Infringement of Trade Secrets Case Sentenced with the Highest Compensation in the History of the Supreme People’s Court (25/03/2021)
Last month, the Supreme People’s Court of China awarded its highest amount of compensation to date in a trade secret case. The infringer, Wanglong Group, was asked to compensate the rightful trade secret holder of RMB 159 million (about EUR 20.5 million). While this case did not involve foreign companies and EU SMEs should not expect exceptionally high awards of damages or easy trade secret litigation cases, it is still a sign of encouragement to EU SMEs that cases of trade secret infringement can be successfully won in Chinese courts.
International Cooperation in Order to Facilitate Patent Application (25/03/2021)
In recent years, China collaborated with several IP offices around the world to facilitate inventors with patent applications to go to China. This includes the PCT CSE program, that allows the IP offices in the five participating regions (EU, China, US, Japan, Korea) to complete the PCT international search report followed by a written opinion. It can thus help the applicant learn about the existing technology in the five regions relevant to their invention and better determine the prospect of authorization for the application in the regions before their investment.
CNIPA Approved the First Batch of EU GI Products in GI Agreement (25/03/2021)
On 1 March, the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) issued the approval of GI protection for 96 EU products, which were listed in the EU-China Agreement on Geographical Indications. The first batch of GI products approved by the CNIPA included GI products from many EU Members States such as Ceske Budejovice Beer, Irish whiskey, and Aceto balsamico di Modena. Another 175 EU GIs will be considered by the CNIPA in the next four years. This is good news for the SMEs producing GI products, as some of their products will now have another layer of protection in China.
IP protection in China for European innovative SMEs (06/04/2021)
The Supreme People’s Procuratorate announced that it will increase “efforts to protect commercial secrets in key technology fields and combat infringements that involve advanced and core technologies or threaten enterprises' survival and development”. This is a welcomed step as trade secret protection has always been rather complicated in China, with low numbers of successful court cases.
Customs detained more than 56 million goods suspected of intellectual property infringement in 2020 (24/02/2021)
In 2020, the Chinese Customs detained over 56 million goods suspected of IP infringement. While the customs is carrying out routine inspections of goods, in 2020, there were several special enforcement actions such as Longteng Action and Blue Net Action aimed at combating IP infringements including in the field of cross-border e-commerce. It should be noted that in China the customs have the authority to detain imports and exports of goods suspected of IP infringement. It is a good enforcement tool that EU SMEs can benefit from when they record their IP free of charge with the China Customs.
China to cancel all patent subsidies (24/02/2021)
Recently, the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) announced that all subsidies for patent applications will be cancelled by the end of June 2021. Furthermore, financial aid provided by local governments for patent licensing should be phased out before 2025. This action aims to improve the quality of China’s patents. It is also good news for the EU SMEs as it reduces the amount of low-quality patents and potentially reduces the backlog of patent applications.
IPEC 2021 (03/03/2021)
The International Production Environmantal Community continues the European exchange of ideas and best practices. With reference to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, it will intensify the dialogue in order to contribute to a more competitive and sustainable industry through digitalized solutions. IPEC 2021 aims to promote networking and knowledge exchange between companies from Bavaria and international companies, start-ups and research institutions.
Digital opportunities for the future of Agrifood Forestry and Environment (04/03/2021)
The DIVA consortium, in cooperation with the Enterprise Europe Network, invite you to a virtual event on 4 & 5 March 2021. The event is intended for providers of digital tools and solutions as well as companies from all over Europe working in the agrifood, forestry and environment sectors. The aim is to foster the sharing of knowledge and expertise, to inform about future trends and technologies and to promote R&D, technical and business cooperations. The programme comprises conferences and workshops featuring expert speakers. Attendees wll also have the chance to participate in b2b meetings
Free From Food Asia Virtual Summit and Free From Packaging Asia (10/03/2021)
In collaboration with Expo Business Communications and VNU Asia Pacific, inspiring speakers at the webinars will present the latest Asia market insights. Explore the Asia Pacific market and connect with exhibitors, importers, traders, hotel and retail companies. Discover new vegan, free from, organic and healthy products and ingredients solutions. This intelligent digital trading platform for Asia will make you doing better free from business.
Tech transfer and Intellectual property in China - the latest developments and case studies (10/03/2021)
The Helpdesk IP expert, Mr Philippe Deltombe, will provide best practices to develop an IP strategy for China in the context of technology transfer, an overview of the new patent law and the new enforcement guidelines, as well as a variety of case studies. The training will be in Spanish.
IP Protection in Digital Economy (11/03/2021)
Recent years have seen the increasing digital transformation of businesses resulting in the success of e-commerce platforms as new market places, fast-paced growth in the AI-related industries and big-data analysis as well as digitalisation of production, distribution and delivery processes. Intellectual property (IP) is a crucial element of digital economy as it drives innovation and provides SMEs with comparative advantage over competitors and increases trust in SMEs’ products or services.
Amendment to the Criminal Law passed, commercial espionage crime has been added (26/01/2021)
On December 26, 2020, the National People’s Congress passed the Amendment to the Criminal Law of the People’s Republic of China. The amended Criminal Law, which will enter into force on 1 March 2021, is expected to strengthen the protection of intellectual property rights, as it also reinforces provisions involving criminal acts of intellectual property infringement. As a notable change, the amendment adds commercial espionage as a type of criminal acts that infringe on trade secrets, strengthening the protection of trade secrets.
Supreme People's Court, PRC and CNIPA Established Online Litigation and Mediation Coordination Mechanism (26/01/2021)
The Supreme People’s Court and the CNIPA have established an online mediation co-ordination mechanism which allows the IP owners to resolve IP-related disputes online, offering another streamlined avenue for IP enforcement. Disputing parties can submit a mediation application to the People’s Court, which appoints mediators, and the following mediation process will take place via an online mediation platform. Furthermore, disputing parties can also directly submit a mediation application to their favored appropriate mediation organization via the mediation platform.
China to step up legal efforts for IPR protection (26/01/2021)
The China’s Supreme People’s Procuratorate (SPP) recently emphasised its commitment to improving intellectual property rights protection throughout the China’s 14th Five-Year Plan period. To this end, the SPP plans to establish a special organ, which will guide IPR-related procuratorial work. The organ is expected to integrate criminal, civil and administrative procuratorial functions, guiding and improving IP enforcement procedures.
Premier Li Keqiang Signed to Announce the Revised Provisions on the Administration of Enterprise Name Registration (26/01/2021)
China recently adopted the Regulations on the Administration of Enterprise Name Registration which will enter into force on 1 March 2021. The new regulations will further simplify the registration process of business names in China as well as establish an enterprise name dispute resolution mechanism, which can be used when an enterprise believes that other enterprise names infringe on the legitimate rights of that enterprise. The regulations, thus, improve the protection of enterprise names in China which are not used as trade marks.
MariMatch@SMM 2021 (02/02/2021)
https://smm-marimatch2020.b2match.io/home
Exportbeurs 2021 (09/02/2021)
https://www.exportbeurs.be/
The Importance of Intellectual Property when Doing Business Abroad (11/02/2021)
