China Direct

China Intellectual Property Newsletter - sign up below

China Intellectual Property Newsletter - sign up below

 

Following the announcement that China’s National People’s Congress has approved updates to China’s Trademark Law, readers of China Direct may wish to read and subscribe to the UK Intellectual Property Office ‘China IP Newsletter.’

The newsletter aims to keep UK businesses up to date with any recent developments in China’s IP environment, and is often the only English-language update on changing legislation.

This month’s edition includes information on how to submit an opinion on China’s ‘Draft Regulations on Trademark E-filing’, a selection of case studies explaining how foreign companies can expect their trademarks to be protected in law in China, as well as updates on key ministers in the Chinese government and their attitudes towards IP topics.

To read the newsletter in full, please follow the link.

The CBI Beijing Office would like to thank our partners at the British Embassy and Intellectual Property Office.

Everything you wanted to know about IP in China but were too afraid to ask

CBI members in Beijing gathered yesterday to receive the annual IP briefing from a renewed IP network stretching across Beijing and Shanghai. Members also received a briefing from the visiting Deputy Director for International Policy from the Intellectual Policy Office (IPO), outlining how the IPO was adapting its strategy to handle the imminent changes in IP protection companies will face as a result of the UK leaving the European Union, as well as where the IPO sees opportunity to work with China on improving its own domestic IP strategy.

Speaking on the subject of IP protection in China, the following issues were identified as the main IP concerns for British business in China:

• Age and pace of Chinese system – China’s IP system has developed incredibly fast, with the first piece of IP law having been introduced in 1983. As a result, the Chinese government is both under pressure and very ambitious when it comes to introducing IP reforms. That presents a challenge for foreign businesses when it comes to keeping up with changes to China’s IP system and the reasoning behind those changes.
• Chinese IP system has been designed with Chinese companies in mind. Currently, only 1% of IP-related Chinese civil court cases involve foreign parties, while 85% of TM applications are made by Chinese companies
• That means that the Chinese IP system is under growing pressure to mature and cater to foreign companies as China ‘goes global.’ Members were then invited to provide inputs on technical IP issues, such as bad faith trademarks, patent law, e-commerce and copyright law. While discussing these specific areas in detail, several key trends emerged:

• The Chinese government is very good at introducing reforms and new regulations to clamp down on IP infringement. Where it is not so good however, is implementing these laws and punishing companies found to be infringing on another’s intellectual property
• The existing methods for punishing companies found to be infringing on another’s intellectual property are insufficiently punitive.
• Chinese companies are highly adept at finding ways around new and existing regulation, and see doing so as a way of guaranteeing a competitive edge over rivals.
• Existing legislation lacks the maturity to cater to foreign companies, who are used to dealing with systems of greater sophistication. This presents itself as a market access barrier as it makes it difficult to invest in collaboration with Chinese partners with the confidence that any transferred technology will be sufficiently protected in China.

 

For more information regarding IP and introductions to the UK Embassy's IP team please contact the CBI's Beijing office:

E: Joe.cash@cbi.org.uk Tel: 010 85253100

Thank You.

 

Jaguar Land Rover roars and wins Chinese copycat legal battle

CBI member, Jaguar Land Rover has won a legal case to prevent Chinese car manufacturer, JiangLing Motor Corporation from selling a copycat vehicle, ending a three-year court battle.

On Friday, the Beijing Chaoyang District Court ruled that five major features of JiangLing Motor’s Land Wind X7 sport utility vehicle had been copied from Jaguar Land Rover’s Range Rover Evoque model. JiangLing motors was ordered to cease production, sales and marketing of the vehicle.

Jaguar Land Rover is also seeking RMB 1.5 million (£170,000) in costs and lost business, a sum which may rise in the future.

Keith Benjamin, Jaguar Land Rover global head of legal said: “This ruling is a clear sign of the law being implemented appropriately to protect consumers and uphold their rights so that they are not confused or misled, whilst protecting business investment in design and innovation. [Jaguar Land Rover] welcomes this decision of the Beijing court, which further strengthens our confidence in investing in China and in the fairness of intellectual property adjudication in the Chinese courts.”

The new Range Rover Evoque will be launched in China next month.

To find out more, please follow the link.

CBI makes the case for British Business in China

 

CBI MAKES THE CASE FOR BRITISH BUSINESS IN CHINA

The CBI’s Director-General is visiting China this week on a trade visit with the Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. Theresa May.

Carolyn Fairbairn, CBI Director-General, said:

“The Sino-British relationship is a tremendous success story. From services to schools, and iPhones to tea, our countries have a special and integral place in each other’s lives.

“British businesses are keen to play their part in further deepening and engraining the economic ties between China and the United Kingdom. With the consumer market alone worth over £3.3 trillion, this relationship creates thousands of jobs in the UK and China, raising living standards and boosting productivity.

“As the UK forges a new global trading future, it is well ahead of the curve in making the most of its relationship with the world’s fastest growing economy. By making inroads into China’s lesser economically known regions, the UK stands to profit from China’s move from manufacturing and infrastructure into technology and services, writing a new chapter in the golden era of relations.”

30 January 2018

Notes to Editors:

Read the CBI’s latest report on British trade and investment with China, Sterling Assets China.

Across the UK, the CBI speaks on behalf of 190,000 businesses of all sizes and sectors. The CBI’s corporate members together employ nearly 7 million people, about one third of private sector-employees. With offices in the UK as well as representation in Brussels, Washington, Beijing and Delhi, the CBI communicates the British business voice around the world.

Media Contact:

CBI Press Office is available 24 hours a day on 0207 395 8239, or email: press.office@cbi.org.uk. Follow the CBI (@CBItweets), Carolyn Fairbairn (CBICarolyn) and CBI China (CBIBEIJING) on Twitter.

6th CBI-Intellectual Property Briefing held in Beijing

 

Dear CBI members and partners,

Please find attached links to information shared at the 6th joint CBI-IPO Seminar hosted at the British Embassy in Beijing on 21st April.

At this year's event Tom Duke, UK IP Attache, highlighted  that China filed 3.7 million trademark applications and had 147,000 first instance civil IP cases in Chinese courts in 2016.

1. https://www.gov.uk/government/case-studies/uk-china-cooperation-on-intellectual-property
2. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/china-ip-newsletter

For more IP related information or insights please either contact Tom Duke (tom.duke2@fco.gov.uk) or our office directly on either: 010-80424018 or: nzheng@cbi.org.uk.

Thank you.

Huawei hosts U.K. Minister of State for Energy and Intellectual Property at its Shenzhen headquarters

CBI member Huawei announced that Baroness Neville-Rolfe, the U.K. Minister of State for Energy and Intellectual Property, attended the closing ceremony of its undergraduate programme ‘Seeds for the Future’.

As part of Baroness Neville-Rolfe’s visit to China, the IP Minister and members of the U.K. Intellectual Property Office and other delegates met with Huawei’s Council General, Dr. Song Liu Ping, to learn more about Huawei’s strategy and achievements to date in IP.

The visiting party was also given a tour of the Huawei R&D centre and headquarters campus. As part of Huawei’s work to address the gap in STEM skills, Seeds for the Future provides U.K. undergraduates with the opportunity to travel to China, learn about Huawei’s international business culture and values, and receive ICT training from some of the best professionals in the industry.

The undergraduates also had the opportunity to work alongside Tsinghua University students and hear from organisations including the British Council and other major multinationals to learn more about their business operations in China. This year, 40 U.K. undergraduates from 16 leading U.K. universities participated in this month-long programme. Huawei has now implemented its Seeds Programme in 80 countries.

Since 2011, Huawei has provided 134 U.K. undergraduates with the opportunity to learn about China and to experience the development and business application of cutting-edge technologies in Huawei’s global HQ in Shenzhen.

Please read more here.

CBBC and IPCC sign agreement with Tencent to protect IP on Weixin/WeChat

 

On 23 August 2016, Tencent, the China-Britain Business Council (CBBC), and the International Publishers Copyright Protection Coalition in China (IPCC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to further the protection of IP on Weixin, China’s leading social communication platform.

More than 806 million people use Weixin and its sister app, WeChat, both in and out of China. The signing was witnessed by U.K. Minister of State for Energy and Intellectual Property Baroness Neville-Rolfe as part of her official annual visit to China.

The MOU between Tencent, the CBBC, and the IPCC is the product of shared common interests and objectives regarding intellectual property protection and was arrived at following extensive communication and exchange. Through the signing of this agreement, the three parties expressed their intent to work together towards their shared objectives over the coming months and years.

Please read more here.

European Chamber releases inaugural Southwest China Position Paper

 

The European Union Chamber of Commerce in China released the European Business in China – Southwest China Position Paper 2015/2016 as a standalone report for the first time.

It compiles the latest assessments and concerns of European businesses operating in Southwest China with the aim of offering constructive recommendations to policy-makers in Chengdu, Chongqing, and Sichuan Province.

The Chamber hopes that this white paper will help to facilitate increased government dialogue and improve operating conditions for foreign companies invested in Southwest China, enabling them to invest further and help the region to develop sustainably and achieve its policy goals.

Please read more here.

U.K. IPO Chief's China Visit - Summary

John Alty, Chief Executive of the Intellectual Property Office (IPO), recently led a delegation to China for a series of high-level bilateral meetings with his Chinese counterparts and to hold technical exchanges on a range of IP topics. Outcomes of the visit included:

o   Agreement of 2016 bilateral cooperation work-plans with the major Chinese IP agencies

o   A package of cooperation on patents with the State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO), including an agreement to renew the U.K.-China pilot Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) later in 2016, U.K. use of SIPO’s Cloud Patent Examination System (CEPS) examiner tool, and a series of exchanges on topics including global work-sharing and IP valuation methodologies

o   A Chinese-language factsheet to help Chinese companies access information on international patent protection, produced by the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys (CIPA)

o   The publication of a report on the counterfeit goods trade in China and Southeast Asia

Please read more here.

University of Nottingham Ningbo China launches new copyright research centre

 

CBI member The University of Nottingham announced that a new research centre examining Chinese digital copyright was launched at the University of Nottingham Ningbo China (UNNC).

Combining British and Chinese expertise, the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Digital Copyright and IP Research Centre in China will investigate the global copyright challenges and opportunities for creative and tech industries.

The Centre is supported by a £500,000 grant from the AHRC and Newton Fund over two years with match funding from the Ningbo Science and Technology Bureau. It will act as a key national research hub with links to related projects and research groups in Beijing, Shanghai, and other major cities.

Currently being recruited, a professor of digital copyright research will direct the Centre and develop a small team in Ningbo, including research fellows and postgraduate researchers.

Please read more here.