At the end of 2025, China will fully open Hainan to free trade – a radically liberalized economic zone without traditional customs controls, with simplified compliance, open data flows, and tax breaks. What at first glance appears to be a strategic modernization raises serious questions from a European perspective, however, particularly with regard to intellectual… Continue reading Counterfeit Hub Hainan
Category: Trademarks
China’s IP Reform: Opportunities,Obligations, and Risks
On April 24, 2025, the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) published an article highlighting key developments in China’s intellectual property (IP) system. At the heart of these developments is China’s continued effort to strengthen the legal protection of patents, trademarks, and copyrights, and to better align domestic legislation with international standards. This shift reflects… Continue reading China’s IP Reform: Opportunities,Obligations, and Risks
Partial Designs as an IP Strategy
Partial designs have been officially protected under Chinese Patent Law since 2021 – a significant development for companies seeking to safeguard individual design elements such as sole patterns, graphical user interfaces, or packaging details. Unlike traditional design patents, which protect the overall appearance of a product, partial designs allow for the targeted protection of particularly… Continue reading Partial Designs as an IP Strategy
Fake-Monitoring in Live-Commerce
As Chinese manufacturers face increasing obstacles in the U.S. due to American tariffs, they are now shifting their focus more aggressively toward Europe. This new Chinese brand offensive is also evident in the rapid expansion of e-commerce platforms such as Shein, Temu, and TikTok Shop. These companies leverage innovative sales strategies to fundamentally reshape the… Continue reading Fake-Monitoring in Live-Commerce
Certification Marks Secure Trust in China
A certification mark does not serve to distinguish a company from its competitors but guarantees specific quality characteristics of goods or services. Examples include the Fairtrade seal, which ensures fair trading conditions for producers, or the TÜV mark, which confirms safety and quality testing by TÜV. The Blue Angel, which stands for environmentally friendly products,… Continue reading Certification Marks Secure Trust in China
Cost-Efficient Anti-Counterfeiting
In times of economic uncertainty and tight budgets, many companies face the challenge of optimizing their anti-counterfeiting efforts (ACF) in China without sacrificing effectiveness. Completely halting ACF is not an option, as this would lead to a resurgence of suppressed piracy and render previous investments futile. The financial damage from short-term revenue losses (often 3–5%… Continue reading Cost-Efficient Anti-Counterfeiting
Non-registrable trademarks
In China, there are a number of restrictions on the registration of trademarks. Their purpose is to protect public order, national symbols and international agreements as well as to prevent discriminatory or misleading trademarks. Trademarks that are identical or similar to the names, flags or emblems of countries or national and international organizations are not… Continue reading Non-registrable trademarks
Digital content piracy on the rise
The outbreak of the Covid 19 pandemic led to an unprecedented increase in online piracy worldwide regarding music, movies, television, publishing, and software. For example, the number of pirated movies increased by 39% in 2022 compared to 2021, while the number of visits to piracy websites to watch movies increased by about 9%. The same… Continue reading Digital content piracy on the rise
Combating Bad Faith Trademark Applications
In January 2023, the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) published a new draft amendment to the Trademark Law. It makes a number of important adjustments and adds 23 new articles. For foreign companies, the biggest advantage of this amendment is that it strengthens the fight against bad faith trademark registration at the legislative level,… Continue reading Combating Bad Faith Trademark Applications
New Year, New Guidance Documents: China Improves IP Protection
The China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) released information on the implementation of the Opinions on Strengthening Intellectual Property Protection (关于强化知识产权保护的意见) in late October 2022. They explain how amendments to the 2021 Patent Law will be implemented in practice. In addition, CNIPA aims to complete the revision and concretization of the Patent Law Implementation Rules… Continue reading New Year, New Guidance Documents: China Improves IP Protection
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