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
Tag: chinabrand
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?
List of Unreliable Companies: Who Is Affected?
China is countering the USA. In September 2020, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) issued the first provisions for a list of unreliable companies, organizations and individuals that could have far-reaching implications for China’s foreign trade. In future, foreign institutions and individuals whose activities endanger China’s national sovereignty, security or development interests are to be… Continue reading List of Unreliable Companies: Who Is Affected?
Civil Code and Data Protection
The new Chinese Civil Code has been passed by the 13. National People’s Congress on May 28, 2020. It will come into effect on January 1, 2021 and amalgamates and elaborates several pre-existing laws. This laws, including but not limited to the Contract Law, the Rights in Rem Law, the Tort Liability Law and the… Continue reading Civil Code and Data Protection
Unfair Competition With WeChat Data Rights
In China, the first decision on unfair competition with data rights on internet platforms has recently been published. The background: Tencent, the king of social media, owns the data and limited data rights of the 900 million daily users of the app WeChat. It is known that Tencent shares a large part of this data… Continue reading Unfair Competition With WeChat Data Rights
Credit China: Objection Against Incorrect Social Credit Information Possible
In July 2020, Credit China, one of the main websites of the notorious Chinese Social Credit System, finally introduced an online system to apply for removal of wrong information displayed on the website and for rectification of information about administrative penalties. The information displayed on Credit China is collected from several relevant administrative authorities, combined… Continue reading Credit China: Objection Against Incorrect Social Credit Information Possible
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 Intellectual Property Blog 