E-commerce has also been growing in South-East Asia and it’s attracting many European Companies. Together with the growth of e-commerce, the presence of counterfeit goods on these e-commerce sites has also been growing. In today’s blog post we are discussing how to remove counterfeits from the major e-commerce sites like Lazada in South-East Asia.
A growing middle class coupled with increasing internet access has led to fast-paced e-commerce growth in South-East Asia in the past decades. The middle-class population of ASEAN, according to expert estimates, may grow from 190 million in 2012 to 400 million in 2020[1] . Additionally, there are approximately 200 million people in South-East Asia with access to the internet and this number is expected to grow three-fold by 2025. E-commerce in South-East Asia can thus offer many promising business opportunities for the European SMEs.
Besides being a forum for legitimate vendors and original products, the internet is also used by unscrupulous businesses as a platform for the distribution of counterfeit goods which infringe intellectual property rights of others. The explosive growth in access to the internet has resulted in counterfeiters to move their illegal activities online. Online e-commerce websites might become easy and anonymous options for counterfeiters to reach out to potential customers as well as popular social media platforms. A recent study reported that 20% of 750,000 posts on the popular social media platform Instagram alone in relation to well-known fashion brands involved the offer of counterfeit products for sales, with many of the vendors identified to be based in China, Malaysia and Indonesia among others[2]. Continue reading “How to Remove Counterfeit Goods from E-Commerce Sites in South-East Asia” »
Today’s blog post has been kindly shared with us by our China IPR SME Helpdesk external expert Mr. Charles Feng from East & Concord Partners. In this article, Mr. Feng interprets and explains the recent “Opinion regarding Improvement of Reform and Innovation for Intellectual Property related Trials” jointly issued by the General Office of Chinese Communist Party and the State Council.
In today’s blog post we are discussing how to protect your IP in the Philippines while conducting R&D activities. You’ll learn more about Non-Disclosure contracts and patents and how to protect your new IP that is being created in the Philippines. 
EU SMEs should be made aware of important changes made to the structure of Intellectual Property registration, management and enforcement governing bodies in China which were announced in the context of the annual plenary session of the National People’s Congress (NPC) and the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) (also known as ‘Two Sessions’) which took place in early March. The restructuring of IP management and enforcement bodies is part of a wider reorganization of China’s ministries and agencies in order to increase their efficiency. The date at which these changes will come into effect has not yet been announced.
Good news for SMEs wishing to acquire patents in Thailand, as the country is committed to clearing its backlog of patent applications. Today’s blog post has been kindly shared with us by our external IPR experts, Ms. Darani Vachanavuttivong and Ms. Jitluedee Siemanond from Tilleke & Gibbins. In this article, Ms. Vachanavuttivong and Ms. Siemanond further explain the steps undertaken by the Thai Department of Intellectual Property to ensure faster patent application procedures.