Rouse: IP China Express 340

" IP in China, dusk or dawn?"
Photo: Danny Friedmann

In the 340th IP China Express Rouse, the international IP business selected the following news items:

- Rubber products manufacturer Freudenberg victorious in a trademark conflict that has been going on since 2002. Finally the Trademark Appeal Board rejected the Chinese firm that wanted to register the same Freudenberg trademark.
-  Liu Binjie, head of the General Administration of Press and Publication, part of the National Copyright Administration, " with the rapid development and wide application of high technology (especially digital technology and network technology), the system of Copyright Law has faced formidable challenges" , therefore July 13, 2011, China has started to prepare its third amendment of its copyright law.
- Beijing First Intermediate People’s Court decided that Procter & Gamble's use ‘飘柔’ (Rejoice) in the Founder Qian typeface did not infringe Founder's copyright. Selling the software to Procter & Gamble implied consent that they could use it.
- Although Beijing-Shanghai High Speed ​​Rail was using technology imported from both the East Japan Railway Co. Ltd. and Kawasaki, the technology that it was seeking to patent was innovative. Therefore since 2009, China North Vehicle Group and China Academy of Railway Sciences have begun applying for patents abroad.
- Rouse also gives a summary of the 2006-2010 White Paper on Intellectual Property cases involving foreign parties published by Shanghai Second Intermediate People’s Court. Read IP Dragon's May 17, 2011 article about it here.

Read the Rouse's IP China Express here.

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8th Asia-Pacific IP Forum in Hong Kong

Thursday 29 September, the eight Asia-Pacific IP Forum will be held at the Kowloon Shangri-La in Hong Kong. It is a fully packed day organised by Managing Intellectual Property magazine, free for in-house counsels.

The following speakers will talk about the following subjects:

• Chew Kherk Ying, partner, Wong & Partners, Malaysia, Celeste Ang, partner, Baker & McKenzie,Wong & Leow, Singapore, Adolf Panggabean, partner, Hadiputranto, Hadinoto & Partners, Indonesia will speak about enforceability and enforcement strategies in Southeast Asia.
• Then Joe Thymian, director sales & marketing – Asia Pacific, Melbourne IT Digital Brand Services will unveil the secrets of the new gTLDs – risks and opportunities for your brand.
• Elliot Papageorgiou, partner, Rouse, He Fang, partner, Rouse and Oliver Lutze, head of IPR, Bayer (China) Limited will navigate the changing patent litigation scene in China.
• Ada Leung from the Hong Kong Intellectual Property Department and Albert Ho from Hong Kong Customs will give the key note speeches. 
• Anuradha Salhotra, managing partner, Lall Lahiri & Salhotra and Doyel Sengupta, partner, Lall Lahiri & Salhotra will initiate you into the wondrous world of criminal and civil enforcement strategies in India.
• And last but not least Benjamin Choi, partner, Mayer Brown JSM will explain how to maximise your trade mark portfolio.

More information about the event and updates you can find here.

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Tim Smith's Guest Blog: Taobao Online Infringement Case

星期二 = Tuesday Photo Danny Friedmann

Taobao.com, the popular Chinese e-commerce platform, has appealed against a verdict handed down by a Shanghai court in late March that it should pay compensation of RMB 10,000 (around GBP 950) for its failure to take sufficient steps to prevent a vendor selling counterfeit products on its platform.

The claimant had sent seven letters to Taobao asking it to delete information supplied by the vendor regarding the counterfeit products. Taobao deleted the information but did not take any further action against the vendor such as freezing its account or checking other information uploaded by the vendor to the platform. Consequently, the vendor was able to maintain information about other counterfeit products it was selling on Taobao.

The first instance court stated that if a network provider deletes information after receiving a notice, this is a necessary condition of non-liability, but not a sufficient condition - it may need to do more. Taobao had failed to take further steps against this specific infringer - something its own IPR protection rules already contemplate - and consequently was liable for contributory infringement.

This marks a departure from previous decisions, which did not impose liability on Taobao if it immediately deleted the counterfeit product information. Article 36 of the Tort Liability Law deals specifically with internet providers, stating that "[w]here a network service provider knows that a network user is infringing upon a civil right or interest of another person through its network services, and fails to take necessary measures, it shall be jointly and severally liable for any additional harm with the network user."

The Chinese judiciary is currently drafting a judicial interpretation to deal with on-line liabilities and safe harbours in the copyright field, and it is hoped that will add further clarity to the developing jurisprudential picture.

Guest blog by Tim Smith, Rouse Beijing.

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China civil litigation analysis

IP Komodo has been playing with the Rouse litigation analysis tool Ciela.

Over 12,000 IP decisions from China have been put into a database and is available for searching, at no cost. It can be used to search by city, court, year and other variables. Most importantly you can use it to compare two cities to decide where to sue. This is especially useful when there is a choice of forum as is common in China.

Why for example are damages awards for patent infringement on average higher in Guangzhou than Shanghai? See here (One answer appears to be that its all statutory damages awards in Guangzhou). For other more estoteric questions, users can contact Rouse for assistance.

Guest post by IP Komodo Dragon

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Rouse Roundtable: Copyright Today

Sharon Qiao, of Rouse, awarded for being a ‘Top Copyright Practitioner’ by the Beijing Copyright Office, together with Mr Xu Chao, Deputy Director of Copyright Division of NCAC, would like to invite you to attend a case study and roundtable discussion on ‘the frontier developments of copyright in the industrial area today’, with a particular focus on copyright protection for logo design, package and product design.

Canapés and drinks will be served after the event. Places are limited to 30 people.

RSVP by 30 March 2011.
Please click here.

Guest post by IP Komodo Dragon

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Beijing's Silk Market

IP Komodo’s friend Tim Smith of Rouse was curious to know what was happening at the famous Beijing Silk Market. He asked his intern Dominic to take a look and here is what they found. Large public notices appear around the market issued by the Beijing Administration for Industry and Commerce, concerning counterfeit goods. The notices (in Chinese only) state that any merchants in Silk Street caught selling any items bearing any of a finite list of famous foreign brands (Prada, Chanel, Burberry, Givenchy, Boss, Hermes, Miu Miu, North Face etc.) would be subject to administrative penalties, as all such articles would be counterfeit. Further, the management of the Silk Street shopping plaza would, if it was shown to have knowingly permitted the sale of any such goods, be subject to administrative measures and criminal punishment. These are all brands which we believe were involved in civil litigation against the Silk Market management.

There are also large red banners in Chinese and English reading "protect intellectual property rights - be law-abiding vendors" and "embrace national brand - respect intellectual property right". There were red sign boards displayed above the aisles every few metres or so in English advising customers that if they had any concerns with the merchandise they had purchased they could contact the customer service desk, call a telephone hotline or send the details of their complaint to a dedicated email address.

But a look around revealed many articles from jackets and shirts to belts and watches bearing brands such as D&G, Giorgio Armani, Adidas, Nike, Ralph Lauren and Abercrombie, all on unabashed display. Few of the brands listed in the notice, however, were seen. Coincidentally these all appear to be companies which were plaintiffs in civil court actions against the market in recent years. The result of the cases is that those brands who went to court appear to have succeeded in proving secondary liability against the landlord, so he ensures their products are not sold there. But those who have not litigated do not appear to be in that position. Further pending litigation is seeking to widen the landlord's liability further.

Guest post by IP Komodo Dragon

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June 25, Seminar: 'Managing IPR As A Business Asset in Greater China'

IP Dragon is delighted to invite everyone interested in IPR in China to a seminar called 'Managing IPR as a Business Asset in Greater China' organised by EUBIP and China IPR-SME Helpdesk. (Take note: some speakers still need to confirm). I confirmed.

When? Friday 25 June, 2010

Where? HK Convention & Exhibition Center

What is the programme?

8:30-8:50 Registration and Coffee

8:50-9:00 Welcoming remarks

Morning: General China IPR Overview for European SMEs

9:00-10.00 Session 1:

Protecting your intellectual property in China? Why it is so important.

• Is IPR protection in China possible and how?
• China IPR environment and what businesses need to know?

Speaker presentation 2x20 min + Q&A

• Elliot Papageorgiou, Rouse & Co (speaker)
• Other speaker (to be confirmed)

10.00-10:15 Coffee break

10:15-11:15 Session 2:

• How to identify and leverage your IP assets?
• Working with Chinese business partners - how to structure relationships to protect your assets?

Speaker presentation 2x20 min. + Q&A

• Serena Tierney, Consultant at Wragge & Co LLP (speaker)
• Willi Vett, Beiten Burkhardt Hong Kong (speaker)
• Dr. Christopher Heath, member of the Boards of Appeal of the European Patent Office, former head of the Asia Department of the Max Planck Institute for Intellectual Property law, Munich (moderator)

11:15- 11:30 Coffee break

11:30-12:30 Session 3

IP Management and Enforcement

• How to prevent IPR infringements and steps to take if you discover infringements
• IPR Enforcement process in China

Speaker presentation 2x20 min. + Q&A

• Danny Friedmann, Chinese University of Hong Kong / IP Dragon (speaker)
• Henry Wheare, Partner Lovells Hong Kong (speaker)
• Professor Anselm Kamperman Sanders (moderator)

12:30-13:30 Lunch

Afternoon Panel Discussion / Clini Sessions + Networking

13:30-14:30 Panel Discussion

• Dr. Christopher Heath
• speaker
• Serena Tierney
• Elliot Papgeorgiou
• Anselm Kamperman Sanders (moderator)

14:40-15:00 Clinic Session 1/Networking

15:10-15:30 Clinic Session 2/Networking

15:40-16:00 Clinic Session 3/Networking

16:00 Closure

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How To Acquire IP in China? Alan Adcock Gives The Steps

Alan Adcock, deputy director of Thai law firm Tilleke & Gibbins, has worked before for Lovells and Rouse & Co. International in both Shanghai and Hong Kong, wrote the article: '5 Essential Steps to Acquiring IP in China'.

1. Identifying the technology;
2. Confirming ownership;
3. Assuring non-infringement;
4. Obtaining further assurances;
5. Government approval.

Read Mr Adock's article here.

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The Future of Innovation in China: "China Will Overtake Position Germany in 20 years" Or "Not in Our Life Time"

I just listened to the IP Think Tank Podcast of February 16, 2009 which is an initiative of Duncan Bucknell Company. Besides an interesting review of the WTO report on DS 362, the IP Think Tank Podcast has a lot to offer to any IPR enthusiast. At the end, Mr Nicholas Redfearn, Rouse country manager in Hong Kong, told about two recent books that convey two diametrical opposite views of China's path to patent and innovation growth (the assumption implied is that there is a strong correlation between the growth of patents and innovation in a country).

• Hutton, Will, 'Writing on The Wall (which refers to idiom: portent of doom or misfortune, see here): Why We Must Embrace China as a Partner or Face It as an Enemy', Simon & Schuster, November 2006. Mr Hutton writes according to Mr Redfearn: "the number of triadic patents (US, Europe and Japan) from China is too small for it to sustain the kind of growth and innovation you read about."
• Gupta, Anil K., Haiyan Wang, 'Getting China and India right: Strategies for Leveraging the World's Fastest-Growing Economies for Global Advantage' Wiley, John & Sons, February 2009, while Messrs. Gupta and Wang argue, according to Mr Redfearn: "China is producing vast numbers of patents and with the current rate it will overtake Germany by 2020."

Gupta and Wang's book is the most recent, whether it will be more accurate on this, we will have to see. What is your opinion about it? Let me know (ipdragon at gmail dot com). Listen to the IP Think Tank Podcast here.

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