The Chinese State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) has issued invitation for comments on the next revision of the Chinese Patent Law. Why is this important for your business? Well hopefully, because it means it will soon become easier to protect your patents and therefore your innovations in China.
If you run a European company and you want to expand your business into China or are already there, protecting your company’s intellectual property (IP) is essential. This task can be a difficult one, but access to the right tools can significantly ease the process. For a start, we at the China IPR SME Helpdesk produce new, free guides, E-Learning Modules (ELMs) and live webinars on a regular basis to assist you in managing your IP in China – we do the research so you don’t have to. This post gives you an overview of our six most recent releases and what they can help your business with: Continue reading “6 tools to help your business succeed in China” »
Many a time, a European company is faced with Chinese companies that infringe its intellectual property rights in China. High costs of litigation, the complexity of navigating a different legal system, and China not being their core market are commonly cited as reasons for foreign companies not ensuring their rights are enforced. In most cases the ‘copycats’ are then left to continue their infringing activities, despite the foreign company knowing about it. This sets a dangerous precedent; especially considering the difficulty of the above ‘obstacles’ is sometimes over-estimated. Continue reading “Letting copycats get away with it? Think again” »
How do you protect your business in China? Now, that’s a huge question and one that is not going to be answered in one blog post! But what can at least be identified, are a few fundamentals that can set you, the business owners/managers, on your way.
Firstly, make no mistake, intellectual property (IP) is essential to your business in China. Continue reading “Intellectual Property in China: Start with the DOs and DON’Ts” »
The vast range of support tools available to European SMEs looking to break into the Chinese domestic market are showcased today at the SME Conference in Beijing (25 October). Central to these are the free resources offered by two of the conference’s organising entities- the China IPR SME Helpdesk and the EU SME Centre, both co-funded by the European Commission. Continue reading “SMfreE: The SME Conference 2012” »