IPR

Are you interested in how you can protect your Intellectual Property rights in China? The China IP SME Helpdesk has published factsheets that provide a quick overview of relevant intellectual property information for the regions that fall within the geographical scope of the China IP SME Helpdesk -...

A European company in the dental instruments sector was selling its product in China through a Chinese distributor when it discovered a competitor in China was offering a similar product with lower specification using an identical design. The technical manual, diagrams and parts of the competitor’s...

In 2011, the residents of Kunming, a city in the Southwest region of China, were delighted to find out that an IKEA shop had been established there. In actuality, the store is an enormous, multi-level copycat shop that sells modern IKEA-like furniture and even copies the distinctive blue and yellow...

China has a population of over 1.3 billion people and as of June 2020, 940 million ‘netizens’ – people actively involved in online communities. With Alibaba Group and JD leading the way, e-commerce is now well developed in China. According to the World Economic Forum, from January to November 2020...

The European Commission has published a new Action Plan on Intellectual Property to help companies, especially small and medium-sized companies (SMEs), make the most of their inventions and creations. Intellectual property (IP) is a key driver for economic growth as it helps companies to valorise...

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...

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...

Internet usage is truly booming in China, with more than 701 million ‘netizens’ (as of December 2016), China connects more people to the Internet than any other country. In fact, every fourth person on the Internet is from China. Facilitated by the increasing availability of broadband technology and...

Prior trade mark registrations, also called ‘bad-faith registrations’, are a significant problem that many European companies encounter in China. This process commonly involves a Chinese company first registering the trade mark of a foreign company in China with the express intention of selling it...

In this article, we will discuss protecting IP when seeking Chinese manufacturers and will address what it takes to design an NNN (non-use, non-disclosure, and non-circumvention agreements) which can pose enough of a credible threat to dissuade contract violations. Defining protected information...

China’s intellectual property rights (IPR) system has come a long way in the past 30 years, and development continues – a revision of the trade mark law came into force in May, paving the way for more thorough protection for rights holders. Although China is now coming into line with international...

For most businesses, intangible assets represent more than 50% of the value of the enterprise. The most significant group of intangible assets are those protected by intellectual property such as inventions, designs and brands. Since they form such a large part of the overall value, their management...