Category Archives: Industry Focus

Protecting your IP while Transferring Technology to China

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Manufacture4Since China’s market for clean technologies offers significant business opportunities for the European SMEs, then in this week, the EU Gateway Business Avenues took selected European companies to Beijing, China for a business mission in Clean Technologies. Many of these companies are considering bringing their technology to China, which however,  involves many IP risks. Therefore, in today’s blog post, we have chosen to discuss IP issues relating to technology transfer. The blog post offers some tips on how to safely bring your technology to China. 

Many European Companies are keen to come to China. 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 long-term partnerships in China. In order to achieve this, they are often willing to ‘transfer’ their key technology and designs to Chinese subsidiaries of European firms, joint-venture (JV) partners, or Chinese manufacturing and service companies. One of the challenges facing European companies coming to China is devising creative solutions to minimize the risk to their intellectual property (IP) associated with such technology transfers.

A technology transfer happens in a number of different ways. European companies most commonly transfer their technology by licensing their patents, designs, software, trade secrets, and know-how. Ownership of the technology may be transferred, but this type of transfer is less common. A common misconception is that a technology transfer is limited to transfers of high technology. However, many European companies using contract manufacturing to manufacture low technology, consumer, or industrial products, for example based on product designs, must deal with many of the same risks to their IP as their high technology counterparts. Continue reading “Protecting your IP while Transferring Technology to China” »

IPR Protection in Indonesia for Contemporary Design Industry

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shutterstock_385731427Since Indonesia’s design market and especially furniture design market offers interesting opportunities for European SMEs, 40 selected companies recently took part of the EU Gateway Business Avenues mission, where they met with local companies in Indonesia in early March 2017 to find business opportunities. As IP protection is the key to successful new business endeavors abroad, then in today’s blog post, we have chosen to discuss IP protection issues in the contemporary design industry in Indonesia. You will learn what you need to do in order to ensure that your product design is protected in Indonesia. 

Market Opportunities for European SMEs in Indonesia

Indonesia’s contemporary design industry holds great potential for European SMEs, supported by government’s initiatives of further developing the industry. Furniture sector is currently the backbone of Indonesia’s design industry as, boosted by high export demands, industrial production in Indonesia’s furniture industry has recorded high increase rate and profits gains over the past few years, a trend which will continue in 2017 and beyond, as Indonesia aims at becoming the dominant player in ASEAN’s furniture market[1].

Indonesia’s contemporary design market offers interesting business opportunities for European SMEs especially those engaged in the furniture and interior design sector, as the country can offer a competitive manufacturing base with relatively low labor costs and a wide availability of skilled carpenters and wood carvers. Furthermore, the country has vast resources of natural materials like teak, rattan or bamboo, attracting the attention of foreign investors.

The domestic market of Indonesia seems equally promising for imported European design products, especially products relating to interior design and home improvement as there is increasing demand for interior design services due to the booming domestic property sector, such as hotels, condotels, and restaurants. Moreover, the continued expansion of an affluent middle class in the country is driving the demand up for boutique producers of high-end contemporary furniture as well as niche sectors (i.e. leather furniture, European classic style pieces)[2]. Continue reading “IPR Protection in Indonesia for Contemporary Design Industry” »

IPR Protection in Singapore for Contemporary Design Industry

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Singapore designSince Singaporean design market offers interesting opportunities for European SMEs, 40 selected companies recently took part of the EU Gateway Business Avenues mission to Singapore, where they met with local companies in the context of the International Furniture Trade Fair that took place at the Singapore Expo just last week. As IP protection is the key to successful new business endeavors abroad, then in today’s blog post, we have chosen to discuss IP protection issues in the contemporary design industry in Singapore. You will learn what you need to do in order to ensure that your product design is protected in Singapore. 

Market Opportunities for European SMEs in Singapore

Underpinned by the efforts of the Singapore’s government to promote a shift to a high-tech creative economy in the industrial design and lifestyle sectors, Singapore is rapidly becoming a contemporary design hub, operating as a gateway to the whole Asian region. Being present in Singapore’s market, would also give European SMEs an easy access to the rest of Asia.

The domestic market of Singapore is also very promising for European SMEs in design sector. Changes in lifestyle across business and consumer segments have increased the demand for high quality products and new design solutions, which offers many business opportunities to European designers. Furthermore, increasing awareness and appetite for eco-friendly solutions amongst Singaporean increasingly affluent middle class offers lucrative business opportunities for European SMEs specialized in eco-design and new design solutions.

Promising business opportunities for European SMEs are also expected in the long run, as the demand for higher quality retail consumption is expected to grow steadily in Singapore. Forecasts show that over one-third of Singapore households will earn more than €135,000 by 2018[1]. Continue reading “IPR Protection in Singapore for Contemporary Design Industry” »

IP Protection for the Tourism Industry in Malaysia

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tourism in MalaysiaThe first warm days of the fast-approaching spring bring along with them the desire to travel and discover new places. Many European SMEs are also  thinking about setting up their own businesses within the tourism industry in South-East Asia and particularly in Malaysia, where the tourism industry is rapidly growing. In today’s blog post we are, therefore, taking a closer look at IP protection in  the tourism industry, focusing on brand protection – the cornerstone of IP protection in the tourism industry- and the protection of internet domain names.  

Underpinned by Malaysian government’s dedication of making tourism the cornerstone of its long-term economic planning, the tourism sector is booming in Malaysia. This year, the tourism sector is expected to bring in more than EUR 22 billion, which signifies an increase of nearly 70% on 2012 levels.[1] As the government is expected to further augment tourism-related funds in coming years, plenty of business opportunities will arise for the European SMEs in Malaysian tourism sector.

SMEs engaged in tourism need to pay special attention to protecting their intellectual property (IP) rights, because IP infringements are still relatively common in Malaysia. IP rights are a key factor for business success and neglecting to register them in Malaysia could easily end SMEs’ business endeavor in the country. Thus, a robust IPR strategy is needed, when entering the lucrative market of Malaysia.  Continue reading “IP Protection for the Tourism Industry in Malaysia” »

Dealing with Counterfeiters in China’s Cosmetics Market

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cosmeticsDespite major improvements in China’s IP laws and regulations in recent years, counterfeiting is still commonplace in the country and European SMEs wishing to do business in China need to adopt robust IP strategies in order to succeed on China’s lucrative market. In today’s blog post, we are taking a closer look at what are some extra IP protection measures besides registering your IP in China that European SMEs, engaged in cosmetics industry, can take to minimize the risks of counterfeiting. 

Introduction

As with companies in any economic sectors, cosmetics firms have much to gain from early protection of their IPR. Registering IP with Chinese authorities and customs before beginning any type of business activity in the country potentially saves SMEs lot of money as being able to build strong cases against any local firms which may try to steal their IP is only possible when IP is registered in China. Many would-be infringers, however, will move straight to counterfeiting and begin to create knockoff products in the hopes of profiting from SMEs hard work. In these cases, early IP registration is not always enough. Instead, complementary to early IP registrations, SMEs should also adopt a strategy which seeks to defeat counterfeiters through both attrition (by making counterfeiting extremely difficult to accomplish) and offensive action (by coordinating with authorities to conduct raids and launch investigations to halt infringement).

“Soft” Prevention Methods: IPR registrations, online sweeps, and consumer education

An SME’s first step in fighting counterfeiting should always be prevention, halting counterfeiters before they have a chance to create fake products, which will erode an SME’s profit margins and public goodwill. To this end, nothing is more effective than registering IP early. Registering trade marks, industrial designs, patents, etc. with the relevant Chinese authorities can give SMEs powerful legal recourses in the case of an infringement. For larger counterfeit manufacturers with proper factories capable of churning out thousands of counterfeit products a day, the risk of seizure of assets by administrative agencies or customs and awards of damages (or jail time) from People’s Courts pose a significant deterrent. Continue reading “Dealing with Counterfeiters in China’s Cosmetics Market” »