IP Dragon 知識產權龍

Face Saving Cultures Don't Like to Make An Apology

2008-07-17T03:45:00.000-07:00

Mr Piter de Weerd, editor of Boek9.nl (Dutch) Book9.nl (English), the excellent blog about intellectual property rights in the Netherlands, pointed me to the article of
Seattle Trademark Lawyer Mr Michael Atkins, who was startled about the remedies Japan's cosmetic giant Shiseido was seeking against the Chinese users of the Shidoas trademark: damages and ... an apology.

However, in 'face saving cultures' (which include China and Japan) it is considered a punishment to have to apologise.

Although an apology is not stated as a remedy in the Chinese Trademark Law, it is in article 46 of the Chinese Copyright Law, which shows that apologies have found their place in Chinese IP law as a remedy.

Read Mr Atkins article here.

Facebook Cloned in China

2008-07-03T10:50:00.000-07:00

British blogger 'I love China' has a great blog 'Xiao Nei - Now available in English', read here.

Discover Your Invention in China Or Lose Protection

2008-07-03T10:23:00.000-07:00

Ms Patti Waldmeir has another interesting article about the upcoming patent law in China. She rightly zoomed in on the controversial articles. In February I posted a blog about the articles 49, 50 and 74 of China's third amended patent law, entitled 'Curb your enthousiasm', read here.

ZTE, the big Chinese telecommunications equipment company talked to the governement that it might be a problem to prove where the discoveries took place if foreign and Chinese R&D institutions cooperate. Exactly this route many R&D companies might take: establish some R&D presence in China, just in case.

Read ms Waldmeir's article here.

Patent Quality in China: "You could patent a wheel"

2008-07-03T10:10:00.000-07:00

Ms Patti Waldmeir wrote a great article for the Financial Times about Chinese patents 'The value of branding becomes patent', read here.

On the positive side Ms Waldmeir noticed that China is the country where most companies are filing for patents in China. However, she noticed that most patents were utility patents (not really as inventive as invention patents and protected for 10 years instead of 20 years) the quality is substandard. She quoted mr Elliot Papageorgiou of Rouse & Co who said euphemistically that the enforcement of patent infringements has room for improvements.

"Legal experts in China say these figures reflect a concerted government campaign to persuade Chinese companies to protect their intellectual property by law: the elevated motorway that runs through Shanghai recently sported billboards extolling the virtues of IP protection and some Chinese companies get government subsidies to cover patent application costs, a factor that artificially inflates the number of filings."

Read ms Waldmeir's article here.

Freshfields appoints Mark Parsons as IP counsel

2008-07-03T10:01:00.000-07:00

Connie Carnabuci's Hong Kong Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer IP team has been strengthened by appointing Mark Parsons as counsel. See Freshfields' media release here.

Adidas Execs Don't Acknowledge Chinese Counterfeit Problem

2008-07-03T09:51:00.000-07:00

Ms Mei Fong wrote an interesting article in the WSJ about Adidas' efforts to become the number one in China by locating their biggest store there. Interestingly Ms Fong noticed the following: "Locating its biggest store in the world's biggest counterfeit market could be a challenge for Adidas, but it isn't one that its executives acknowledge. The company has said in the past that piracy isn't a big issue for it globally."

Read Ms Fong's article here.

Future of Digital Copyright Protection in Hong Kong

2008-07-01T10:41:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow Professor Peter Yu (I was honoured that this prolific professor was my co-advisor when I was writing my thesis) and mr Charles Mok will give a lecture on the future of digital copyright protection in HK, at the University of Hong Kong.

Read more here.

Chinese Copyright Law, Peer Production and the Participatory Media Age: An Old Regime In a New World

2008-06-10T00:48:00.000-07:00

Just found an interesting Chapter about Chinese Copyright Law, written by Mr Sampsung Xiaoxiang Shi, read here.
Of course I am flattered that note 22 refers to my thesis. I will review the 48 pages Mr Shi has written as Chapter 13 of the following book:

B. Fitzgerald et al ed. 'COPYRIGHT LAW, DIGITAL CONTENT AND THE INTERNET IN THE ASIA-PACIFIC' (Sydney, Sydney University Press, 2008).

Also read Mr Shi's interesting blawg here.

Japan On Chinese trade marks of Japanese Locations: "Can't Touch This"

2008-06-09T14:16:00.000-07:00

The Japanese Patent Office declared it wants to stop Chinese companies registering Japanese geographical locations as trade marks.

"The two languages share many characters and Japan's Kyodo news agency said thenames of 19 of the country's 47 prefectures including Kyoto, Nagano and Yamaguchi had been registered as trademarks in China by the end of last year."

Read the Agence France-Presse article via NipponExpressUSA here.

Head tip to Jeff Roberts of McGill's IP News This Week, "a 5-minute report about the latest IP news in the world", worth reading much longer.

Born Thanks To Counterfeiters?

2008-06-09T04:12:00.000-07:00

Mr Robert Kessler of Newsday tells about counterfeit ring raids and warns that counterfeit condom of the Trojan Horse brand can be less than effective in preventing pregnancies and protect against diseases.

"A spokeswoman for Church and Dwight, the company that manufactures the legitimate Trojan condoms in the United States, declined to comment on whether the counterfeit Chinese condoms could fail to prevent pregnancies or the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. But a source familiar with the federal investigation said that while the counterfeit condoms were of inferior quality, samples had been tested and they were no riskier to use than legitimate ones."

Ironically, these counterfeit Trojan Horse condoms could be like the trojan horse in the classical sense (striking unexpectedly, leaving the victim unprotected)

Read Mr Kessler's article here.

Smoking, the New Olympic Sport. What About Torching Your Smoke? Demonstration Sport

2008-06-09T03:57:00.000-07:00

Smoking and sport seems like a match of heaven. At least that might be the thought process of some counterfeiters who were caught by Beijing police:

"Beijing police said on Wednesday they had detained seven people for allegedly producing and selling counterfeit cigarettes, some bearing the Beijing Olympic Games emblem on the packaging."

Read the Xinhua article here.

And how to light up your smoke? Of course, with an Olympic torch...

Gao Ying writes for China View that "Hong Kong customs officers have arrested a 33-year-old woman for selling counterfeit Beijing 2008 Olympic Games torches on an Internet auction site."

Read the China View article via Xinhua here.

How to Prevent and Act Upon Intellectual Property Rights Infringements in China

2008-06-05T04:01:00.000-07:00

I just wrote an article for Duncan Bucknell Company, the Australian company I do work for, about how to protect and enforce your IPR in China. The article has the following headings:

Be prepared
Do your homework
No registration equals no rights
To trust is nice to control is better
Be ready to enforce
Institutions that regularly inform about IPR in China
Websites about IPR in China
Conclusion

Read it here.

Theatre productions in China: "Keep your ideas to yourself"

2008-06-05T00:27:00.001-07:00

I interviewed Ms Felicitas Speth von Schülzburg, director of International Performing Arts, about her experiences with intellectual property in China. She is operating in the art sector, which is, similar to the fashion industry, very vulnerable for "trendspotters". Ms Speth has produced great performances by Chinese groups in the Netherlands such as Chinese Impressions, the China Girls (MTV Award winners and official representatives of the Olympic Games 2008 in Beijing with their Olympic song) and the Beijing Red Poppy ladies percussion, who will attend the opening and closing ceremony of the coming Olympic games. She also has worked together with real monks from the Shaolin Temple in China, The Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts ans Tibetan monks. The fame of International Performing Arts preceeded my meeting with Ms Speth, because I had already enjoyed the very swinging Shanghai Jazz Band when they performed in Amsterdam.

According to Ms Speth it is very difficult to protect and enforce the elaborations of performing arts, theatre and other formats (the use of the light, the costumes, the music, the concept etc.). Ms Speth: "In practice you can not do much with intellectual property rights. You need to be alert and keep your ideas to yourself. And be quick with your productions, because your ideas will be stolen. I found that confidentiality agreements in China don't work in the art sector." Ms Speth laments the state of awareness within the arts industry: "Because there is a lack in knowledge about the regulations and no enforcement at all, nobody dares to cooperate. Everybody is too scared about arbitrary financial demands, instead they rather steal the idea in a bad way, so they cannot be accused of complete copying. In the end everybody suffers, the creative people do not get the money they deserve and the public is getting lower quality."

Ms Speth has sympathy for the freedom of ideas, but she believes in the incentive of intellectual property rights and needs to protect the rights of the people she is working with. So she has registered the elaborations of her ideas into envelopes at the Benelux Bureau for Intellectual Property Rights for 45 euro per envelop and registered some at the notary. She is wary to enforce her rights in China from the Netherlands and relies on her partner in China to do that if it is needed.

Below you will find a few centralised collection of royalties organisations in China and Taiwan.

MCSC (Music Copyright Society of China)

119 5/F Jing Fang Building, n° 33

Dong Dan San Tiao

Beijing 100005

CHINA

Tel: +86 10 6523 26 56

Fax: +86 10 6523 26 57

E-mail: Web: http://www.mcsc.com.cn/

MCSC is affiliated with CISAC (umbrella organisation for copyright collection of royalties organisations).

Contact Mr Zhou Wen: zhwen@mcsc.com.cn

Taiwan (Chinese Taipei)

CHA2nd floor, Unit 6,7,

Ching Dao East Road

Taipei 100

TAIWAN, CHINESE TAIPEI

Tel: +8862 2975 6611

Fax: +8862 2975 6622

E-mail: cha.taiwan@msa.hinet.net

MÜST

3F, 130 Nanking

East Road, Section 4

Taipei Taiwan 105

TAIWAN, CHINESE TAIPEI

Tel: +886 2 2570 7557

Fax: +886 2 2570 7556

E-mail: service@must.org.tw

Web: http://www.must.org.tw/

Examination of Three-dimensional Marks by Wang Ze

2008-05-30T06:29:00.000-07:00

"The three-dimensional marks are a new class of registrable trade marks introduced in the revised Chinese Trade Mark law as of 2001. Corresponding provisions were set forth with regard to the examination of three-dimensional marks in the Trademark Examination Standards issued by the Trademark Office and Trademark Review and Adjudication Board (TRAB) in 2005. This article is intended to present another interpretation of the Trademark Examination Standards on the basis of a series of cases of trade mark examination, review and adjudication in recent years."

Read Wang Ze's article here for China Patents & Trademarks No. 2, 2008.

IPR in China Seminar in Rotterdam Dragons Businessclub

2008-05-30T06:18:00.000-07:00

Last Wednesday, I spoke at the headquarters of the Rabobank in Rotterdam, the second largest municipality of the Netherlands, about intellectual property in China. The event was organised by the Dragons Businessclub, an organisation for young Chinese entrepreneurs living in the Netherlands.
Directly after my speech, two interesting speakers ventilated their thought on intellectual property in China:

Ms Felicitas Speth von Schülzburg, founder and director of International Performing Arts told about her experiences with intellectual property in China and;
Mr Ashok Bhalotra, architect-urban planner, chairman and CEO of KuiperCompagnons, who in fact does not believe in intellectual property at all!

I will try to interview both in the coming days.

Mr László Kovács: "Customs in 2008, a real test for EU-China trade relations"

2008-05-19T14:38:00.000-07:00

Mr Lászlo Kovács, European Commissioner for Taxation and Customs Union wrote an interesting article to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Customs Union. Is there something to celebrate you might ask yourself?

Well at least the Commissioner is belligerent to fight counterfeit and pirated products:

"The growing trend in counterfeiting in some health-threatening sectors like foodstuffs, pharmaceuticals or spare parts is worrying. The EU is a target market of fake products, and China the main source of production, with almost 80 % of all articles seized by EU customs coming from there. Chinese people and companies are equally affected by this illegal industry. But we can do something about this. The EU is committed to strengthen customs cooperation with China in the fight against counterfeiting and the enforcement of IPR. We want to see concerete results in the shape of less counterfeited products on our markets. I am confident that this year, the EU and China can agree on an ambitious strategy to effectively reduce trade in counterfeit goods."

If the EU wants to see concrete results, a plaudible goal, it should consider applying the enforcement/infringement ratio, as IP Dragon suggested here and in its thesis, see here.

Read Mr Kovács article he wrote for the China Daily here.

EU Internal Market Commissioner: Anti-counterfeiting and -piracy Solutions To Be Found In Public-private Cooperation

2008-05-14T10:32:00.000-07:00

On a 13 May commission-sponsored high level conference, the Internal Market Commissioner Mr Charlie McCreevy stressed that regulation is not the only answer to fight counterfeiting and piracy, but that the private sector itself is best placed to lead the battle against the fakes. Tomorrow exactly two years ago, when Mr McGreevy visited China to advance the international regulatory agenda, he probably had higher hopes for regulation, read here (pdf).

Marc-Antoine Jamet, president of l’Union des Fabricants, whose members include Pfizer, Lacoste, Microsoft and Disney, said:

"There is qualitative change as activities become global, and diversification into goods and products such as wine, car parts, clothing, and toys, he said. Counterfeiting is increasingly carried out by organised crime, and industrialisation means tourists no longer have to travel to Thailand to buy fakes from China but can find them anywhere, including online [..]".

Read Dugie Standeford's article for Intellectual Property Watch here.

China and EU Customs Unveiled Plans to Share Information

2008-04-17T02:59:00.000-07:00

The EU and China unveiled plans for an intelligence network to share information among ports to crackdown on counterfeiting. Source WIPO Magazine (February 2008, no.1).

"Despite the increased efforts of the Chinese authorities to crackdown on counterfeiting, EU Customs Commissioner Laszlo Kovacs said that China is currently the main source of counterfeit goods seized in European ports. The intelligence network will help to tighten enforcement, resulting in greater controls in both European and Chinese ports."

Professor Susan Scafidi on Li-Ning on Nike

2008-04-14T07:10:00.000-07:00

李宁versus 耐克

Even if you are not a victim of fashion Counterfeit Chic is the weblog to regularly frequent. Ms Susan Scafidi, visiting professor of Fordham Law School, blogged about Li-Ning versus Nike in her own funny tongue in cheek style.

Don't miss it, read here.

Olympic Torch Tanzania Brings Protests Against ... Chinese Counterfeit Products

2008-04-14T04:00:00.000-07:00

BBC News has every day the news 'In Pictures'. Today picture six of this item showed the Olympic Torch "in peaceful Tanzania relay". There were protests, however not against human rights violations in T 1b ET, but against counterfeit and substandard products from China, no less. If the protest messages give any clue the protest might be organised by the Tanzania Consumer Advocacy Society.

Netac versus PNY settled out of court

2008-04-07T03:03:00.000-07:00

Remember the Netac versus PNY case, read here? After two years of litigation, the patent infringement conflict between Shenzhen-based Netac Technology Co Ltd and Texas PNY Technologies was settled out of court. The Netac versus PNY case is seen as a milestone, because it could highlight a trend of Chinese companies suing overseas companies for the infringements of their intellectual property rights overseas.

Read the article by Jiang Jingjing of the China Daily here and .

Which Event Is 2007 China Top Ten IPR Event?

2008-03-26T14:38:00.000-07:00

China's Intellectual Property Protection in China (IPR in China) started with democracy of some kind. Although 30 nominations of the events were already given, netizens can vote untill 12 o'clock of April 8. However, then IPR in China will decide 15 final candidate events according to the results of the vote and then the experts appraisal committee will determine the Top Ten Events. It gives a good overview of the events China deems important and is proud about.

The following the 30 candidate events are nominated:
1. Chinese century-long food brand “Wangzhihe” wins lawsuit against German company
2. NCA, MPS and MII jointly combat Internet piracy
3. Notice on time-honored brand ICH released
4. MOA releases plan for protection and development of new varieties of agricultural plants
5. SPC promulgates opinions on strengthening IPR trial
6. SIPO: revised Patent Law submitted to the State Council for examination
7. MOFCOM releases trial measures on brand appraisement and protection
8. No. 1 Document: strengthen IP protection in agriculture
9. China signs Singapore treaty on law of trademarks
10. SAIC promulgates measures on symbols of GI products
11. SPC hears Yamaha trademark infringement case
12. Chinese government releases China's Action Plan on IPR Protection 2007
13. New Interpretation issued to enhance criminal protection of IP
14. U.S. petitions WTO for China's IPR issues
15. Shanghai seizes illegal audio-video product hideouts
16. China, U.S. customs sign memorandum on IPR law enforcement
17. China announces selected intangible cultural heritage inheritors
18. WCT and WPPT comes into force from June 9
19. China Customs awarded for anti-counterfeit, piracy efforts
20. China's first IPR-related case of online game in 2007: Zhengtu Private Server Case
21. China, U.S jointly launch "summer solstice" action
22. Proceedings against Japanese TV station launched
23. SAIC to combat misleading brands
24. SASAC convenes first IP conference of central enterprises
25. Implementation of IP Strategy clearly indicated in Hu Jintao’s speech
26. China ratifies protocol amending WTO's TRIPS agreement
27. Installation of genuine software in enterprises achieve remarkable results
28. China patent applications reach 4 million 29. China trademark registration hits 3 million
30. Amount of fake cigarette cases investigated by Fuzhou Customs ranks first

Read more and vote here.

How Should China Spend Its Extra Yuan On IPR Enforcement?

2008-03-26T13:25:00.000-07:00

Mr Stan Abrams of China Hearsay has another interesting article. He is criticising yet another public awareness campaign by the Chinese Ministry of Culture (MOC).
Mr Abrams writes: "Advertising, seminars and training courses arranged by MOC will have limited effect. Public education only goes so far." He suggests that it might be better to hire more cops to enforce IPR. I concur.

Public awareness campaigns, if done in a smart way, (that means something else than "a special day for the destruction of illegal audiovisual products", which will be on April 26, exactly one month from today, I cannot wait, my o my) could bring down the level of IPR infringements in the long run. But then again it is only logical that IPR enforcement will become better in the long run, because when IPR is becoming more important to Chinese companies if they develop more innovative products, that will be the point when there will be an internal pressure to the Chinese government to enforce IPR more stringently. For this we only have to be patient.

In the mean time the IPR infringements level is much too high, and the PBS (police) and other administrative enforcement authorities, in particular the National Copyright Administration of China which has only 300 (!) persons for the enforcement of copyright in the whole of China, surely need a boost (which is still an understatement).

Read Mr Abram's article here.

WorkTools: "We Won the Judgement But it Did No Good" Part II

2008-03-21T03:16:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Mr Mike Marks, inventor and co-founder of WorkTools explained in Part I how is it possible that although they won at court in Taiwan it really did no good. In Part II below you will find a more detailed explanation by Mr Brad I Golstein, partner of WorkTools who manages their IP.

Mr Brad I Golstein wrote:
"In this particular instance in Taiwan, the case dragged on so long that the applicable law changed before it was decided, so the court threw out the case as being moot (irrelevant) in light of the changed law. It is the strong suspicion of many that Taiwan laws are designed more to protect home industry than to protect intellectual property rights. In general, the "proof" requirements are much greater and the penalties for infringement are much less than in the United States. What is often recommended to achieve success is that the foreign company have a Taiwanese partner who is the actual party to the lawsuit (such as the company that has the official rights to manufacture the product in Taiwan)--that makes it a case of Taiwan company vs Taiwan company rather than Taiwan company vs Foreign company. Larger Taiwan companies are probably more likely to respect IP rights, and less likely to simply close up the offending shop and just open anew down the street (although this is still possible)."

"Success" in stopping Asian knock-offs is a relative term--many times that means driving the infringer underground rather than being able to> eliminate them entirely. Many times it means getting major retailers to agree to not stock the offending product rather than actually stopping the manufacture of it. And while some degree of success> might be achieved in North America and Western Europe, it is much harder in less regulated parts of the globe, such as Africa, the Middle East, Eastern Europe, etc. Heck, even mega-corporations such as Disney, Levi's, Microsoft, etc. have their hands full and cannot stop all the infringers. "

"As a bit of an elaboration, the penalties for infringement in Taiwan in the matter we were pursuing before it was dismissed were quiteminor--something like putting a notice in the local paper and a fine of$4,000 (which the government would keep, it would not go to us tocompensate for our losses!)."
Brad I Golstein WorkTools, Inc.

WorkTools: "We Won the Judgement But it Did No Good" Part I

2008-03-20T07:47:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I blogged about an interview on WorkTools' patent challenges in Taiwan and China, read here.

I was like Mr Stan Abrams of China Hearsay, who came up with some interesting suggestions here, very interested to know the real answer. So I asked Mr Mike Marks by email who came up with some very interesting and elaborate answers and is also referring the answer to his partner Brad Golstein, who manages WorkTools' IP for more detail:

1. How is it possible that although you won at court in Taiwan it really did no good whatsoever? Was it the enforcement of the judgement that did not work? Or did Taiwanese infringers continue under a different name?
2. Why don't you publish your Chinese and Taiwanese patents online?

Mr Mike Marks' answer:
"My recollection is that we won our case in Taiwan but the penalty was so minor that it was meaningless. We should publish ALL of our patents online, both US and International, including Taiwan and China. Thanks for the push. I have some updating to do on the website!"

"On another note, one thing we've seen from Taiwan and China are companies that pursue and receive patents on top of our patents. Example: Company-1 has a patent on a pneumatic tire. Company-2 gets a patent on a pneumatic tire that's filled with a mixture of 1/3 helium and 2/3 nitrogen. Company-2 can't use its patent without violating the patent of Company-1, but Company-2 can claim "patented". Company-2 presents its claim to retailers to make them feel comfortable buying Company-2's tire. Now Company 1 must educate retailers that Company-2 is selling a patent-infringing pneumatic tire, that the patented "improvement" does not give Company-2 any meaningful rights. In short: Company-1 can prevent Company-2 from making and selling ANY pneumatic tire. Company-2 can prevent Company-1 from making a version of pmeumatic tire."

Mike Marks
http://worktools.com/
http://inventioncity.com/

See Part II where Mr Brad Golstein, who manages WorkTools' IP, gives a more detailed explanation here.