Businesses in Europe have increasingly benefited from Customs authorities acting to prevent counterfeit products from entering their borders – seizures of products infringing on others intellectual property (IP) make news stories around Europe every week. Not many businesses, however, realise that unlike most countries the Chinese Customs authorities not only have the power to examine and seize criminal imports, but also exports. China Customs have the authority to protect IP rights by confiscating infringing goods and imposing fines on infringers. If the infringement of IP rights exceeds a certain threshold, then the Customs authorities will also arrange for criminal proceedings to be brought against the infringing party.
The Customs IP Regulations provide that IP rights can be recorded with the General Administration of Customs (GAC) in Beijing. Although it is not compulsory to record IP rights at the GAC in order to apply to local customs for enforcement proceedings, it is beneficial for a company moving goods in and out of China, because if IP rights are registered with Customs, then Customs has the power to detain at will any suspected infringing consignment of goods. In addition, local customs offices are more proactive when IP rights are recorded with GAC mainly because the recordal provides Customs officials with easy access to internal IP databases and makes it easier for them to determine whether goods passing through Customs are genuine or counterfeit. Recordal of IP rights also facilitates the process of commencing Customs enforcement proceedings.
Given that the recordal of IP rights with GAC is free and straightforward, recording with GAC is recommended by the China IPR SME Helpdesk experts.
Continue reading “The Last (or First) Line of Defense: Using Customs to Protect your IPR in China” »
Thailand has issued new amendments to its Trademark Act, which will enter into force in the end of July, this year. In order to allow you to familiarize yourselves with the upcoming changes, our IPR SME Helpdesk expert Mr. Franck Fougere from Ananda Intellectual Property has kindly drafted for us a blog post explaining the amendments to the Trademark Act and discussing their significance for the SMEs.
The Republic of Indonesia is the largest economy in Southeast Asia and the 16th largest worldwide. It is also the most populous country in the region with an estimated total population of over 255 million representing a huge market opportunity for European trade.
Trade fairs in South-East Asia provide European SMEs with the opportunity to present their innovations and ideas to potential business partners and customers whilst also allowing them to learn from and collaborate with other innovators. There is, however, a risk in that disclosing their innovations to the public may leave them exposed to third parties copying and infringing their IP. Infringement of innovations may not necessarily be straightforward ‘counterfeiting’ – i.e. exact product, packaging and brand imitation. It is more likely that competitors could be using, intentionally or otherwise, a certain part of a European SME’s product or innovation. It is therefore advisable to be as diligent as possible and to get to know your competitors’ products.
Following an exciting webinar on the Madrid International Trade Mark System last week, our IPR SME Helpdesk Expert Mr. Franck Fougere from Ananda Intellectual Property has kindly drafted for us a blog post on the pros and cons of filing a trade mark application under the Madrid Protocol in Thailand.