Tag Archives: e-commerce

China’s Smartphone Addiction and IPR for App Developers

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8585049088_9d1dbcdf1f_kIn 2014 China’s iOS App downloads surged with a 30% increase in quarterly downloads between Q1 2014 and Q1 2015. This rapid growth, stimulated by the release of the iPhone 6 and heavy investment in Apple’s retail presence in the country, has pushed China to the top spot for App downloads worldwide[1].

Asia is leading a mobile revolution, replacing older, less transportable technologies with a ‘mobile-first’ tech culture. Smartphone penetration in China is far deeper than anywhere in the West, many new users skipping desktop computing entirely in their adoption of smartphones and tablets[2]. In China alone it is estimated that there are more than 700 million active smartphones and there is still potential for further growth as lower cost alternatives increasingly cater for the lower end of the market.

These statistics, coupled with recent developments in Chinese mobile user payment structures makes China a very attractive market for existing and potential app developers, with content creators flocking to take advantage of the newly minted market.

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IPR and the Fashion Industry in China

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The fashion industry encompasses the design, manufacturing, distribution, retailing, marketing and promotion of clothing, footwear and accessories and is worth billions of Euros every year.

While the fashion industry initially developed in Europe and the United States (the Italian footwear industry is one of the largest in the world and the textile industry is one of the United States’ most important employers in the manufacturing sector), today, fashion is an international and highly globalised sector.

China’s fashion industry, for instance, is set to become the world’s second largest fashion market by 2020, with sales expected to reach over RMB 1.3 trillion (EUR 182 billion) – roughly three times their current level.[1] According to the Boston Consulting Group, China will account for 30% of the global fashion market’s growth over the next five years.[2]

China therefore represents both opportunities as a manufacturing hub and a maturing consumer market, and risks, as a potential source of counterfeit merchandise. In order to avoid potentially damaging losses, EU SMEs operating in the fashion industry should take important measures to protect their intellectual property rights (IPR) in China. This blog outlines relevant IPR protection strategies in China, of particular relevance to the fashion industry.

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No Squatting: Online IPR Protection in China

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shutterstock_167099189China possesses a population of over 1.3 billion people;[1] of these, there were 632 million internet users in China by the end of 2014 – this is approximately half the population of China and three times the number of internet users in South-East Asia.[2]

The share of internet users in China now equals 46.03% according to the state-administered China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC). [3] Trends also suggest that internet use in China is set to experience further growth in coming years.

E-commerce is well developed in China today, and is predicted to account for around 10% of total retail purchases by the end of 2015, in contrast with 6 to 8% in Europe.[4] Furthermore, a study undertaken by KPMG predicts that as wealth, internet penetration, brand awareness and loyalty spread, online retail in China is also set to expand.[5]

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Alibaba Revises Taobao IPR Enforcement System

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Carrying on with the theme from the China IPR SME Helpdesk’s last blog post on e-commerce brand protection, Alibaba Group have made revisions to Taobao’s enforcement policies which took effect last month.

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