- Beijing

ASEAN IP links

An intellectual property training program that began in mid-June attracted 20 officials from 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the ASEAN Secretariat. The program aims to promote exchanges of patent documentation, develop a patent examination system based on cloud-computing technologies and enhance corporate IP management and enforcement between China and ASEAN.

sipo.gov.cn

- Zhejiang

Fine for fake footballs

A court in Yiwu city recently ruled that a local company must pay 50,000 yuan ($8,005) compensation for trying to export 50 footballs without authorization carrying Adidas trademarks and the same design as Brazuca, the official ball of the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Customs found the balls along with a shipment of cargo for the United Arab Emirates late last year. Adidas filed a lawsuit against the company in February.

Legal Times

- Shandong

3D printer for schools

A Qingdao high-tech company recently launched an advanced desktop 3D printer designed for teaching in primary and middle schools. The Doodle Dream 3D allows users to print the objects they draw on a smartphone or an iPad linked through Wifi technology. The company has also established two experience centers in the city that are open to the public for free. The new 3D printer will be sold at a price from 3,600 yuan to 4,800 yuan.

Qingdao Financial Daily

- Jiangsu

Design patent database

A national industrial design patent database has been completed in Wuxi, the only professional image search system on the Chinese mainland that allows for access to industrial design data both in China and abroad. It had more than 4 million patents on industrial designs in the database by the end of May. Images collected in the database now exceed 20 million.

Xinhua Daily

- Jiangxi

Patent agent examination

Nearly 400 people in the province signed up for this year's patent agent examination in the provincial capital Nanchang, more than triple the number last year and a record high. Most come from high-tech companies, universities and IP-related service providers and agencies and many are postgraduate students and PhD candidates.

jiangxi.gov.cn

- Fujian

Invention rights auctioned

The first patent auction in the province was held last week in Fuzhou city, when seven deals were made with a total value of 730,000 yuan. Before the auction, 28 invention patents were publicized for review on the Internet, but only eight made it to auction. One of the auctioned items was withdrawn after the final bid failed to meet the reserve price.

Sipo.gov.cn

- Hong Kong

Intangible heritage list

The Leisure and Cultural Service Department announced the special administrative region's first intangible cultural heritage list last week. It covers 480 centuries-old traditions including Cantonese opera, the Dragon Boat Festival, the Yu Lan Festival and traditional Chinese medicines. A spokesman for the department said the items were selected from about 800 entries after more than three years of research and collection.

Xinhua News Agency

(China Daily 06/25/2014 page17)