Tag Archives: China

WIPO Launches New Publication Series; China is First Contributor

Posted on by
Reply

Capture

The World Intellectual Property Organization has published the first edition in a new publication series collecting landmark intellectual property (IP) judgments from some of the most dynamic litigation jurisdictions around the world.

The “WIPO Collection of Leading Judgments on Intellectual Property” series aims to illustrate IP adjudication approaches and trends, by jurisdiction or theme in each volume.

The first title is a joint publication with the Supreme People’s Court (SPC) of the People’s Republic of China. It features 30 representative judgments rendered by the SPC between 2011 and 2018, presented in both Chinese and English. These decisions, selected by the SPC, exemplify recent judicial adjudication in the areas of copyright, trademarks, patents, trade secrets, new plant varieties, integrated circuit layout designs, monopoly and competition, and criminal enforcement of IP rights.

The publication is part of WIPO’s efforts in the area of the judicial administration of IP, led by the WIPO Judicial Institute, to engage judges from around the world as they share experiences on the common challenges they face and discuss new subject matters and concepts.

Continue reading on the WIPO’s website.

Update of Geographical Indications Protection in China

Posted on by
Reply

This is the PPT by Guizeng (Wayne) Liu, as a speaker of the panel, CSA25 Geographical Indications around the World at the 141st INTA Annual Meeting in Boston, USA, May 18-22, 2019. Moderator: James Tumbridge, United Kingdom, and Speakers, Guizeng (Wayne) Liu, China; Shawna Morris, USA; Andrew Papadopoulos, South Africa; Elio De Tulio, Italy and Julian Vadillo, Mexico.

In China, GIs bear significance to advance the social economy development, promote trade and investment and protect cultural heritage.

Registration and Administration of GI as Certification Mark and/or Collective Mark by China Trademark Office (CTMO) under China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) of the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR)The Accumulative number of filings of trademarks is over 36.7 million, the number of registrations is over 24.1 millions, and effective number of existing registrations is nearly 21.2 millions. Almost every 5.3 entities in the market own one registered trademark.

Continue reading “Update of Geographical Indications Protection in China” »

Terroir IPR Part 1: Geographical Indications and IP Protection for Your Appellation of Origin

Quote

Posted on by
Reply

The wine industry is characterised by a wide variety of producers, often very much linked to specific grapes, blends and terrains. The European Union has put in place a system of Geographical Indications (GIs), that are used to distinguish the origin of goods, often also linked to the quality and reputation of a purple-grapes-vineyard-napa-valley-napa-vineyard-45209specific product. In China, a large market for European wines, these GIs are as important, and once registered they are protected as trademarks. Nonetheless, as with trade marks, it is important to monitor the market for infringement of GIs and act against illegitimate users of your collective mark.
Wine has been classified by region for almost the entirety of its long and varied history, the Ancient Greeks stamped amphorae with the seal of the region they came from, and references to wine, identified by region are found throughout the Bible and other religious texts. Whilst this tradition of geographical identification continued throughout Antiquity and the Middle Ages, it was only in 1716, with the introduction of the Chianti region in Italy, protected by edict of the then Grand Duke of Tuscany.

Today, the concepts of appellation and terroir have spread around the world. France protects over 300 Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée (AOC)[1], and Italy over 400 Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita (DOCG) and Denominazione di Origine Controllata (DOC) wines[2]. With similar systems and numerous varieties are grown and protected throughout Europe and the rest of the world, appellation of origin plays an important role in the classification of wines, as well as consumer decision making. As a result, the protection of the integrity of this classification system is of paramount importance to producers, distributors, retailers, and of course, consumers.

Protection of the appellation of origin of a product falls to the legal principles associated with so called Geographical Indications (GIs). Similar to trade marks, GIs are distinctive signs used to distinguish the origin of goods, thereby enabling consumers to accurately associate a particular quality or reputation with the products in question.

GIs differ from trade marks however in that rather than protecting a single producer’s rights, they protect a whole class, based on their geographical location and the production methods used. GIs therefore ‘belong to all those resident producers who comply with the specific by-laws and regulations set to ensure that the consumer ‘link’ between the quality /reputation of a product and its place of origin is maintained.[3]

Continue reading “Terroir IPR Part 1: Geographical Indications and IP Protection for Your Appellation of Origin” »

China’s New Ecommerce Law: What this will mean for Consumers, Operators and Providers

Quote

Posted on by
Reply

shutterstock_167099189Today’s blog post has been kindly drafted for us by our China IPR SME Helpdesk expert Mr. Daniel Albrecht from Starke Beijing. In this article, Mr. Albrecht gives a comprehensive overview on the latest changes in China’s new e-commerce law that will inevitably effect the activities of consumers, operators as well as providers. 

China’s Ecommerce Market 

In accordance to analysis by digital marketing researcher eMarketer, cross-border Ecommerce in China was due to hit USD 85.76 billion in 2016, up from USD 57.13 billion in 2015. Furthermore the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) reported 710 million Internet users in June 2016. Notably, 40 per cent of China’s online consumers are buying foreign goods and eMarketer estimated the amount of money that each of them would have spent an average of USD 473.26 in 2016. 

If the projection that cross-border Ecommerce will have a compound annual growth rate of 18 percent through to the end of the decade — reaching an estimated USD 222.3 billion — will come true, the consequence would be that China’s Ecommerce market will catch up with those of the US, Britain, Japan, Germany and France combined by 2020. 

China’s New Ecommerce Law 

As the Ecommerce market is constantly changing and undoubtedly its major impact on social life and the current economy cannot be denied, it seems to be necessary to provide a legal framework to give answers to upcoming questions within the scope of Ecommerce. 

Hence a new Ecommerce law is in progress and drafts are waiting to be adopted. The new law shall remedy the current situation by promoting the Ecommerce market’s development, putting things straight and satisfying all the parties’ interests. These central ideas are laid out in Article 1 of the recent draft law and shall summarize simultaneously the political objectives pursued by this law. 

Continue reading “China’s New Ecommerce Law: What this will mean for Consumers, Operators and Providers” »

Design Patents and Utility Models in China: Know Before You Go

Quote

Posted on by
Reply

In today’s blog-post, we will look into the relevance of Design Patents and Utility Models for European SMEs in China. China remains among the top destinations for any business looking to internationalise, and the business environment there is still evolving in terms of both production and consumption. Its growing capacity to produce sophisticated manufactures and complex services is matched by an increasingly affluent domestic consumer base that demands state-of-the-art, internationally popular brands and products.

Patent Pending

Although stories of Chinese counterfeits and brand infringements are still regular news in international media, the IPR system in China has seen considerable development in the last decade. This is propelled to a large extent by domestic industries innovating like never before and keen to protect their new technologies, and also those trying their chances with as many IPR filings as possible in order to improve their status or satisfy local government innovation drives. Whatever the reason, the number of patent applications shows the trend clearly: a 20.5% year-on-year increase for 2015 to more than 1,124,000 applications. Also, foreign patent applications are increasing fast, boasting a 14.9% year-on-year increase for 2015.

Continue reading “Design Patents and Utility Models in China: Know Before You Go” »