The amended Anti-Unfair Competition Law entered into force in China in the end of April 2019. It is one of a series of laws that have been revised in the course of improving IP protection in China. In our last blog post (link) we analyzed the changes in China’s Trademark Law, where it is questionable… Continue reading China’s Anti-Unfair Competition Law Amendment: Stronger Protection of Trade Secrets
Category: IP
Amendments to Chinese Trademark Law: Combatting Bad Faith Applications
The amended Chinese Trademark Law could solve one of the major obstacles in the enforcement of trademark rights in China: trademark squatting, the bad faith registration of trademarks with the intention to sell them later at a high price to the owner of the original trademark. The central new paragraph in Paragraph 4 of the… Continue reading Amendments to Chinese Trademark Law: Combatting Bad Faith Applications
Counterfeiting as Organized Crime
Counterfeiting activities are increasingly carried out by organized crime groups. They concentrate on a single product category, produce higher quality counterfeits and control the entire marketing process. The value chain also includes illegal laboratories and well-trained professionals who can even synthesize medicines. As a result, the supply of specialized counterfeit goods continues to increase. Many… Continue reading Counterfeiting as Organized Crime
Growth Market Copyright
The rapid development of the Chinese digital economy is also reflected in the area of digital copyrights. In 2018, this hitherto rather exotic market reached a volume of 742.3 billion yuan, an increase of 16.6% over the previous year. This extraordinary increase is not only due to the constant innovations within the digital industries, but… Continue reading Growth Market Copyright
Trade Secrets vs. Patents
Counterfeiting and trade secrets are still the biggest challenges for many IP managers in China. Patents in many industries are now about software, especially in the automotive industry. The biggest challenge is seen in protecting software-related technologies, the problem being patentability. This development corresponds to the task of improving the quality of intellectual property rights.… Continue reading Trade Secrets vs. Patents
Protection of Geographical Indications
The EU has adopted a new regulation for spirits that defines labelling standards and strengthens the protection of geographical indications (GI) compared to trademark rights. It will enter into force after official publication in the Official Journal of the European Union and will be largely applicable until 2021. The new Regulation clarifies the standards for… Continue reading Protection of Geographical Indications
Lego Fakes: USD 30 Million Losses
The case is making international headlines: In April 2019, the police in Shanghai smashed a ring of counterfeiters that manufactured and distributed counterfeit toys made by the Danish company Lego. The goal of the action was the Chinese toy manufacturer Lepin. The police raided three locations with ten assembly lines, which were subsequently closed. This… Continue reading Lego Fakes: USD 30 Million Losses
Stricter Control of Experimental Data in China
In the field of pharmaceutical and chemical substances, inconsistencies in the experimental data of a patent application in China can lead to the doubts on patent’s validity. The Higher People’s Court in Peking has decided in multiple cases that submission of incomplete or false data violates the “quid pro quo” principle in disclosing the patent… Continue reading Stricter Control of Experimental Data in China
E-Car Start Up XPeng: New Trade Secrets Theft Accusations
Last year FBI started criminal prosecutions against a former Apple employee who stole the secret technology for self-driving cars. Now, Tesla is suing out of same reasons a former employee of their Autopilot team. What is the connection between the two defendants? Mr. Zhang and Mr. Cao are not only countrymen but were also switching… Continue reading E-Car Start Up XPeng: New Trade Secrets Theft Accusations
Small Packages and Complex Routes
Every year, the OECD’s Illicit Trade series study records the current situation of global illegal trade. According to the study, the EU is particularly affected by international trade in counterfeit and pirated products, with around a quarter of all fakes flowing into the European Community in 2016. The counterfeit goods had a value of EUR… Continue reading Small Packages and Complex Routes
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