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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...

A new episode of the China Flexpat Podcast is online!

Daniel Albrecht is an experienced attorney at law and runs an IP agency in Beijing. He points out the real challenges of working in the Chinese playing field of law and gives practical advice for newcomers.

Topics covered in 15 minutes:

1. The job market for attorneys in China

2. The biggest challenges and opportunities

3. What's the best part of working in China?

4. Differences between international and Chinese law firms

5. Required skills to succeed in the law field in China...

On April 21, 2020, China’s Supreme People’s Court (SPC) released its report on the 10 significant cases and the 50 typical cases in the field of intellectual property for the year 2019.[1]

The decision of the SPC on one of the 10 significant cases regarding trademark infringement of the trademark HONDA provides an instructive guidance for determination of trademark infringement in OEM export trading .

The infringed trademarks in this case are the three “HONDA” trademarks of Honda Motor Co. Ltd. which are registered for vehicles, motorcycles in class 12. The...

Affected by the COVID-19 pandemic 2020, many companies are unable or will not be able to continue operating their business in China. For companies facing such problems, we recommended that you cancel the company as soon as possible in accordance with the law, so as to prevent the company from being blacklisted by the Administration for Market Regulation and Tax Bureau due to abnormal operations which may cause you additional costs or affect your reputation negatively. After the company is properly canceled, the subject qualification of the company will be terminated legally, all...

Preparations for the further spread of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus in Germany should be intensified at all levels. This is especially true for companies. With the appropriate measures, one can now learn from China and its experience in fighting viruses.

We would therefore like to pick up the ball and compare the obligations of employers in Germany and China . Such a comparison is particularly important for companies that are also invested in China. According to the Occupational Health and Safety Act, employers in Germany are generally obliged to assess the risks to health and safety...

EUIPO has published information on changes resulting from the spread of COVID-19 . A decision of the Executive Director extends all time limits expiring between 9 March 2020 and 30 April 2020, that affect all parties before the Office, to 1 May 2020.

In addition, the Office has put in place measures following the activation of a “state of alarm” by the Spanish government on 14 March. This introduced a limitation of movement in Spain. With effect from today (16 March), all EUIPO staff will work from home and the Office’s headquarters in Alicante will be closed to visitors. All...

Webninar: "Corona Virus infects labor law" on March 13 at 12:00 noon in Frankfurt.

Where: " Deutsches Institut für Rechtsabteilungen und Unternehmensjuristen (diruj )".

Topic: How the labor law situation is with regard to the corona virus

Language: German

Dr. Michael R. Fausel, BLUEDEX Labour Law and Daniel Albrecht, Starke (Beijing) Intellectual Property China .

The link to the stream of the webinar you can find: here

The spreading corona virus also affects the international trade fair and event calendar. If you want to protect yourself against the corona virus, you should avoid large crowds. The Robert Koch Institute's recommendation for action states that it is difficult to trace contact persons at trade fairs, congresses or larger events and that the virus could be transmitted to many people under unfavorable conditions.

Against this background, numerous trade fairs have been postponed or canceled entirely in the past few weeks. Prominent examples are the Hanover Fair or the Leipzig Book Fair...

In the retrial of the trademark administrative dispute case “red sole” between Christian Louboutin and the CNIPA , the Supreme People’s Court dismissed the claim of the CNIPA on Dec. 24, 2019. The application of retrial was rejected, the decision of the Beijing Higher People’s Court was maintained.

According to decision of the Beijing Higher People’s Court in December 2018 , the trademark “red color that used on the sole” is to be considered as a mono-color trademark that the using position of the color is defined. The Beijing Higher People’s Court affirmed, mono-color...