Commutation of jail-terms through patents remains problematic   

“监狱发明家”或已成产业链 减刑服务网上叫卖

2014年12月9日，北京市第二中级人民法院当庭宣判，裁定减去原足协副主席、国家体育总局足球运动管理中心主任南勇一年有期徒刑，减刑原因之一是南勇在服刑期间发明4项专利，获得监狱方面的表扬。据公开报道，因在狱中进行发明创造而获得减刑的现象并不少见，仅是有姓名可查的官员、名人在狱中进行发明创造的现象已屡见报端。[查看全文]

(ECNS) - Some entrepreneurial prisoners are sidestepping life behind bars and taking advantage of a legal loophole to get out of prison by applying for low-cost patents, the Beijing Youth Daily reports.

The Beijing No 2 Intermediate People's Court has announced a one-and-a-half year reduction in the sentence of China's former soccer chief Nan Yong after he invented four devices with patents granted by the State Intellectual Property Office.

Two of the devices are related to soccer training, while the other two are a mobile phone kickstand and a device to control multiple desktop computer monitors.

Nan was sentenced to 10 years and six months in June 2012 after a nationwide crackdown on match-fixing and corruption in soccer.

Nan is among other jailed officials across the country who have received commuted sentences after successful inventions, the newspaper says.

Liang Jianxing, a former Party Health Bureau chief in Fenghua city, Zhejiang province, was imprisoned for taking bribes in 2008. By November 2014 he had won 11 national patents, including for an eye massager and a nose mask to combat air pollution. Liang had his term reduced one year and three months in 2011 because of "good behavior."

Another official from Sichuan province, Lou Weigang, applied for state patents for two inventions after he was jailed in 2006.

Chen Jianping, a geothermal official at the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Land and Resources, secured a patent for a discovery in the field of energy.

According to China's Criminal Law, a criminal may have their punishment commuted if they perform any of six meritorious services, including "conduct invention, creation or great technical innovation."

A state patent is usually regarded as a certificate of "invention" and may pave the way for commutation.

Most inventions by prisoners fall into the application-based category as defined by China's patent law, and these inventions require less effort and are subject to a looser approval process, the newspaper says.