Tag Archives: China IPR SME Helpdesk

IPR Protection Strategies in China for the Mechanical Engineering Sector

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Manufacture5Underpinned by the Chinese Government’s ambitious Manufacturing 2015 Plan, mechanical engineering sector is expected to offer many lucrative business opportunities in China for the European SMEs in the near future. SMEs wishing to do business in China should keep in mind that despite recent improvements in Chinese IP laws, counterfeiting and other IP infringements are still commonplace in China. Thus, European SMEs need to have a good IP protection strategy in place when entering China’s market. In today’s blog post we are taking a look at IP issues specific to the mechanical engineering sector and offer some first-hand advice on how you can protect your IP in China. 

China’s economic success has been built on manufacturing on a massive scale and despite the economic slow-down, manufacturing is still growing. For example, in the five years to 2015, electrical equipment and machinery manufacturing revenue has been increasing 10.1% annually to EUR 7.8 billion[1].

This has made China’s demand for machinery, tools and related technologies insatiable, making it a potential marketplace for Europe’s high quality products and innovative technologies.

Mechanical engineering sector is expected to see increased growth and opportunities for the European SMEs in the coming years as Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has recently unveiled its Manufacturing 2025 Plan, which aims at lifting china from the ‘big industrial country’ to the ‘powerful industrial country’. Manufacturing 2025 Plan aims at upgrading China’s manufacturing industry by making greater use of technologies like cloud computing. Manufacturing 2025 Plan is especially beneficial for the mechanical engineering sector as the government has chosen many relative industries like automated machine tools and robotics, aerospace and aeronautical equipment, new-energy and power equipment and agricultural equipment as some of the leading industries for the Plan.  These are also the areas, where European SMEs can expect most opportunities.

Unfortunately, IP infringements are still rampant in China. However, as China’s market develops, legislators and enforcement authorities have made progress in updating IPR practices and educating Chinese manufacturers. As a result, patent applications have rocketed and new IP registration procedures and IPR courts have made application and enforcement of IP rights more accessible for foreign actors. Furthermore, the Manufacturing 2025 Plan is expected to further improve the IPR environment.   Continue reading “IPR Protection Strategies in China for the Mechanical Engineering Sector” »

Infographic: IPR Protection Strategies in China for the Food Safety Industry

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Chinese consumers are becoming increasing health-conscious and start to pay more attention to food safety issues. This creates many lucrative opportunities for the European SMEs as the demand for high-quality European food safety technology is rising in China. However, SMEs should pay attention to protecting their IP rights when entering to the promising market of China because counterfeiting and other IP infringements still persist in the country. For today’s blog post we have chosen to share with you an infographic that will provide you with a basic and easy to read  overview of IP protection in the food safety industry in China. 

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Bad Faith Trade Mark Registration in China: a Case Study

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shutterstock_81193486-520x345It is always important to register your trade mark in China, as IP rights are territorial and European trade marks will have no automatic protection in China. Oftentimes, European SMEs ask their local partners to take care of trade mark registration as local partners already have a good understanding of the registration process. However,  a case study of today’s blog post demonstrates that European SMEs should always be on top of their trade mark registration as local partners may sometimes register European SMEs’ trade mark in bad faith. 

Introduction

Intellectual property (IP) is a key factor in the competitiveness of business in the global economy and it is particularly relevant to the SMEs as they internationalise their business to areas such as China. Although SMEs often have limited time and resources, it is important to be aware of how IP can benefit the business. Besides helping the SMEs to protect their innovations from competitors, IP assets can also be an important source of cash-flow for SMEs through licensing deals, as well as a significant pull-factor when attracting investors.

Even though China’s IPR regime has improved over the years, counterfeiting and other IP infringements still persist in China. Thus, IP protection is of utmost importance when doing business in or with China. SMEs normally start with registering their trade mark in China when starting their business activities. Because they invest time and money into building the reputation of the company, it would be very damaging to business if someone else began using their name to sell their own products or services. Trade mark registration offers protection against infringers, as in most cases only companies with registered trade marks are able to enforce their rights in China. Continue reading “Bad Faith Trade Mark Registration in China: a Case Study” »

Protecting your Festive Design in China: Design Patents and Copyrights

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design-for-christmasThe Christmas Holidays are upon us again and it’s time to put up Christmas decorations. Maybe this year your company came up with new design for Christmas stockings, Christmas lights or other Christmas decorations. Maybe your company also plans to benefit from China’s growing market, or maybe you would like to produce these decorations in China, either way, all-around festive atmosphere should not make you forget about counterfeiting and other IP violations that are still  commonplace in China. It is important to obtain design patents in China to protect your product design, whatever your company may be producing. In today’s blog post we are taking a closer look to design patents in China. 

Due to the difference in regional systems, many European companies do not know how to protect their product designs in China. While in Europe you can seek protection for an original work as either a registered or unregistered community design, in China designs fall under the scope of patent protection, while no protection is offered to unregistered designs.

A design patent provides the right holder to exclusive use of a product design for a period of 10 years. As well as providing a legal basis to fight counterfeiters, a design patent also allows you to generate additional revenue by licensing the design to third parties. Continue reading “Protecting your Festive Design in China: Design Patents and Copyrights” »

Registering New Top Level Domain Names in China

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shutterstock_167099189E-commerce is rapidly growing in China with Chinese consumers already making up for almost half of global online retail sales. This development offers lots of lucrative business opportunities for European SMEs. When entering Chinese market, a Chinese top level domain name often helps to attract customers. In today’s blog post we therefore focus again on top level domain names’ registration in China. 

Internet usage is 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 the growing trend towards online shopping and purchasing, the Internet is an attractive business and marketing platform for many European SMEs. The China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) has also now removed barriers to overseas companies and individuals to register domain names in China, and it is recommended that European SMEs take advantage of this if they are planning on entering the Chinese market or are already in China.

New and Less Restricted Domain Name Requirements

From May 2012, .cn and .中国 domain name registrations became available again for private individual registrations (both Chinese and overseas). The process takes a few weeks and currently costs €50-€100.

The following steps are required:

  • Translate your domain names into Chinese and find an accredited registrar using either of these sources (domain name registration must be completed through an accredited registrar).

Continue reading “Registering New Top Level Domain Names in China” »