There is movement in the Chinese pharmaceutical IP: On 17 October 2020, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress formally adopted the fourth amendment to the Chinese Patent Law. The new law will enter into force on 1 June 2021 and will be of great importance for pharmaceutical companies in China, as it contains… Continue reading Improved Patent Law in The Pharmaceutical Industry
Category: IP
Stricter Criminal Law Punishes Industrial Espionage
China continues to tighten the legal reins in the prosecution of industrial espionage – even for foreign companies. In October 2020, the National People’s Congress published a new draft amendment to China’s criminal law, which includes better protection of trade secrets. In recent months, China has issued a number of amendments to the law or… Continue reading Stricter Criminal Law Punishes Industrial Espionage
RCEP and IP: Weakening The Rights Holders, Strengthening The Users
On November 15, 2020, 15 Asian nations signed the agreements of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), establishing the world’s largest free trade zone with 30% of the world’s population, 29% of global GDP and more than 26% of world trade volume. The pact, which will come into force as early as the second half… Continue reading RCEP and IP: Weakening The Rights Holders, Strengthening The Users
Trademark Battle for The Shopping Festival
Singles’ Day, which takes place every year on 11.11. is the most popular annual shopping festival and the world’s highest-turnover online shopping day. It is hosted by leading Chinese e-commerce platforms, mainly Taobao and JD.com. Both together generate billions of dollars in sales every year, even more than on Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined.… Continue reading Trademark Battle for The Shopping Festival
Antimonopoly Directive Restrict Intellectual Property
The Anti-Monopoly Bureau of China’s State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) has published the Anti-Monopoly Guidelines on Intellectual Property Rights (“IPR Guidelines”). This long-awaited Directive aims to prohibit the use of intellectual property rights if they eliminate or restrict competition. The Guidelines also provide clearer rules and guidance on monopoly of intellectual property rights. Chinese… Continue reading Antimonopoly Directive Restrict Intellectual Property
AI-Generated Texts Are as Works Protectable by Copyright
China has a new precedent: the Shenzhen Nanshan Court ruled for the first time in China that AI-generated texts in the form of articles are creative works and thus entitled to copyright protection. In the case, the plaintiff company Shenzhen Tencent Computer System published a financial article on its website entitled Lunch Review: Shanghai Index… Continue reading AI-Generated Texts Are as Works Protectable by Copyright
Parallel Imports: Trademark Infringement Or Unfair Competition?
Parallel imports involve importing legally manufactured original products into China from other countries without authorization from the IPR holder. Until now, Chinese laws, regulations and judicial interpretations have not clearly defined the legitimacy of this practice. But now the Guangzhou Intellectual Property Court has ruled that parallel imports of non-counterfeit products do not constitute trademark… Continue reading Parallel Imports: Trademark Infringement Or Unfair Competition?
The New Civil Code of the PRC and Intellectual Property
The new Civil Code of the PRC, which will come into force on 1 January 2021, consolidates and elaborates some existing laws. It does not have a dedicated IP part, so the lex specialis such as the Patent Law, Trademark Law, Unfair Competition Law and Copyright Law will remain in force. What is the impact… Continue reading The New Civil Code of the PRC and Intellectual Property
Blue Sky Project: Strict Monitoring the Trademark Agencies
In China, the first-to-file principle applies: the first person or company to register a trademark becomes the owner of the trademark. One of the biggest problems of foreign companies is trademark registration in bad faith: usually Chinese companies deliberately register the trademark(s) of a foreign company in order to make a profit from its use… Continue reading Blue Sky Project: Strict Monitoring the Trademark Agencies
China Promotes Blockchain for Evidence Preservation
In August 2020, the Chinese Supreme People’s Court published the Opinions on Enhancing Protection of Copyright and Related Rights (Draft for Comments).To improve the evidences rules in intellectual property litigation and help the IP right holders to get more comprehensive protection, especially to solve the difficulty of preserving evidence, this draft encourages the IP right… Continue reading China Promotes Blockchain for Evidence Preservation
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