Category Archives: IP Expert Talk

Blockchain and Copyright Protection

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shutterstock_107811341Blockchain is quickly becoming the hot topic also for IP protection in China. Today’s blog post, which has been kindly shared with us by Nancy Leon from Ferrante Intellectual Property, will be focusing on how new technological solutions like blockchain can be used in China for copyright protection. 

The recent IP summit hosted in Shenzhen included the Copyright summit.

Experts highlighted the importance of new technologies including blockchain, which will be widely used to protect Intellectual Property in China; this will improve efficiency and accuracy as well as lower costs.

The blockchain is an incorruptible digital ledger of economic transactions that can be programmed to record not just financial transactions but virtually everything of value. In this way blockchain can secure the safety of the original work and prove an efficient and economical way to protect the intellectual property for large number of contents.

Xiamen Anne Corp is among China’s first groups that have applied blockchain technology into Copyright protection, which can verify the author’s creative work start date, grant authorization when the work is used and safeguard the rights when infringement is detected. Continue reading “Blockchain and Copyright Protection” »

Cambodia applied online Registration System for Trade Marks

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shutterstock_152628707Good news for all the European SMEs wishing to do business in Cambodia, it is now possible to file trade mark registration applications online. Today’s blog post has been kindly shared with us by our South-East Asia IPR SME Helpdesk external expert Mr. Nguyen Hoa Binh from Daitin & Associates. In this blog post Mr. Nguyen Hoa Binh explains the new online application process in more detail. 

On 25 May 2017, the Ministry of Commerce in Cambodia launched online trade mark filing system.

The new launched online filing system allow Applicant to file applications to register their trade marks online.

Accordingly, Applicants can upload the required documents and information through the online trade mark filing system.

The trademark applicant can also conduct preliminary trademark search from the Cambodia Department of Intellectual Property database.

Under the Prakas (Regulation) issued by the Ministry of Commerce on May 4, 2017, an applicant with permanent residence or principal place of business inside Cambodia can use this system.

The applicant has to request in writing to the DIP for a user name and password. For foreign applicants, the system can only be used through a registered Cambodian trademark agent.

Once the trademark application has been filed, when the applicant is represented by an agent, the original, notarized power of attorney, along with any priority documents, must be submitted in hard copy to the Department of Intellectual Property within two months from the filing date. Continue reading “Cambodia applied online Registration System for Trade Marks” »

Intellectuele eigendom toetsing bij buitenlandse overnames in China

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denver-business-law-firm-intellectual-propertyIn onze meest recente blog-post, vertelt externe China IPR SME Helpdesk expert Reinout van Malenstein, als Senior Counsel werkend bij HFG Law & Intellectual Property, u meer over intellectuele eigendom toetsing bij buitenlands overnames in China. Voor bedrijven die geïnteresseerd zijn in dit onderwerp zal deze blog u meer vertellen hoe de huidige beleiedsstrategie CM2025 intellectueel eigendom in China zal beïnvloeden, en hoe u daar als Nederlands bedrijf in China het best mee om kunt gaan. Deze blog is geschreven in het Nederlands en is eerder gepubliceerd op China2025.nl, het China crowdblog.

Behoud de Nederlandse innovatieve eredivisie op het wereldtoneel

Zoals de European Union Chamber of Commerce in China de laatste jaren meerdere malen heeft aangegeven, is het zeer lastig voor Europese bedrijven om Chinese bedrijven over te nemen, terwijl dit omgekeerd relatief gemakkelijk is. De regelgeving in Nederland en Europa is gemaakt als fair level playing field voor binnenlandse en buitenlandse bedrijven. Dat is natuurlijk heel fair en ideaal, maar het is belangrijk dat Nederland en Europa zich realiseren dat China een andere agenda heeft, en dat Chinese ondernemingen in bepaalde sectoren worden beschermd ten opzichte van buitenlandse ondernemingen op de Chinese markt.

China Manufacturing 2025

De bescherming van bepaalde markten en het doel om in bepaalde sectoren controle te verkrijgen over intellectuele eigendom blijkt duidelijk uit China Manufacturing 2025 (CM2025). CM2025 is door de Chinese overheid in 2015 ingevoerd als lange termijn strategie om China op het internationale toneel tot innovatieve speler te maken. In dit beleid verandert China van goedkoop land met betrekking tot het produceren van goederen in een innovatief land. Een strategie à la Apple: “made in China, designed in California“, maar dan in die zin dat de grote winsten van de intellectuele eigendom naar China gaan en niet naar buitenlandse bedrijven. Fijn voor China in dit beleid, is dat veel grote Chinese spelers op de markt staatsbedrijven zijn, en dus makkelijk kunnen inspelen op voorgeschoteld beleid van de overheid. Continue reading “Intellectuele eigendom toetsing bij buitenlandse overnames in China” »

General Office of Communist Party of China and State Council issued Opinion regarding Reform and Innovation for Trial of Intellectual Property Cases

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RegisteredToday’s blog post has been kindly shared with us by our China IPR SME Helpdesk external expert Mr. Charles Feng from East & Concord Partners. In this article, Mr. Feng interprets and explains the recent “Opinion regarding Improvement of Reform and Innovation for Intellectual Property related Trials” jointly issued by the General Office of Chinese Communist Party and the State Council.

On February 6, 2018, General Office of Chinese Communist Party and State Council jointly issued the official document namely “Opinion regarding Improvement of Reform and Innovation for Intellectual Property related Trials” (the “Opinion”). Vice President of Supreme People’s Court (“SPC”), Judge Tao, made interpretation to the IP Opinion during the press conference and was interviewed following the issuance on February 27.

The IP Opinion consisting of four parts includes the General Requirement, Perfection of IP Trial System, Enhancement of IP Court System, and Improvement of Arrangement and Coordination, which were specified as follows.

I General Requirement

The Opinion positioned the IP protection issue as the basic measure for encouragement and guarantee to innovation and creation that builds the foundation to the National Strategy to establish a Nation that is strong in IP as well as science and technology.

Comments by Charles Feng

The Opinion was the first strategic document issued by CPC and State Council, the top administrative body of China, which declared the IP protection as the major approach to protect innovation and development.  Continue reading “General Office of Communist Party of China and State Council issued Opinion regarding Reform and Innovation for Trial of Intellectual Property Cases” »

Chinese Court Issues First GUI Case Decision

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17471462035_4b3ff87149_kToday’s blog post has been kindly shared with us by Ferrante Intellectual Property. The article discusses a recent Beijing IP Court case on the Graphical User Interface infringement. In it’s first ruling of the kind, the the IP Court has decided that the GUI cannot be protected separately from the type of the device it is applied to under the design patent protection. 

The Beijing IP Court issued a decision on the very first Graphical User Interface (GUI) infringement case in China. The lawsuit was lodged by Qihu 360 Inc. (Qihu) against Beijing Jiangmin Technology Co., Ltd (Jiangmin). Qihu claimed that the externalizing interface of Jiangmin’s software was identical to Qihu’s GUI design of “Computer with GUI” and that Jiangmin’s behaviour constituted patent infringement. In its decision, the Beijing IP Court dismisses Qihu’s claim and found that in determining the protection scope of a GUI design patent, the GUI design and that of the product using GUI shall be both considered. Hence, it held that the protection scope of Qihu’s GUI design patent shall be limited to the product of computer. Since Jiangmin’s software does not belong to the same or similar category of computer, Jiangmin’s behavior of providing the software does not constitute patent infringement. In this specific case, the users downloaded the software on their computers, which according to the Court does not constitute patent infringement. Even considering Jiangmin’s software as an “intermedium”, Jiangmin’s behavior of providing the software does not constitute indirect patent infringement. The decision gave rise to many debates, with experts arguing that existing patent law and regulations fail to properly protect GUI design. Continue reading “Chinese Court Issues First GUI Case Decision” »