In the field of autonomous driving, the decision as to whether an invention should be patented or kept undisclosed as a trade secret is increasingly becoming a key factor for future market success. The reason: the employees in this highly innovative, very dynamic and more converging segment of the automotive and digital industries are not… Continue reading Autonomous Driving: Dealing with Trade Secrets
Tag: Trademarks
China’s Trademarks: The Volumes Grow While Overall Value Lags Behind
Do you recognize all the trademark logos on the picture? They represent some of the most famous Chinese trademarks that are already entering the global top-100 charts of the most valuable trademarks. The volumes of China’s trademark filings have increased dramatically in the recent years, from 26.000 trademark applications in 1981 – a number that… Continue reading China’s Trademarks: The Volumes Grow While Overall Value Lags Behind
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
Can Single-Color Trademarks Be Protected in China?
The French designer Christian Louboutin has become world-famous for his iconic shoe design – sky-high heels and red shoe soles. The trademark for the red sole was registered in the Benelux in 2010 and the explicit registration for high-heeled shoes followed in 2013. A few years ago Louboutin went to court against the Dutch subsidiary… Continue reading Can Single-Color Trademarks Be Protected in China?
Trademark Examination: Is Faster Always Better?
The main issues discussed at the 2019 National People’s Congress were the relationship between the US and China, the New Silk Road, the defense budget and the new draft of the Foreign Investment Law. Improvements in IP protection were also discussed. For example, the already agreed shortening of the examination period for trademark applications from… Continue reading Trademark Examination: Is Faster Always Better?
The World’s Strongest Brands
According to the latest World Brand Lab ranking of the world’s 500 most influential brands, China is in fifth place. A total of 38 brands in the ranking come from the country. Strongest player in the global landscape, however, is still the US, accounting for nearly half of all brands on the list. But how… Continue reading The World’s Strongest Brands
China’s New E-Commerce Law
In the last 15 years or so, our buying habits changed dramatically with the global rise of online shops like Amazon or German Zalando. In China, e-commerce is even bigger. This is why the country wants stricter regulation of the booming online retail industry and more requirements for e-commerce participants. But does China’s new e-commerce… Continue reading China’s New E-Commerce Law
Non-Use Cancellation: Defense against Bad-Faith Filings
When a foreign company decides to register its trademark in China, it is not uncommon that the application is rejected by the authorities. The reason: a Chinese company or an individual has already registered the trademark before, with an objective to capitalize on it later. This tactic is known as trademark hijacking, when a Chinese… Continue reading Non-Use Cancellation: Defense against Bad-Faith Filings
Loopholes in Trademark Registration Procedure
German trademark registration procedure makes it easy to register malicious trademarks. When checking on an application for trademark registration the German Patent and Trademark Office (DPMA) does not conduct an in-depth research on similar registered trademarks. New trademarks are registered after only a formal examination. Chinese counterfeiters capitalize on that loophole: they register malicious trademarks,… Continue reading Loopholes in Trademark Registration Procedure
Chinese Companies Turn the Tables
Not only do Chinese companies register property rights for their intellectual property on a massive scale, but also have their measures of enforcement become more aggressive. The majority of cases brought to Chinese IP courts do not involve, as one might assume, Western companies that defend their IP rights against Chinese forgers, but litigations between… Continue reading Chinese Companies Turn the Tables
China Intellectual Property Blog 