IPR

China has a population of over 1.3 billion people and as of June 2020, 940 million ‘netizens’ – people actively involved in online communities. With Alibaba Group and JD leading the way, e-commerce is now well developed in China. According to the World Economic Forum, from January to November 2020...

The European Commission has published a new Action Plan on Intellectual Property to help companies, especially small and medium-sized companies (SMEs), make the most of their inventions and creations. Intellectual property (IP) is a key driver for economic growth as it helps companies to valorise...

It is a given that patent protection has to be requested before a respective product is introduced to a domestic national market. However, it is less often considered how a product may appeal in other world markets, and that these may not extend automatic protection for an invention registered back...

A European company in the dental instruments sector was selling their product in China through a Chinese distributor. The company discovered a competitor in China was offering a similar, but lower-specification product, using an identical exterior design, colour scheme, and control interface. The...

Internet usage is truly booming in China, with more than 701 million ‘netizens’ (as of December 2016), China connects more people to the Internet than any other country. In fact, every fourth person on the Internet is from China. Facilitated by the increasing availability of broadband technology and...

Prior trade mark registrations, also called ‘bad-faith registrations’, are a significant problem that many European companies encounter in China. This process commonly involves a Chinese company first registering the trade mark of a foreign company in China with the express intention of selling it...

In this article, we will discuss protecting IP when seeking Chinese manufacturers and will address what it takes to design an NNN (non-use, non-disclosure, and non-circumvention agreements) which can pose enough of a credible threat to dissuade contract violations. Defining protected information...

China’s intellectual property rights (IPR) system has come a long way in the past 30 years, and development continues – a revision of the trade mark law came into force in May, paving the way for more thorough protection for rights holders. Although China is now coming into line with international...

For most businesses, intangible assets represent more than 50% of the value of the enterprise. The most significant group of intangible assets are those protected by intellectual property such as inventions, designs and brands. Since they form such a large part of the overall value, their management...

The principle issues surrounding IPR development, protection and enforcement are essential to all aspects of your business. Your IPR strategy should be considered one of the main pillars of your business. A strong IPR strategy and proactive preparation not only helps to prevent IPR-related issues...

Practical tips for protecting your IP in China and South-East Asia China and the majority of South-East Asian countries have recently shown considerable efforts in creating stronger intellectual property rights (IPR) protection systems and in bringing their existing intellectual property laws in...

Targeting EU companies and support organisations, these webinars organized by EU-Japan Centre are designed to improve your knowledge of conducting "business in Japan". During the webinars, participants will have the unique opportunity to listen to selected experts who have agreed to share their...