The title to this post is a gross oversimplification meant to prove a point or, more accurately, disprove a myth. I cannot tell you how many times I’ve had companies swoon over the idea of spending big money to secure a patent and pooh-pooh my suggestion to spend small money to secure a trademark. These
I wrote last year about the massive number of trademark applications filed in China in 2016 – 3.6 million, far more than any other country in the world, and increasing at a tremendous rate. The statistics from 2017 are now available and they are staggering, both in gross numerical terms and in the year-on-year increase.
1. China Prohibits Foreign Investment in Online Game Publishing Goreign companies are not allowed to invest in online game publishing in China. Reiterated in the 2016 Administration Rules for Online Publishing Service (2016 OPS Rules), online games are considered online publications and offering such publications via information networks is providing online publishing services. According to
The Trump Administration is claiming China’s government forces American companies to relinquish its IP to China. Having worked on hundreds of China transactions that involve IP, I view things rather differently. I have never been involved in a China transaction where it has been clear that the Chinese government has forced our client to relinquish
Though the Under Armour vs. Uncle Martian dispute at first seemed like just another story about a blatant Chinese ripoff, destined to be forgotten with the next month’s news cycle, it was back in the news recently with the report that Under Armour conclusively prevailed in its trademark infringement case against Tingfeilong Sporting Goods, the
“work made for hire” The basis for the “work made for hire” (often shortened to “work for hire”) doctrine is clear: employers should own (some) rights to work created by their employees, whether such work is protectable by copyright, patent, or some other IP right. “invention for hire” doctrine in China But legally, it’s as
American and European companies constantly come to my law firm’s China lawyers seeking to “shore up” their China IP protections. These are mostly companies that have been doing business in or with China for months or years and have now decided they are doing well enough in China to start paying to protect what they
I recently spoke in Beijing at a conference on legal protection of sports broadcasts, organized by the National Copyright Administration of China (NCAC) and the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Other speakers included Chinese judges, Chinese and American lawyers and academics, sports league and broadcaster general counsel, and American and European IP officials. What
Spring is coming to an end, but it’s not too late to conduct a little spring cleaning. First on the list: get your IP in order and register your trademarks in China. The following are 8 reasons to do so. 1. Because you are having branded goods manufactured in China, and you don’t want them
American and European companies that have their consumer products made in China regularly must contend counterfeits of their products showing up on Amazon. My law firm’s international IP lawyers frequently get inquiries from companies that sell their products on Amazon and have seen their sales plunge because they are having to compete with duplicate/counterfeit products
