Chinese farmer sues Volkswagen
BEIJING (Reuters) - A Chinese farmer, turning the usual run of copyright lawsuits on its head, is suing German car giant Volkswagen A.G. for its use of what he says is his patented anti-theft device, state media reported.
Guo Jingkun, 54, from northern Hebei province, said Volkswagen, two joint venture companies and a car dealer had violated his intellectual property rights by using the system.
"The technology Volkswagen used for the system is the mixture of my patent and other technology ... so it violates my patent and technology rights," Xinhua news agency quoted Guo as saying in court, referring to VW's Audi A6 and A8. VW had dismissed Guo's claim as lacking "evidence and verity," Xinhua said.
Guo demanded that VW stop using the locking device he invented in 1996 and patented in 2002 and pay compensation, Xinhua said.
It did not give details about how it worked.
"Guo is full of confidence," Xinhua said, despite the fact that he could not afford a lawyer.
The case marks a sharp turnaround from the practice of overseas firms suing Chinese companies for breach of copyright.
A group of U.S. congressmen urged China this month to step up protection of intellectual property, saying violations were costing American companies billions of dollars every year.
Industry groups estimate that U.S. music, movie and software companies lose up to $3.8 billion a year in China from sales of pirated copies, a headache for firms such as entertainment giant Walt Disney Co. and software titan Microsoft Corp..
Industrial firms such as U.S. car giant General Motors have complained that Chinese companies have copied their designs, and knock-offs of the latest Louis Vuitton and Nike styles can be bought for a fraction of the price of the legitimate product. Source
China plans unmanned moon mission by 2007
BEIJING, China (Reuters) -- China plans to launch its first unmanned lunar flight by 2007 in a three-phase mission that aims to bring back rock samples, state media said on Tuesday.
In the second stage, a lunar vehicle would land on the moon by 2012 and by 2017 the rock samples could be collected, the report said quoting aerospace officials.
"Scientists hope to get to know the moon's environment and analyse the composition of lunar rocks," the China Daily quoted Luan Enjie, chief commander of China's lunar exploration program, as saying.
China has developed an ambitious space program since its first Long March rocket blasted off in 1970. It became the third country to successfully send a man into space in October 2003 and regularly sends up research satellites.
China's lunar orbiter weighed more than two tons and was expected to fly for a year, collecting information for a mapping of the moon's surface and studying its mineral content, Luan said.
He did not say when China might be sending an astronaut to the moon, but said the 2017 mission would provide data for a manned expedition. Source
Unlimited flights for China's west
SHANGHAI, China (AP) -- China plans to allow overseas carriers to operate an unlimited number of international flights in the country's west.
The government hopes to boost growth in the relatively underdeveloped region, state media said Tuesday.
"There will be no more limits on overseas carriers' applications for operating international flights in western areas," the China Daily newspaper quoted civil aviation official Yang Guoqing as saying.
The report gave few specifics, but Yang appeared to indicate that restrictions would be lifted over six provinces and autonomous regions in western China that are now home to 32 airports.
Passenger traffic in those areas, which include the important tourism regions of Tibet and Yunnan province, rose 35 percent in 2004 over the previous year, the report said.
The six regions are due to add another 16 airports by the end of the decade and have a total of 60 by 2020, according to a separate report by the Xinhua News Agency.
Source
China picks female space trainees
BEIJING, China (AP) -- China's space program has picked 35 women as possible candidates to be its first female astronaut, and plans to launch her into space by 2010, the government has said.
The women, aged 17 to 20, will train as pilots at the Chinese's military's Aviation University, the official Xinhua News Agency said, citing a school official.
"Some of them will be picked out and trained for future space voyages," said the official, who wasn't identified further.
China launched its first manned space flight in October 2003 and says it plans to launch a pair of astronauts into orbit later this year.
The government said earlier that its first female astronaut was expected to be a researcher on a planned space station. Earlier news reports said pilots of Chinese spacecraft will still be men.
The female trainees were picked after officials considered more than 200,000 young Chinese women, the official said.
"Those newly recruited female students ... have not only achieved the best grades during the selection exams, but also behaved fairly good in the mental tests," the official was quoted as saying.
Trainees will study flight skills, science and aviation theory, he said.
Hundreds of Chinese women have flown for China's air force and civilian airlines.
The United States and Russia are the only other countries that have sent manned spacecraft into orbit, and both have sent women into space. Source
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