intellectual property

INTA Young Practitioner & Trademark Administrator reception in Beijing 

IP in China and Beyond. At Friday, October 20, 2017 the International Trademark Associaton (INTA) hosted an seminar for young practitioners and trademark administrators at the China IP Training Center in Beijing (北京上地西街信息路6号环岛东南角). The seminar was hosted for young practitioners and trademark Aaministrators with less than five years of professional experience, or professionals with more experience who are accompanied by a young practitioner. The speakes gave an overview about the US, EU and Chinese trademark system and gave also practical advises about this topics. Starke took part at the...

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2017 Shenyang-Germany Intellectual Property Seminar

At September 8th 2017 the Shenyang local authorities hosted the first Shenyang-Germany Intellectual Property Seminar. The German-China Industrial Park of Shenyang has made a lot of effort to organize this event and get an interesting group of participants together. Starke Managing Counsel Daniel Albrecht gave a lesson about the differences between the Chinese and German trademark law. Thanks to all 60 participants and my co-speakers, special from the University of Shenyang, the Intelllectual Property Office and the Custom Service of Shenyang.

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How to cancel a infringing product from Chinese e-commerce platform and social media

Counterfeiting products are not unusual in China. The key players of E-commerce in China are the Alibaba Group , which holds 70% of the total E-commerce market in China with Taobao and Tmall, and JD. com with a 20% market share. They step up taking various measures to crack down on counterfeit products, but the effect is quite limited. According to a survey published by State Administration for Industry and Commerce of China (SAIC) and China Consumers’ Association in 2015, there are 7 of 9 E-commerce platforms in the spot-check which sell counterfeit or substandard quality goods. However...

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Taobao wins in landmark online counterfeit case in China

Taobao won an online landmark counterfeiting case against a vendor selling fake Royal Canin cat food on the huge online market. The court ruled that the defendant, a man named Yao, damaged the reputation of Taobao and therefore should pay compensation in the amount of 120.000 Yuan within 10 days. Taobao is also asking the court to order the defendant to publish a written apology in several prominent print and web publications for a week.

This was the first ruling of its kind in China, exemplifying the country’s efforts to fight counterfeiting which has cast a shadow over China’s...

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Thus Tyrolean enterprises secured themselves against trademark violation in China; Tiroler Wirtschaft, August 10th, 2017

In the " Tyrolean Economy " of August 10th 2017 you will find an article entitled "How to secure Tyrolean businesses against trademark viaolation in China". The article is in German language. Experts report on the invitation of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber how to effectively protect themselves against trademark infringements and plagiarism. The Austrian Economic Chambers represent more than 450,000 member companies and is voice of Austrian business.

The article reports in detail about the speeches of Dr. Martin Glatz , head of the Austrian Chamber of Commerce in Beijing,...

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China Redbull License Dispute; A never ending story in China?

ORG Packaging Co. is being sued by TC Pharmaceuticals for infringing the Red Bull trademark right of TC Pharmaceuticals.

Being one of the major suppliers of Reignwood Group , it announced in July its receipt of a civil complaint and other filings with the Peoples Court in Beijing serving notice of the suits, which demands the court order ORG Packaging to cease forging and manufacturing its registered trademarks - including “Red Bull” and associated image logos - and claiming compensation for its monetary losses in the amount of over CNY 30 Mio.

This has been part of a...

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Legal Protection of Intellectual Property in China, in RIW 5, 2017

Starke Managing Counsel Daniel Albrecht published an article about " Legal Protection of Intellectual Property in China " in Recht der Internationalen Wirtschaft (RIW 2017) , Heft 05, Beilage, Seiten 1-12.

You can download the full article: here

Sample:

"To obtain trademark protection in China, an application for a China trademark can be filed through the national registration system or the international registration system. For a national trademark application in China, an application has to be filed at the China Trademark Office by an official agent....

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EU China Industry Roundtable on Online IP

Starke took part at the EU China Industry Roundtable on Online IP Protection today, organized by the EUIPO , CAASA, IP Key , last anniversary event of the IP Key.

With the reform of China’s E-commerce Law advancing in the legislative agenda, the European Commission and MOFCOM are going to host a roundtable on online IP protection , tackling in particular voluntary cooperation models to curb IPR infringement on e-commerce , liabilities of intermediaries and other topics. The event builds on last year conference with industry representatives and e-commerce platforms. The outcomes of...

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“Uncle Martian” and “Under Armour”

In 2016 a new brand, Uncle Martian, was anounced in Jinjiang, Fujian Province, China.

This new brand, however, is found to be extremely similar to a famous sportswear brand Under Amour. There is remarkable resemblance between not only the patterns but also the names.

The company behind Uncle Martian is Tingfei Long Sporting Goods Co. (廷飞龙体育用品有限公司). This company, also well-known for its copy of New Balance, is based in southern China's Fujian province. Fujian province is famous for its fake sneakers manufacturing industry.

According to the database at CTMO, the name...

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