MEDIA RELEASE PR37388
Beijing Court Upholds Copyright Protection for GMAT Exam
MCLEAN, Va., Dec. 3 /PRNewswire-AsiaNet/ --
The Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People's Court has upheld the right of the
Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) to protect its copyrights in the
Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) from infringement in China. The
GMAT exam is used by more than 4,700 graduate business programmes in almost
2,000 schools around the world as a critical part of the admission process.
GMAC sued Beijing Passion Consultancy Ltd. for providing copyrighted GMAT
materials to test takers for a fee, including reconstructed live questions
and questions from GMAT Prep materials, with much of the infringing activity
on Passion's website. GMAC detected Passion's illegal practices by using its
patent pending "ItemFind" software as well as other GMAC-developed
internet-based technologies.
Following a review of GMAC's evidence and an audit of Passion's
activities related to the GMAT, the Court and Presiding Judge Yi Jun,
supervised a mediation and settlement. The Mediation Statement entered by the
Court on November 23 requires Passion to "cease all infringing activities
immediately," to place a public apology in a nationally distributed
newspaper, and to post on its website a warning from GMAC to students about
the consequences of unethical behavior. Passion will also pay GMAC RMB
520,000 in compensation.
The Mediation Statement recognizes GMAC's copyrights in GMAT test
questions and related publications and notes that Passion distributed GMAT
materials without GMAC's permission in its "VIP training courses" and through
downloads from its website.
"The Court's actions send a strong message about the seriousness of
cheating and the potential consequences - including cancellation of GMAT
scores - for those who are caught cheating," said GMAC President and CEO
David A. Wilson. "We are committed to ensuring the integrity of the GMAT and
the admission process, and we will do all we can - through technology and the
legal process - to prevent, detect, report, and deter copyright infringement
and other unethical behavior."
Attorneys Zhou Qiang of ZY Partners in Beijing, and Robert Burgoyne of
Fulbright & Jaworski in Washington, D.C., who represented GMAC, noted that
this was one of the first lawsuits in China to confront internet-based
copyright infringement, and the first such lawsuit against a test preparation
program. The Chinese government has identified internet-based copyright
infringement as an area of concern in its Action Plan on IPR Protection.
The Graduate Management Admission Council (www.gmac.com) is an
association of leading graduate business schools around the world and owner
of the GMAT exam. It is based in McLean, Virginia, with a European office in
London. More information about the GMAT, which is the only standardized test
designed expressly for graduate business and management programs worldwide,
SOURCE: Graduate Management Admission Council
CONTACT: Judy Phair of the Graduate Management Admission Council
Office: +1-703-245-0660
Mobile: +1-202-903-3227
jphair@gmac.com
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