China IPR SME Helpdesk

Trade secrets are a valuable and highly useful form of intellectual property. Nearly all businesses in all industries and sectors have them. Nevertheless, they are often undervalued and overlooked by their owners. This is not least the case in the service sector where the relative value of trade...

Champagne, Bordeaux, Parma Ham, Parmesan - each of these products is associated with a certain region and are renowned and trusted for their nature, quality, and authenticity. As a consumer, you are probably more familiar with Scotch, Cognac, and Bavarian beer than unnamed brands claiming to use the...

Trade fairs are an excellent opportunity for a business to showcase new products and scout business partners for manufacturing, promotion, and distribution. Unfortunately, in China, these exhibitions are a common prowling grounds for intellectual property rights infringers, so it is important to...

Businesses in Europe have increasingly benefited from customs authorities acting to prevent counterfeit products from entering their borders – seizures of products, infringing on the intellectual property (IP) of others, make the news in Europe every week. However, not many businesses realise that...

China remains among the top destinations for any business looking to internationalise as the business environment continues to evolve in both production and consumption. This increase in supply and demand is shown through the rise in the production of sophisticated manufacturing products and complex...

It is a given that patent protection has to be requested before a respective product is introduced to a domestic national market. However, it is less often considered how a product may appeal in other world markets, and that these may not extend automatic protection for an invention registered back...

In 2011 China surpassed the United States as the world’s largest consumer market for the food and beverage (F&B) industry. Chinese demand for imported F&B products, fueled by food safety concerns involving domestically produced products such as the 2008 tainted milk scandal, has continued to rise...

Nearly all businesses in all industries and sectors possess trade secrets. Trade secrets are a valuable and highly useful form of intellectual property (IP) that are, nevertheless often undervalued and overlooked by their owners. This is not least the case in the service sector where the relative...

A European company in the dental instruments sector was selling their product in China through a Chinese distributor. The company discovered a competitor in China was offering a similar, but lower-specification product, using an identical exterior design, colour scheme, and control interface. The...

While in the past, European companies came to China to take advantage of low-cost manufacturing for export, more recently, they have come to enter the Chinese domestic market, establish R&D, engage in cooperative development, take advantage of a skilled work force, establish suppliers, and develop...

IP Protection in the Pharmaceutical Industry China is one of the largest pharmaceutical markets in the world. Its development is high on the government’s reform agenda, as they seek to provide stimulus and intensify research and development (R&D) activity. This, coupled with enhanced health...

China: Counterfeit goods and the internet The internet has become a popular and easy channel for product distribution around the world. It has created a marketplace of more than half a billion users in China, more than a third of the world’s total online population, and is still expanding. Apart...