Thomson Scientific Announces Sponsorship With China's State Intellectual Property Office

Thomson Scientific Announces Sponsorship With China's State Intellectual Property Office

May 01, 2006

    PHILADELPHIA and LONDON, May 1 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ --
Thomson Scientific, a business of The Thomson Corporation,
today announced it has secured an exclusive sponsorship
deal with China's State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO)
to sponsor the SIPO China Intellectual Property News (CIPN)
Public Intellectual Property Contest - known as the Thomson
Scientific Cup China Public Intellectual Property Knowledge
Contest.

    In keeping with Thomson's vision of supporting global
innovation, Thomson Scientific has become the first company
to sponsor the Contest, which launched in 2005 with the aim
of improving public awareness of Intellectual Property (IP)
rights and, in line with the Chinese Government's 11th
Five-Year Plan, enhancing the ability of innovation for
Chinese enterprises.

    Thomson Scientific has worked closely with SIPO's CIPN
to develop the Contest and to gauge professional and
academic understanding of IP issues.  Launched to mark
World Intellectual Property Day 2006 (26 April), this
knowledge Contest asks questions on subjects including
piracy restrictions, the date China joined the Patent
Cooperation Treaty, the time limit for protection of an
invention patent, and trademarks that are not protected by
China's trademark act.  The Contest will run until July
2006, with the results providing an insight into how
Chinese organizations currently view and utilize IP.

    According to Thomson, which has more than 30 years
experience in China, this Contest is timely as, in 2005,
more patents were filed with China's SIPO than with the
Korean, Japanese or US patent offices, reflecting a true
shift towards innovation originating from Chinese
enterprises and nationals, as well as from foreign
companies that are registering patents in China. 

    Robert Cullen, president and chief executive officer of
Thomson Scientific & Healthcare explains:  "China
has ambitions to be an originator of ideas as well as a
producer of products.  It is clear from the number of
patents being registered with the State Intellectual
Property Office that real innovation is increasing in
China.  Thomson Scientific is in a position to offer
Chinese Universities and Enterprises access to the largest
commercial collection of patent data, the latest
technologies, and advanced data visualization tools to help
them to innovate further."

    Cullen continues: "Central to innovation is access
to reliable quality patent data.  Thomson is known as an
authoritative and reliable source of patent data
information, and its products and services can be used to
help Chinese enterprises achieve their objectives to
innovate faster and with higher frequency."

    This Contest is the latest demonstration by Thomson
Scientific of its commitment to China: it also has a
partnership with The Ministry of Information Industry (MII)
to develop the Thomson Joint Laboratory for Intellectual
Property Development which enables Chinese citizens to
access its patent databases through the MII Lab facility. 


    In addition, Robert Cullen will host C-Level EIU
roundtable discussions on innovation in China in Shanghai
and Beijing on 17 and 18 May 2006, and Thomson is set to
launch a dedicated Innovation in China website.  For more
information about Thomson innovation in China visit
http://www.innovationinchina.com .

    About The Thomson Corporation 

    The Thomson Corporation ( http://www.thomson.com ),
with 2005 revenues of $8.7 billion, is a global leader in
providing integrated information solutions to business and
professional customers.  Thomson provides value-added
information, software tools and applications to more than
20 million users in the fields of law, tax, accounting,
financial services, higher education, reference
information, corporate e-learning and assessment,
scientific research and healthcare.  With operational
headquarters in Stamford, Conn., Thomson has approximately
40,000 employees and provides services in approximately 130
countries.  The Corporation's common shares are listed on
the New York and Toronto stock exchanges (NYSE: TOC;
Toronto).

    Thomson Scientific is a business of The Thomson
Corporation.  Its information solutions assist
professionals at every stage of research and development -
from discovery to analysis to product development and
distribution.  Thomson scientific information solutions can
be found at http://www.scientific.thomson.com .

    For more information, please contact:

    The Americas
     Rodney Yancey, 
     Manager, Corporate Communications
     Thomson Scientific
     Tel:   [phone] x1396
     Email: [e-mail]

    Europe 
     Ryan Sheppard, 
     Senior Director, Marketing Services
     Thomson Scientific
     Tel:   [phone]
     Email: [e-mail] 

    China 
     Allison Wright
     Grayling China
     Tel:   [phone]
     Email: [e-mail]

SOURCE  Thomson Scientific