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China Plans Increase In Proprietary Innovations
by Winter Casey
China plans to significantly increase the number of proprietary innovations coming out of its country.
By 2010, home-grown innovations will make up 20 percent of China's total export volume for mechanic and electronic products, Chinese Vice Minister of Commerce Wei Jianguo said in a June 30 statement. At the same time, high-technology products are expected to make up 55 percent of the country's exports in those areas.
In 2005, China's high-tech exports hit a high of $218.3 billion or 28.6 percent of the nation's total export volume. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce has made "rejuvenating trade with science and technology" a priority, said Wang Qinhua, a ministry director. The Chinese government also has set aside $62 million to support domestic industrial innovations.
Government efforts to encourage innovation eventually will result in 160 new proprietary brand name products that will cover a range of areas from electronics to biology, according to the country's Ministry of Science and Technology.
Also in China, the country's Ministry of Agriculture has launched six major information network platforms to help control animal diseases. The platforms will collect and analyze data, provide warnings and predictions, and enable code-based tracking and speedy emergency responses. One platform collects data through fixed and mobile networks before making a decision based on satellite and geographic data.
"The disease control and commanding data can be shown on computer screens, perfectly matching with the geographic coordinates, using GPS technology," the Ministry of Science and Technology said in a government newsletter released June 30. "The system allows an interaction between the field control efforts and the distant commanding system, by displaying evidences directly on the platform."
In other news, Joseph Borrell's visit this week to China is the first by an EU Parliament president in 13 years. Borrell said he plans to discuss with Chinese leaders opportunities that could emerge from strengthening relations with the EU.
Meanwhile, a new study released Tuesday by the United States Council Foundation has found that the growing trade relationship between the United States and China has benefited U.S. companies. The study found that China has made progress in reducing trade and investment barriers, which has opened up new opportunities for U.S. firms.
ITC Launches Probe Into Qualcomm Patent Accusations
Qualcomm announced Friday that the U.S. International Trade Commission has launched an investigation into allegations that Nokia has infringed on one or more of Qualcomm's patents. Qualcomm filed a complaint June 9 with the ITC requesting that the ITC stop the importation of Nokia handsets and other products that Qualcomm alleged infringed on its patents.
The company also asked the agency to block further sales of what Qualcomm says are infringing Nokia products that already have been imported and prohibit other activities related to the distribution of the imported products in the United States.
Qualcomm said it expects an initial decision by Robert Barton Jr., the presiding administrative law judge in the case, during the first half of 2007.
In a June 12 statement, Nokia said "it appears that most of the patents which are the subject matter of Qualcomm's [complaint to the ITC]...are believed by Nokia to be covered by Qualcomm's prior agreements to license on fair and reasonable terms and are thus not properly subject to a request by Qualcomm to the ITC."
Meanwhile, KLA-Tencor, a semiconductor manufacturing firm, said Tuesday that its planned acquisition of ADE, which makes products for semiconductor wafer, semiconductor device, magnetic data storage and optics manufacturing industries, has been delayed. The deal between the two U.S.-based firms must still be approved by German antitrust authorities. It already has been cleared by antitrust authorities in the United States and other countries with jurisdiction over the deal.
Innovation, Competitiveness Top Priorities for EU
Innovation in the European Union could be aided by the development of standards, public procurement, a better regulatory environment, and the protection of intellectual property rights, a top EU official said last week.
"The early prospective development of standards by stakeholders will help drive the demand for high technical performance levels," European Commissioner for Science and Research Janez Potocnik said. "The example of mobile phones is a classical one. The early development of a common European standard for mobile phones was an extremely important factor in the success of the European telecommunications industry."
Potocnik touted the benefits of technology platforms during a speech he delivered at an EU seminar with industrial leaders on the subject. Technology platforms look to foster research and technological development through effective public-private partnerships between the research community, industry and policy makers.
"European Technology Platforms are in an excellent position to identify areas where such standardization could be decisive in developing new high-growth markets, and agreeing on what those standards should be and how to get them established," Potocnik said. They bring "a competitive advantage for Europe in boosting our industrial competitiveness."
But he also warned that a fragmented regulatory environment in Europe is stifling innovation. "To improve this situation, we need to develop a pre-emptive and anticipatory approach to product market regulation," Potocnik said.
Improving intellectual property protections will "create more legal certainty" and "ensure the effective protection and diffusion of knowledge as technological progress is made," he said. He added that research and development is a "priority in the face of globalization."
Potocnik said a recent EU report cited e-health as an example of an area "where the market for innovation can work and where public policy can have a key role. European collaboration in this field could bring tremendous opportunities for standardization, shared assessment of technologies and, hence, market creation."
The goal is to invest 3 percent of the European Union's gross domestic product in research, he said, with two-thirds coming from the private sector.
Meanwhile, EU ministers gathered on Monday and Tuesday for an informal meeting focused on challenges to the EU's innovation policy. "Innovation is where Europe appears to lag most behind its main competitors," according to an EU summary on the event. "The EU invests about a third less in research than the United States, and the EU-U.S. innovation gap has not narrowed in recent years."
Finland State Secretary for Trade and Industry Anssi Paasivirta warned this week that the European Union could experience a "brain drain" to Asia and the United States if it does not focus on promoting innovation and increasing its investments in education and research.
Also on the EU front, European Commission Vice President Gunter Verheugen will be in Japan Thursday and Friday where he will meet with Japanese leaders to discuss ways to enhance economic competitiveness and promote innovation. The officials also are expected to discuss strengthening intellectual property rights.
Dominican Republic Joins WTO IT Agreement
The World Trade Organization announced Friday that the Dominican Republic has become the 68th member of the organization's Information Technology Agreement. Countries that agree to sign on to the ITA must eliminate tariffs and all other charges on certain IT imports from all WTO members. Currently, membership in the ITA makes up more than 97 percent of world trade in IT products, the WTO said.
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