Intellectual Property

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By Richard  Wigley of King & Wood’s Intellectual Property Group

As much as one may love to sit down with a nice hardcover book from one’s favorite author, those days are changing, like much else in our lives in the digital age. The transition from obtaining information via traditional books to digital readers is growing around the world. It is estimated by DisplaySearch that the number of digital readers in China had grown to "3 million in 2010, which [] account[ed] for 2% of the global market." 1 Aside from the current market leader globally, the Amazon Kindle, numerous Chinese manufacturers have also entered this marketplace with competing products, 2 including many "shanzhai" or imitation products. 3 It is indeed a market with promise, even more so when one considers that with over 400 million internet users in China4 and well over 200 million users in China accessing the internet via mobile phones,5 the means to access e-books via various devices will only continue to grow.Continue Reading China’s e-Book and Digital Reader Markets Grow, while Legal and Technological Protections of Copyright Provide a Welcome Assist

By Richard  Wigley of King & Wood’s Intellectual Property Group

Hollywood and Hong Kong film studios have long struggled to monetize their content in China. Though revenues from traditional movie theaters are growing rapidly, the real action may be found in the online market, where Chinese youth prefer to obtain their entertainment (i.e. film and television programming). How then can a content owner best take advantage of this rapid movement to online viewing in today’s China?Continue Reading China’s Online Video Providers struck by PRC Copyright Enforcement and a shifting Market are forced to transform.

By King & Wood’s Trademark Practice

Foreign companies often have concerns regarding whether the litigation process in an overseas venue will be efficiently handled by the relevant courts. In China, given the large increase in IP-related lawsuits in recent years, this is a reasonable concern. In 2009, P.R.C. courts had concluded 6,262 cases with a yearly increase of 31.89%. 1With such an upsurge in litigation, the P.R.C. courts have faced a very significant challenge.Continue Reading P.R.C. Courts Show Improved Efficiency in Handling Foreign-related IP Lawsuits

By Richard  Wigley of King & Wood’s Intellectual Property Group

Online infringement of copyright works in the P.R.C. has been a major problem for rights holders since the advent of the Internet. High rates of infringement have presented real challenges to content owners hoping to monetize their content in China’s fast-growing online world. While civil, administrative and criminal actions are all available as possible means of seeking recourse and establishing deterrents, in practice, they all have distinct advantages and disadvantages. In the case of bringing criminal action against alleged copyright infringers, establishing that the alleged infringers qualify for criminal prosecution has at times proven problematic. Some additional assistance to rights owners, however, is now available.Continue Reading New Guidelines for Criminal Prosecutions of Online Copyright Infringement Provide Aid in Fight against Online Piracy

By King & Wood’sTrademark Practice

No. Trademark Owner Class Goods / Service
1   Sony Kabushiki Kaisha (Also Trading As Sony Corporation) 9 Cinematographic apparatus; sound and image recording, transmitting and reproducing apparatus; data processing apparatus; computer
2

Martell & Co 33 Alcoholic drink
3 Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft 12 Automobiles, motorcycles and parts

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By King & Wood’sTrademark Practice

In September 15, 2010, WIPO released the World Intellectual Property Indicators for 2010. According to the report, the global financial crisis has affected the innovation activity in 2008 and 2009 and the growth data shows a slowdown. Yet China has shown strong growth in trademark filings. While total trademark applications worldwide fell by 0.9% in 2008, China saw 20.8% growth. The total number of trademark registrations worldwide grew by 7%, which China accounted for around 90% of the growth.Continue Reading China Stands Out in Trademark Applications

By: Richard Wigley ofKing & Wood ‘s Intellectual Property Group

Perceptions (and Misperceptions) of IPR Lawsuits in the P.R.C.

There is no question that many foreign companies operating in the People’s Republic of China struggle with the protection of their intellectual property rights ("IPR"). The concerns of companies with protecting their valuable IPR in a developing country such as the P.R.C. are legitimate and serious. Though many of the executives and attorneys of these companies may view themselves as "old China hands" and have many years of experience in fighting to protect their IPR in the P.R.C., many more are relative newcomers to China and their views of IPR protection are shaped by not only their own experience, but by the perceptions of others, which may or may not be valid. For instance, some overseas business executives or legal counsel on occasion may voice their view that pursuing litigation as a foreign firm against a P.R.C. company over an alleged infringement in a P.R.C. court is a waste of time and money, as either they have little chance of prevailing, or, if they should prevail, the damages awarded will be so small as to not provide any substantive deterrent. Though every alleged infringement is case-specific, it is, however, useful to separate the perceptions (and misperceptions) from the realities of foreign-related IPR litigations in the P.R.C.Continue Reading Challenging Perceptions: New Statistics from the Supreme People’s Court on IPR Lawsuits in the PRC

韦理察 金杜知识产权部

背景：

在中国，较高的知识产权侵权率在近些年越来越受到中国境内外知识产权权利人的关注。尽管中国仍然是一个发展中国家，但是如此高的侵权率还是在一定程度上反映了中国经济体制存在的问题，这些侵权现象恰恰是中国经济发展的绊脚石。Continue Reading 全国范围内打击知识产权侵权专项行动：通过改进知识产权保护机制实现经济发展

By Richard  Wigley of King & Wood’s Intellectual Property Group

Background on the Campaign

High rates of intellectual property rights (“IPRs”) infringement in China have in recent years been of increasing concern to foreign and domestic rights holders alike. Though, as China is a developing country, such high rates of infringement are, arguably, to some extent an economic structural issue, these infringements are seen as an impediment to China’s economic growth prospects. Furthermore, China has an obligation as a signatory of TRIPs (Agreement on Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) to maintain an effective regime for the protection of IPRs.Continue Reading National Campaign to “Crack Down” on Intellectual Property Rights (“IPRs”) Violations: Economic Development through Improved IPR Enforcement