system of the Bund.

Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Health organized the evaluation and selection of patent experimental units and model units in accordance with the requirements of the Opinions on Promoting the Intellectual Property Work in Shanghai’s Sanitary System. 12 units were selected as the intellectual property experimental units within the Shanghai municipal sanitary system. The experimental units formulated the regulations and policies for the patent management and clearly specified the measures for patent rewards and penalties which encouraged the active application for patents in the scientific research and promoted the implementation and industrialization of patents.

To carry forward the comprehensive development of intellectual property in the municipal pharmaceutical industry, Shanghai Food and Drug Administration, together with Shanghai Intellectual Property Administration, Shanghai Municipal Administration of Industry and Commerce and Shanghai Copyright Bureau jointly held the Conference to Summarize, Honor and Promote the Intellectual Property Work of Experimental Units in the local Commercial System. In the first batch, 55 units were awarded the title of Model Unit for Intellectual Property Protection, and 12 of them were pharmaceutical enterprises. In the second batch, 54 were further selected as experimental units, and 23 of them were pharmaceutical enterprises.

Shanghai Municipal Education Commission, together with Shanghai Intellectual Property Administration, continued to evaluate and select Shanghai Municipal Intellectual Property Experimental Schools and Shanghai Municipal Intellectual Property Model Schools. In 2007, 16 experimental schools and 3 model schools were chosen through public appraisal. The intellectual property work was also incorporated into the course reform of middle schools and primary schools. Schools at all levels covered the intellectual property education in the teaching plans.    

At the outset of 2007, Shanghai World Expo Organizing Committee deliberated and passed the Shanghai Program on Intellectual Property Protection in World Expo 2010. Shanghai World Expo Coordination Bureau also carried out the active protection and management of the World Expo symbols, updated the manuals for symbol protection & usage and initiated the construction of linkage mechanism for symbol protection.

Effective policy directions and the favorable environment for independent innovation brought about the increase of intellectual property in both the quantity and quality. In 2007, Shanghai’s patent applications were listed No 4 in China with a total number of 47205, an increase of 31% compared with that of 2006. The applications for invention patent totaled 15212 pieces, an increase of 26.2% and No.4 in China. The number of patents awarded totaled 24481, an increase of 47.5% compared with that of last year. 175 pieces among every 1,000,000 citizens were awarded the invention patents. The number of patent applications from enterprises reached 30643 with a 23.4% year on year increase. The universities and colleges in Shanghai filed 5604 pieces of patent applications with a year-on-year increase of 82.8%, listed No.1 in China.

In 2007, the applications for trademark registration scored were 34930 in total, an increase of 6.9% compared with that of last year. Among them 10568 cases were approved. By the end of 2007, the number of effective registered trademarks in Shanghai was 122490. 67 Shanghai Municipal well-known trademarks were newly approved and a total of 107 well-known trademarks were newly identified. Now the number of well-known trademarks in Shanghai summed to 498. 5 well-known trademarks were newly identified as China Famous Brands. So far, the China Famous Brands in Shanghai have reached a total number of 53.

In 2007, 2024 pieces of copyright registration were accepted, an increase of 65% compared with that of last year. 2799 pieces of software registration were accepted, 13% higher than that of last year. 320 copyright contracts of all kinds were accepted and recorded.

By the end of Dec, 2007, 1084 patent applications of 55 major projects in Shanghai had been accepted, among which, the invention patents applications totaled 825, accounting for 76.1% of all. Among the 265 applications which were granted patents, 162 were invention patents and 79 were patents for utility models. 160 copyright applications and 101 trademark applications were approved. As shown in the distribution of the applications for invention patents, the applications mainly concentrated on the newly emerging industries with comparatively strong incentive of innovation such as the information industry, the pharmaceutical industry, etc.

I.       Strengthen Administrative Law Enforcement and Make New Moves in Intellectual Property Protection

All the relevant departments of intellectual property protection and law enforcement continued to implement the Shanghai Municipal Work Plan for the Actions of Intellectual Property Protection. During the administration and law enforcement of intellectual property, they insisted on combining the attack with the prevention, the daily law enforcement activities with special rectification actions, focus rectification with the environment improvement, maintain of the market order with the exploration for long-term effective mechanism to protect intellectual property. They also actively carried out the daily supervision activities and special rectification actions to protect intellectual property, which proved to be highly effective.

To strike the trademark infringement acts in the distribution sector, Shanghai Municipal Administration of Industry and Commerce issued the No. 2 Announcement of Forbidding to Sell Well-known Foreign Brands on the Fashion & Commodities Market in Shanghai, and organized a series of special rectification activities. Firstly, the rectification on markets of clothing and small articles was strengthened by combining daily tour inspection and surprise inspection. Over 10 major markets such as the underground business area of the Museum of Science and Technology, the Market Cluster of Qipu Road, etc. were continuously rectified with continuous high pressure of intellectual property protection. Secondly, the rectification of peddlers was intensified. Centralized rectification of the selling of counterfeits by peddlers on certain sections of the highways, pedestrian bridges, underground stations and other areas were carried out through the cooperation with the public security departments, the urban management departments and other legal enforcement units. Thirdly, the rectification of stores selling foreign trade goods, outlets of famous brands and the marketplaces set up in hotels were strengthened .Through secret visits and special rectifications, the illegal selling of falsified products in the name of selling remaining foreign trade goods was attacked severely. The industrial and commercial authorities launched special trademark rectification campaigns focusing on “Protecting the Exclusive Right of Using the Olympic Symbols” and ”Supervision of Food Safety”, etc. 3031 pieces of trademark infringement cases worth RMB 119,710,000 yuan were investigated and concluded in 2007. The penalty totaled RMB 16, 780,000 yuan and 1,380,000 labels of infringing trademarks were retrieved and weeded out. 3 suspected trademark criminal cases involving 3 suspects were transferred to police. In the meantime, the industrial and commercial authorities promoted the use of the Shanghai Reference Contract for the Intra-market Business Operation of Commodity Transaction Market (Version 2006), carried out long and effective supervision mechanism of the markets and urged the markets to take further actions against counterfeits selling and to strengthen the self-discipline. So far, there have been over 100 markets of clothing and small articles using the contract. Among which, 17278 market operators have signed the contracts and 109 operators selling counterfeits have been cleaned out.

Shanghai Municipal Copyright Bureau further intensified the strike on severe copyright infringement and conducted special actions to strike the illegal preliminary installation of computer software, promoting the use of official software in enterprises. 38 infringement cases of network dissemination of films, music, software, literature works, etc were investigated and handled and 21 illegal websites were closed. 13 websites were ordered to strengthen business supervision. Administrative penalty was declared in 3 cases and 1 case was transferred to judicial departments. 4 computer servers were confiscated. Over 30 appeals about the illegal pre-installation of computer software were accepted, among which, 10 computer dealers were proved upon examination to be infringing the software copyrights via preliminary installation and 3 wholesale dealers selling pirated software were declared administrative penalty.

Shanghai Intellectual Property Administration accepted 42 patent infringement cases and patent dispute cases (9 foreign-related cases included) and concluded 45 cases(14 foreign-related cases included), with the increase of 50% and 87.5% respectively compared with that of last year. Shanghai Intellectual Property Administration also launched the “4.26 Campaign”, “Spring & Autumn Action” and other law enforcement activities, handling 7 patent infringement cases and concluding 7 cases. 49 copies of rectification announcements were sent on commodities with nonstandard patent tags and the termination announcement of 24 food and drug patents were put on the Internet. As invited, Shanghai Intellectual Property Administration assigned officials to station in 21 large exhibitions and handled 91 patent infringement cases on the site.

The municipal urban management and legal enforcement departments together with relevant units jointly carried out campaigns on intellectual property protection, such as the “Spring-Autumn Campaign”, the “100-day Anti-piracy Campaign”, the “Spring Tide Campaign”, the “Silver Sword Campaign”, the “Gust Wind Campaign” and the “Gold Shield Campaign”, striking illegal stalls on the roads and the selling of pirated CDs, software, books and other commodities without the business license. In 2007, the municipal urban management and law enforcement units carried out over 144, 000 times of road inspection, rectified 39,000 cases of selling infringement commodities on the roads, transferred 438, 000 pieces of pirated audio and video products to cultural law enforcement departments and carried out united law enforcement actions for 786 times with relevant departments.

The cultural law enforcement organizations in Shanghai Municipality and all districts carried out the “Daily Anti-piracy Action” with the theme of protecting intellectual property and striking infringement and piracy, the” Spring Action” and the “Summer Battles” with the theme of attacking illegal political publications and illegal publishing activities and the “Spring-Autumn Campaign” with the theme of striking the pirated books, magazines, newspapers, audio and video products and computer software. They organized staff to check repeatedly, targeting the major areas and suspects and ensuring that “actions are taken every day and achievements are made every day”. 4429 cases for administrative penalty were handled by cultural law enforcement units of the two levels. 8,028,000 copies of audio and video products (electronic publications) and 820,000 copies of pirated books, magazines and newspapers were confiscated the whole year of 2007. Shanghai Municipal Culture, Radio Broadcasting, Film and Television Administration confiscated 7,310,000 copies of illegal audio and video products, creating a new high in history.

The municipal public security departments at all levels carried out a series of special campaigns such as the “Mountain Eagle Action”, “Striking the Production and Selling of Counterfeits” and “Eliminate Pornographic and Illegal Publications”, “The Spring Battle and Summer Battle to Strike Political Illegal Publications and Illegal Publishing Activities”, “Daily Action Against Piracy”, the effect of which had been witnessed. 1921 intellectual property infringement cases were investigated and handled in 2007; 2220 suspects were punished and RMB 490,000,000 yuan worth of illegal money and commodities were retrieved. In July, 2007, under the united arrangement of the Ministry of Public Security PRC, Shanghai, Guangdong and American police launched the “Summer Solstice Action” simultaneously, uncovering a severe case of multi-national pirated software production. All the 11 suspects were captured and 22 pirated mastering CDs and 360,000 pieces of high-quality pirated software, CDs, certificates, etc were retrieved. The illegal fund and real estate worth RMB 60,000,000 yuan were frozen up by police.

In accordance with the requirements of the Customs Law of China and the Acts for the Customs Protection of Intellectual Property and relevant regulations, Shanghai Customs maintained the high-pressure towards the intellectual property infringement activities in import & export and actively carried out the “Dragon Boat Campaign”, effectively supporting the fair competition of foreign trade in Shanghai Port. In 2007, 310 pieces of intellectual property infringement cases were concluded with commodities suspected of infringement worth of RMB 86, 000,000 yuan and illegal money worth of RMB 90, 000,000  yuan being retrieved, an increase of 9.15%, 145.71% and 125% respectively compared with that of last year.

Since its establishment, Shanghai Intellectual Property Report and Complaint Center had accepted over 18,000 pieces of calling, recorded and transferred 128 pieces of appeals. By the end of 2007, 122 pieces of appeals had been concluded and the rate of case concluding had reached 95%. In the meantime, The Shanghai Branch Website under the Chinese Intellectual Property Protection Website was taken as an important platform to publicize the 12312 hotline. By the end of 2007, over 3600 pieces of information had been published on the branch website, which displayed the role of the branch website in publicizing relevant laws, regulations and knowledge on intellectual property protection and established a good image of local intellectual property protection. In 2007, Shanghai Intellectual Property Report and Complaint Center also set up 7 workstations in 4 national economic and technological development zones (Minhang Zone, Caohejing Zone, Hongqiao Zone and Jinqiao Zone) and 3 model districts in the field of outsourcing (Pudong, Luwan and Changning) to provide the complaint and advisory service to the enterprises within these areas.

II.    Promote Publicity & Training and Increase the Public Awareness of Intellectual Property

On every April since the year of 2004, the General Office of Shanghai Intellectual Property Joint Conference would hold large-sized “Publicity Week on Intellectual Property Protection” activities in Shanghai. The 2007 publicity week witnessed equal emphasis on intellectual property development and protection. Relevant departments of the municipal and district government cooperated with each other and held over 160 activities of definite themes, rich content and different forms successively, raising new round of awareness on creating, respecting and protecting intellectual property.

On April 20, 2007, the General Office of Shanghai Intellectual Property Joint Conference, the Municipal Office of Rectification and Standardization of Market Order and other relevant units jointly organized the opening ceremony of “2007 Publicity Week on Intellectual Property Protection in Shanghai”. In the opening speech, the Deputy Secretary General of the municipal government appealed the citizens to make intellectual property protection the united action of the society, to take efforts to strengthen the awareness of independent innovation by rejecting counterfeits and pirated products, and to cultivate the sense of pride in buying the original editions and genuine brands. Shanghai Municipal Culture, Radio Broadcasting, Film and Television Administration, Shanghai Municipal Press and Publication Bureau, Shanghai Intellectual Property Administration and Shanghai General Brigade of Cultural Market Administration and Law Enforcement jointly destroyed 500,000 copies of illegal audio and video products. Shanghai World Expo Coordination Bureau and Shanghai Intellectual Property Administration jointly hosted the Seminar on the Intellectual Property Protection of Shanghai World Expo, and the Ceremony of Appointing the Intellectual Property Consultants for Shanghai World Expo. The participants of the seminar studied and discussed the measures for the implementation of the Program on the Intellectual Property Protection of 2010 Shanghai World Expo. Shanghai Administration for Industry & Commerce organized large-sized trademark consultation and publicity activities in the major business streets, squares, stations and other local key areas. Intellectual Property volunteers from Fudan University, Shanghai University, Jiaotong University, Tongji University and East China University of Political Science and Law organized the Publicity activity themed as “Respecting Intellectual Property and Taking United Actions” in the Century Square on East Nanjing Road. The publication of “10 Typical Cases on Intellectual Property Protection in Shanghai in 2006”, “10 Typical Pieces of News and News Characters on Intellectual Property Protection in Shanghai in 2006” attracted the attention from the public and exerted great influences in the society. Shanghai Municipal Culture, Radio Broadcasting, Film and Television Administration, Shanghai Municipal Press and Publication Bureau, Shanghai Intellectual Property Administration and Shanghai General Brigade of Cultural Market Administration and Law Enforcement and other units jointly awarded the title of “Demonstration Store Selling Original Audio and Video Products” to 70 stores; Shanghai Customs held the Publicity Conference of Protecting Intellectual Property and Promoting the Development of Innovation and the Seminar on Intellectual Property of the World Expo.

During the Intellectual Property Publicity Week, various news media in Shanghai made in-depth and comprehensive reports on the activities of the Publicity Week and status of intellectual property in Shanghai on TV, radio and newspapers every day. “Intellectual Property” had become the focus and hot spot of news media report. Large slogan plates for the publicity of intellectual property protection were installed along the elevated highway in the central city; light boxes with the ads for “Protecting Intellectual Property and Promoting the Development of Innovation” were installed in the major subway stations; pictures publicizing intellectual property were posted on buildings, squares, schools and streets, manuals and souvenirs to publicize intellectual property were also issued; public ads for intellectual property protection were played in rolls on the channels of Shanghai TV Station and Shanghai Oriental Satellite TV. In cooperation with China Unicom Group (Shanghai), the text messages appealing to “Respect and Protect Intellectual Property and Care the Source of Innovation” were sent to 500,000 Unicom users on the 4.26 World Intellectual Property Day . The leaders of Shanghai Intellectual Property Administration were invited to Eastday.com and had online communication themed as “Intellectual Property—Supporting Innovation Action” with a large number of citizens. Shanghai Intellectual Property Administration conducted the fourth survey on the intellectual property recognition among citizens through “Citizen Mail Box” and with the help of intellectual property volunteers from universities, efficiently improve the public awareness of intellectual property.

III. Highlight Fairness & Efficiency and Upgrade the Proficiency of Intellectual Property Trial

In 2007, Shanghai municipal courts at all levels accepted 1228 first-instance and second-instance civil cases and concluded 1227 cases with a year-on-year increase of 10.2% and 13.4% respectively. Among the cases, 1050 first-instance cases were accepted and 1055 were concluded, bringing a year-on-year increase of 8.0% and 13.4% respectively. At the same period, 71 pieces of criminal cases on intellectual property were accepted, all of which were concluded, an increase of 1.4% and 4.4% respectively. 164 pieces of intellectual property cases related with foreign countries and Hongkong, Macao and Taiwan regions were accepted. The cases were with significant social influences such as the two disputes over invention patent infringement filed by Qualcomm Co., Ltd (US) against Nokia Communication Co., Ltd, and two trademark infringement disputes filed by Nike International Co., Ltd against “Air Jordan”, two trademark disputes filed by American Levi Strauss & Co. for the infringement of “LEVI’S” trademark, etc. There were many other new types of cases such as the lawsuit of American Microchip Technology Inc. against Shanghai Haier IC Co., Ltd for the copyright infringement of computer software, which was the first micro program-related case in Shanghai; Fu Zhanbei’s lawsuit against Beijing Sohu Company for copyright infringement was the first case concerning the infringement of short message text works through the dissemination by information network.

Courts in Shanghai concluded a batch of typical cases, offering experience for the judgment of similar cases. For instance, the judgment of the lawsuit filed by Shanghai Ezaki Glico Foods Co., Ltd against Shanghai Daheng Foods Co., Ltd, etc for its illegal use of package design patented by owner of “Garden Biscuit” showed that whether the defendant constituted the unfair competition for the illegal use of the package patented by famous products has nothing to do with the patent for commodity design held by the defendant.

Through the conservation of evidence before litigation, civil sanction, judicial proposals and the postscript by the judge and many other measures, courts in Shanghai intensified judicial protection for intellectual property and had achieved sound effects. For example, in the case filed by American Synopsys Company against Shanghai Yushuo Inc Technology for the conservation of software evidence before litigation, Shanghai No.1 Intermediate People’s Court successfully conserved the evidence. In the hearing of the copyright software infringement case between Yang Guoguang and Shanghai Xijiao Instrument Inc, the defendant was found to infringe the copyright again after the conclusion of lawsuit by Shanghai No.2 Intermediate People’s Court and was imposed a penalty of RMB 20, 000 yuan for civil sanction. In view of the evident infringement intention and the serious offense, the defendant was fined RMB 50, 000 yuan in the lawsuit filed by Universal City Studios LLLP against Shanghai Yueying Audio and Video Products Inc for copyright infringement. The defendant was fined RMB 100, 000 yuan in the lawsuit filed by Anheuser-Busch against Putian Golden Spoon Beer Inc for the trademark infringement of Budweiser. In the lawsuit filed by Sweden Alfa-Laval Co., Ltd against Jiangying Hengli Refrigeration Inc for patent infringement, the trial judge, the execution judge and technologists of the No. 2 Intermediate People’s Court identified the infringing models on the site and supervised the destroying of the key parts of the model s by gas welding after imposing the civil sanction of confiscating the infringing models. The execution judge also collected the models which could not be destroyed on the site. The implementation of this civil sanction not only won the praises from the foreign patentee but also was a meaningful attempt in the execution procedures and means of destroying the infringing models. After hearing the two cases filed by Nike International Company against Shanghai Auchan Supermarket Inc, etc for trademark infringement, Shanghai No.2 Intermediate People’s Court sent judicial suggestions to Auchan Supermarket in terms of its selling of infringing products. Auchan was suggested to enhance the intellectual property protection, strictly standardize examination procedures on purchasing channels and complete the management system. Following the hearing of the appeal of Fu Zhanbei against Sohu Company for copyright infringement to the “Short Messages on Love”, Shanghai No.2 Intermediate People’s Court signed and attached the “Postscript by the Judge” to the judgment document, requiring Sohu Company to improve the awareness of intellectual property law and further strengthen the content management.  

IV.  Further international Cooperation and Realize New Progress in Intellectual Property Exchange

Shanghai Municipal Government laid great emphasis on international cooperation and exchange in the field of intellectual property, by promoting the mutual communication and development in various forms.

The General Office of Shanghai Intellectual Property Joint Conference together with the EU organizations in China held the Symposium for EU Enterprises on Shanghai Intellectual Property Protection and successively organized the Briefing on the Status of Shanghai Intellectual Property Protection in 2006, introducing to the foreign consulates, foreign chambers of commerce and foreign-invested enterprises in Shanghai the status of Shanghai intellectual property protection and hearing the suggestions and answering questions from the audience.

Shanghai Intellectual Property Administration organized “the Fifth International Forum on Intellectual Property in Shanghai” themed as “the Impact of TRIPS Agreement on the Economic Development of Asian Countries” and the “Forum on Intellectual Property Management Cooperation between Shanghai and EU Enterprises”. Through these communication activities common ground was reached. Shanghai Intellectual Property Service Center sponsored the “Second Shanghai Workshop on Intellectual Property Cooperation between Chinese and Japanese Enterprises” and “Promotion Exhibition of German Technology with Patent” with the theme of “Industry, Academy and Research”. Shanghai Intellectual Property Development and Research Center also participated in the sponsoring of the “Second China Intellectual Property Summit” themed as “the Management of Intellectual Property Strategies of Hi-tech Enterprises”. Over 80 famous multi-national enterprises home and abroad were present at the invitation of Shanghai Intellectual Property Development and Research Center. Shanghai Intellectual Property Administration carried forward the implementation of “Sino-US 650 Cooperation Project” for the cultivation of intellectual property professionals and assigned 8 representatives from different circles to US for a 4-month training program as exchanging visitors. Shanghai Intellectual Property Administration also organized the intellectual property managers of local enterprises and the representatives from relevant organizations to attend intellectual property training programs in America, Australia, etc.

Shanghai Administration for Industry and Commerce took active participation in foreign publicity and established a good image in intellectual property protection. The leaders of Shanghai Administration for Industry and Commerce were invited to attend the Forum on Global Brand in Shanghai Industrial Exhibition, Global Brand (China) Summit, etc, introducing the status of trademark protection in Shanghai and addressing the importance of trademark in promoting the rapid and sound development of Shanghai’s economy.

Shanghai Copyright Bureau undertook the seminar themed as “Copyright in the Network Environment: Challenges and Solutions” as one of China-EU information society projects，which provided valuable opportunities for experts form the courts, administrations, academies, enterprises and law firms to comprehend the latest development of network copyright legislation and justice.

Shanghai Customs and Rotterdam Customs of the Netherlands launched active cooperation. In July, 2007, the law enforcement data exchange between Shanghai Customs and Rotterdam Customs was realized for the first time in history, which marked the entry into the substantial implementation phase of the exchange and cooperation between the two parties on intellectual property protection. It’s also the first on the level of all customs directly under China Customs. In the assessment in Sep, 2007, both parties valued the results of cooperation and determined to continuously cooperate on intellectual property protection as a key project in the following two years. 

The communication between different governments, between governments and enterprises and between different enterprises has developed rapidly, promoting information exchange, experience sharing and mutual discussion to reach common ground. It also played a vigorous role in promoting the further cooperation in the field of intellectual property.

Conclusion

Great achievements of intellectual property protection have been reached in Shanghai in 2007. However, there still existed some weak points. For example, the forces and means of law enforcement should be further strengthened; the working capabilities of relevant departments on intellectual property were not on the same level; the awareness of intellectual property was not clear enough in the hearts of ordinary people; counterfeits and pirated products still existed in the markets; the ability of creating and utilizing intellectual property still waited for further upgrade.

In 2008, in accordance with the requirement and united arrangement of the central government with scientific outlook on development, the Shanghai Municipal Government will push forward the implementation of intellectual property strategies. The local government will start with the construction of intellectual property capability, law and culture, to strengthen the ability of independent innovation. It will continuously improve the intellectual property protection system, strike intellectual property infringement activities and create favorable environment for investment in Shanghai.