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Showing posts with label Rights. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rights. Show all posts

Friday, April 26, 2024

Beating US in sci-tech

China is No.1 in technological innovation for the first time 

AS China takes a leading role in technological innovation around the world, its efforts to help Chinese enterprises protect their intellectual property rights overseas have increased, an official from the country’s top IP regulator said.

Shen Changyu, head of the China National Intellectual Property Administration, told a news conference on Wednesday that China had 24 “top 100 science and technology clusters” by the end of last year, ranking first in the world for the first time.

The ranking was issued by the World Intellectual Property Organization in its Global Innovation Index 2023.

According to the index, the top 100 science and technology clusters were concentrated in three regions last year – North America, Europe and Asia – and more specifically in two countries – China and the United States.

For the first time last year, China was the economy with the most clusters ranked among the top 100, overtaking the US’ 21 clusters, the same as in 2022, the index showed.

Shen said the achievement was due to the improvement in the quality and quantity of domestic innovation.

He said China authorised 921,000 invention patents last year, up 15.3% year-on-year.

Shen emphasised that IP rights are crucial for an enterprise’s international competitiveness, adding that the administration has taken effective measures to help domestic companies strengthen IP protection when going global.

For instance, the administration has set up a national response and guidance centre for overseas IP disputes with the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, and has also established stations in countries and regions with intensive trade exchanges to provide professional and efficient IP services for domestic enterprises, he said.

The centre and stations served 1,706 companies last year, helping them recover economic losses of 6.89 billion yuan (RM4.46bil), he said.

“We’ve also continued boosting the collection and supply of overseas IP information, and used online platforms to regularly release IP legal rules and risk warning messages of major nations and regions to help our companies learn about the IP situation in a timely manner,” Shen added.

He said the training of lawyers who can tackle foreign-related IP cases will be increased, and more centres and stations will be built.

China also intensified a crackdown on counterfeits and endeavoured to protect copyrights last year.

Kuang Xu, an official from the State Administration for Market Regulation, said on Wednesday that 44,100 administrative cases related to violations of trademarks and patents were resolved last year.

Among those cases, 1,376 suspected of IP crimes were handed over to judicial authorities, he added.

More than 6.4 million copyrighted works were registered last year, up 42.3% year-on-year, and 4,745 cases of piracy or copyright infringement were resolved, said Tang Zhaozhi, from the copyright management bureau at the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee. — China Daily/ANN

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Wednesday, January 3, 2024

Tenants’ misdeeds not property owners' fault

Leasing ­is serious business: An aerial view of a residential area in Ampang, Kuala Lumpur. — GLENN GUAN/The Star


PETALING JAYA: Making landlords fully liable for their tenants is an infringement of fundamental liberties under the Federal Constitution, say property owners’ groups.

While a tenancy agreement must be in place to state the tenancy purpose and rights to terminate it, they said the proposed Residential Tenancy Act (RTA) must address all issues affecting both landlords and tenants.

Strata Owners Association Malaysia chairman Datuk Theng Book said it was unfair to put full responsibility on the landlord alone.

“Firstly, how would the landlord know if the tenant is a criminal? It is against the freedom of contract and Constitution to deal with our own property,” he said in an interview recently.

Theng, who is a lawyer, said landlords must have a tenancy agreement to spell out the purposes of the tenancy and rights to terminate it upon breaches, such as when tenants conduct illegal activities on the property.

“Or landlords can lodge a police report. The police must act,” he said.

When asked if a tenancy agreement was enough to safeguard landlords and tenants, he said it was as much as landlords can do.

“What else can landlords do? The police cannot pass their responsibility to landlords. It’s their job to go after criminals,” he said.

When asked further about the RTA, Theng said it should address the concerns of liberties being infringed while it is being drafted.

Senior lawyer Datuk Joy Appukuttan agreed, saying that the fundamental liberties under Article 5(1) of the Constitution, as well as equality before the law and protection under Article 8(1), would be infringed if the landlords are made absolutely liable for their tenants.

“The proposed RTA should be fair and address all issues affecting both landlord and tenants,” he said.

Joy, who is also Strata Property Owners Association Selangor legal adviser, said landlords could only provide stricter contractual terms in the tenancy agreement, which still boils down to enforceability.

“If the landlord knowingly allows his premises to be used for illegal purposes, then perhaps there is a case. If not, we can’t blame the landlord alone,” he added.

However, he also said the RTA was a move in the right direction.

“Many countries have such laws. However, the RTA must also provide a tribunal for adjudication of disputes between landlord and tenant.

“It is similar to the set-up of the Housing Tribunal and Strata Management Tribunal,” he said.

Joy said the tribunal could provide a swift form of remedy for landlord and tenant disputes.

“Such tribunals will be able to act swiftly and efficiently. If the landlord and tenant can represent themselves at these tribunals, then the cost would be lower.

“The current process of going to court is tedious, time consuming and costly,” he added.



Related:

https://www.edgeprop.my/content/property-owners-should-not-be-held-responsible-tenants%E2%80%99-wrongdoings

https://www.baymgmtgroup.com/blog/7-actionable-tips-for-dealing-with-terrible-tenants/


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