South-East Asia IPR Basics Series: Trade Secrets in Singapore

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copyright_lockToday, continuing with our Southeast Asia IPR Series, we’re going to take a look at Singapore’s stance on trade secret protection.

Trade secrets are essential for the protection of confidential information which does not fall under the umbrella of other IP rights and can make or break a business moving into a new territory.

Below are a few tips we at the Helpdesk believe that SMEs will find useful when setting up shop in Singapore.

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Guest Podcast: René Bernard on Product Piracy in Mechanical Engineering

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articleToday’s podcast was kindly produced for us by René Bernard,  General Manager of VDMA China German Mechanical Engineering and Commercial Services (Beijing) Co., Ltd.

René shares with us the results of the recent VDMA product piracy study, along with some useful tips for SMEs working in the mechanical engineering sector for avoiding potential product piracy, or reacting to existing infringements.

The VDMA is one of the largest industrial associations in Europe and represents over 3,100 member companies in the engineering industry. The VDMA covers the entire engineering sector: everything from component manufacturers, machine builders, plant erectors, system suppliers and system integrators through to service providers. René Bernard up the Service and Consulting Company of VDMA China in Beijing and has had extensive experience supporting businesses in their development within the PRC.

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Engineering Success: China IPR in the Mechanical Engineering Sector

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China’s economic success has been built on a foundation of manufacturing on a massive scale. In 2013 Chinese machine industries netted global revenues in excess of EUR 678 billion, with growth of around 20% on the previous year[1].

This success, resulting in a reputation as ‘the world’s factory’ has made China’s demand for machinery, tools and related technologies insatiable, making it a fantastic potential marketplace for Europe’s high quality products and innovative technologies.

Unfortunately, rampant transgressions upon foreign IP by Chinese infringers in the past has left a black mark on China’s history, leaving potential importers and manufacturers wary of doing business in the country. It has been estimated that German mechanical engineering companies alone suffer a combined loss of approximately EUR 7.9 billion due to product and brand counterfeiting[2].Mech Eng 1

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Exclusive tips from our IP Expert: top five problems for EU SMEs in China

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RvMReinout van Malenstein is our China IPR Business Advisor, based at the European Chamber in Beijing. He speaks English, Chinese, Dutch and German. Reinout has been living and practicing IP law in China for several years, prior to which he worked for a ‘Magic Circle’ law firm in the Netherlands. Reinout speaks to EU SMEs about their IPR concerns on a daily basis.

We asked Reinout: what are the top five problems EU SMEs experience in China?

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