Last week we refreshed our memories about the basic Copyright protection in South-East Asia and as copyright issues are still fresh in our minds, it is now a good time to also delve into copyright issues in China. Today’s blog post thus gives a good basic overview of the Copyright protection in China.
Today, intellectual property rights have a strong footing in China, despite the persistence of media accounts suggesting otherwise. There are dedicated IP courts in major cities and litigation by foreign companies is frequently successful.
China is now making significant headway in the cultural and high-tech industries, where copyright is the key. One example is the book industry, with sales increasing by over 30% from 2013 to 2014. Another new industry is the mobile app industry, now worth over $8.7 billion (2015), with small domestic start-ups relying on copyright to safeguard them in a market where less cautious foreign app developers have been overtaken by copycats. Continue reading “Back to the Basics Series: Copyright Protection in China” »
As the summer vacation is almost over it’s time to refresh our memories about the basic IPR protection. Today’s blog post discusses copyright protection in South-East Asia, pointing out some of the main differences in all 10 ASEAN nations. 
Before even starting to prepare your trade mark registration application in China, it is vital to be sure that an identical or similar trade mark hasn’t been already registered in China. Today’s blog post is a step-by-step guide to how to use the China Trade Mark Office (CTMO) database to conduct preliminary trade mark research yourself.
As the market for smartphones is rapidly growing in South-East Asia and many European companies wish to enter the lucrative market of apps, it is time to take a look at how the European SMEs can best protect their valuable intellectual property when entering the South-East Asian markets. 
Should I only register my trade mark in China or should I also register my enterprise name? What’s the difference? In today’s blog post we will take a closer look at the difference between SMEs’ enterprise names and their trade marks and give advice on how to adequately protect both in China.