Protection of intellectual property
The protection of intellectual property, especially of foreign companies in China, remains one of the most problematic areas. Firstly, the laws and regulations required for effective legal protection are still very general and incomplete, and sometimes less protective for foreigners than for Chinese. On the other hand, even the existing regulations are still hardly enforceable by the Chinese authorities, especially the interim/injuction measures against infringement acts.
The situation is further compounded by poor sense of wrongdoing of the violators and, finally, very lengthy administrative procedures.
In order to at least get this limited protection, it is essential that patents and trademarks are registered as early as possible in China. Unfortunately, it is very common for specialized IPR pirates to register unprotected foreign patents and trademarks as soon as they become known in China, in the event that the claimant omitted to do so. It is therefore not advisable to postpone an application for cost reasons.
Another particularity of China is that copyrights can be brought to the China Copyright Centre for registration. By doing so, the applicant will receive a certificate identifying him as the author of the designated work. In this way, prosecution of infringement cases can be significantly facilitated and accelerated. For example, on the IP protection platforms of Alibaba, evidence of ownership of rights may be provided by presentation of the Copyright Certificate, while in other cases without the Certificate, numous documents on the origin of the work and the first publication need to be provided.
Finally, in disputes over intellectual property rights, the claimant or petitioner is required to provide a broad range of evidence. Even in cases where authorities act on their own initiatives or investigate by law on highly suspected situations, the submission of extensive documentation by the legitimate right holder is in most cases essential.
Our intellectual property protection consulting services in China include
- Formulation and implementation of intellectual property protection strategies
- Registration of intellectual property rights (trademarks, utility model and designs, copyright), in cooperation with specialized Chinese IP agents
- Investigation on cases, in cooperation with specialized investigators
- Participation in proceedings on intellectual property rights both against Chinese Internet platforms such as Taobao or WeChat and directly against infringers, possibly in cooperation with specialized Chinese IP law firms
- Challenging unauthorized trademark registration