Since May, China has continued a series of initiatives on the promotion and strengthening of intellectual property protection.
Continue Reading Updates on Official IP Protection Initiatives in May
IP protection
Deere’s milestone win in its well-known trademark protection
By Dang Zhe He Shijia King & Wood Mallesons’ IP group
On 30 December 2016, the KWM IP litigation team helped US Deere & Company and its Chinese subsidiary John Deere (China) Investment Co., Ltd. (“Deere China”) win at first instance a lawsuit involving trademark infringement and unfair competition. The Beijing IP Court confirmed that…
New Developments in IP Protection in the Game Industry: A Case Study of “Everyone WarCraft”
By Sun Mingfei Yin Ji King & Wood Mallesons’ Dispute Resolutin group
1. World of Warcraft vs Everyone WarCraft
The Guangzhou IP Court recently delivered judgment in the “Everyone WarCraft” case. Blizzard and EaseNet had sued the producer of the game “Everyone WarCraft” for copyright infringement and unfair competition. The court ruled that “Everyone WarCraft:…
Start Up Nation meets Buy Up Nation: How Israel can Play a Major Role in Making China an Innovation Giant
By Mark Schaub and Ray Black King & Wood Mallesons’ FDI Group
More than any other country,China has greatly benefitted from globalization. In the last 25 years China has risen to become the world’s workshop and a manufacturing giant.
However, there has been a small country that has undergone its own transformation in recent decades. Israel, a country in a “challenging” neighbourhood with a very limited domestic market, has become a technology innovation powerhouse. Indeed Google Chairman Eric Schmidt considers that “Israel has the most important high-tech centre in the world after the US.”
These two very different yet very complimentary countries are likely to find great scope for collaboration in the coming decades. They are certainly now looking for it.
Continue Reading Start Up Nation meets Buy Up Nation: How Israel can Play a Major Role in Making China an Innovation Giant
IP Report: Another Year Wiser
By Xu Jing King & Wood’s IP Litigation Group
Overview
On April 20, 2011, the Supreme People’s Court of the People’s Republic of China (the “SPC”) promulgated the Annual Report on Intellectual Property Cases (2010) (the “Annual Report”), which comprises the SPC’s 43 pieces of brief comments on 36 IP cases adjudicated by the same court in 2010. Based upon the nature of the disputes, the Annual Report is categorized into seven main categories, including: (1) Patent Cases, (2) Copyright Cases, (3) Trademark Cases, (4) Unfair Competition Cases, (5) IP Related Contract Cases, (6) IP Infringement Liability, and (7) IP Litigation Evidence and Procedures.Continue Reading IP Report: Another Year Wiser
《最高人民法院知识产权案件年度报告(2010)》评析
概述
2011年4月20日,最高人民法院发布了《知识产权案件年度报告(2010)》(“年度报告”),年度报告中,最高人民法院对2010年36个已有最终结论性意见的案件作出了43条简短评析。根据知识产权争议的性质,年度报告分成了七个主要部分:(1)专利案件;(2)著作权案件;(3)商标案件;(4)不正当竞争案件;(5)知识产权合同案件;(6)知识产权侵权责任承担;(7)知识产权诉讼证据与程序。Continue Reading 《最高人民法院知识产权案件年度报告(2010)》评析
对中国境内公司专利战略实施的几点建议
作为世界第二大经济体,中国逐步出现在世界经济舞台的中心,中国的经济和法制也不断发生变化。随着中国国家知识产权保护体系的不断完善,专利投入快速增长,越来越显示出中国创新政策的优势,专利申请也出现了自己的特色。中国公司也创造了大量专有的知识产权,并对外国公司和中国当地的竞争对手提起侵权诉讼。中国第三次专利法修正案[1] (“新专利法”)也在很多方面改变了中国专利实务和程序。
这些新变化对所有中国境内开展的公司将产生深远的影响,特别是发展很大程度上依赖知识产权的公司。应对这些重要变化的最好的方式是什么呢?中国境内公司在设计其中国专利战略时,至少要考虑到下述几点要素。Continue Reading 对中国境内公司专利战略实施的几点建议
Intellectual Property Cases in China May Result in Punitive Damage Awards
By Jiao Hongbin King & Wood’s Intellectual Property Group
In December 2011, the Deputy Director of the State Intellectual Property Office of the P.R.C. expressed that China would in the near future promote amendments to the Patent Law, the Trademark Law and the Copyright Law of the P.R.C. as well as associated regulations, increase the amount of fines, and conduct research on applying punitive damage awards to profit-generating intentional infringement and counterfeiting acts. This suggests that punitive damage awards may be adopted into China’s intellectual property (IP) protection framework.
Liability for infringement can be compensatory or punitive, depending on the purpose of the compensation to be granted. According to the current Patent Law, Trademark Law and Copyright Law of the P.R.C., the amount of compensation is determined by the basis of compensation and is calculated in accordance with the actual losses suffered by the rights owner or the benefits obtained by the infringer (and by reference to the reasonable multiples of the royalties in a patent infringement case), and while neither of the two elements could be determined, a People’s Court can award a statutory compensation amount within the scope provided by the law.Continue Reading Intellectual Property Cases in China May Result in Punitive Damage Awards
中国知识产权保护将可能引入惩罚性赔偿制度
作者:矫鸿彬 金杜知识产权组
2011年12月,中国国家知识产权局副局长贺化在全国外商机构保护知识产权座谈会上表示,今后一段时期,中国将加快修订有关法律法规和规章,将推进专利法、商标法、著作权法等法律及配套法规的修改,提高罚款数额,研究引入对营利性故意侵权和假冒伪劣行为的惩罚性赔偿制度。这表明,惩罚性赔偿制度将有可能被引入中国的知识产权保护体系中。
从赔偿的目的来看,侵权赔偿责任可以分为补偿性责任和惩罚性责任。根据中国现行的专利法、商标法和著作权法的规定,侵权赔偿数额的确定是以补偿性为原则,按照权利人所受到的实际损失或者侵权人所获得的利益确定(专利侵权案件中还可以参照专利许可使用费的倍数合理确定),二者均难以确定的情况下,则由人民法院在法律规定的范围内确定法定赔偿数额。Continue Reading 中国知识产权保护将可能引入惩罚性赔偿制度
Intellectual Property Issues Arising from A Share Initial Public Offerings
by Feng Ai and Chen Xunan King & Wood’s Finance Group
In the process of an Initial Public Offering ("IPO"), the issuer’s intellectual property ("IP"), such as trademarks, patents, copyrights and know-how, is often directly related to the issuer’s competitive advantage and long term profitability. The Examination and Verification Committee of the China Securities Regulatory Commission ("Examination and Verification Committee") often takes this fact into consideration.
I. IP Issues Arising from A share IPOs within Legal Framework
This article focuses on IP rights from the perspective of A share public offerings, and particularly on trademark, patent, know-how and copyright issues that have caught the attention of the Examination and Verification Committee.Continue Reading Intellectual Property Issues Arising from A Share Initial Public Offerings