intellectual property

The Shanghai Higher People's Court issued a final judgment on December 29, 2020. It denied the defendants' appeal and upheld the original decision .

In April 2019, police confiscated tools used to replicate Lego toys and toy products, as well as toy packaging, instruction manuals and delivery orders from a rented factory. The infringing products were sold under the “LEPIN” brand. According to an assessment by the Copyright Appraisal Commission of the Copyright Protection Center of China, these toys and operating instructions were essentially identical to the Lego originals and...

On November 11, 2020, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of the PRC passed amendments to China's Copyright Law. The amended Chinese Copyright Law comes into effect on June 1, 2021. The key points include an increase in statutory damages and an increase in fines for copyright infringement. China's Copyright Law has been amended to improve copyright protection, align with international standards, and implement the Audiovisual Services Treaty that came into force this year. The current Chinese Copyright law has largely existed since 1991 and was changed in small parts in...

In 2016, a new clothing brand Uncle Martian was announced in Jinjiang, Fujian Province , China. The company behind Uncle Martian is T ingfeilong Sporting Goods Co. (廷飞龙体育用品有限公司) . This brand’s logo and the name was found to be remarkably similar to a famous U.S. sportswear brand Under Armour . Under Armour announced that Uncle Martian’s use of Under Armour’s famous logo, name, and other intellectual property is a serious concern and blatant infringement. The U.S company then sued Tingfeilong Sporting Goods Co. and opened up a trademark infringement case...

The European Union (EU) and China signed a bilateral agreement on the protection of geographical indications (GI) on September 14, 2020. The agreement is expected to enter into force in 2021. The agreement will protect 100 European geographical indications and as many Chinese geographical indications in the EU from usurpation and counterfeiting. Within four years of its entry into force, the scope of the agreement will be expanded to include additional 175 GI names from both sides. Cooperation between the EU and China began in 2006 and resulted in the...

On September 2, 2020, Shanghai 3rd Intermediate Court announced on its official Weibo account that in the case of selling counterfeit LEGO products, the defendant Li was sentenced to 6 years imprisonment and fined 90 million RMB as principal criminal for copyright infringement through illegal business operation of counterfeit LEGO products in amount of 330 million RMB. The other 8 accomplices in this case were sentenced to imprisonment from 4 years 6 months to 3 years respectively and fined accordingly.

The infringing products involved in this case included 663 products from 47...