We reported in 2020 on PRC’s fourth amendment to the Patent Law (link to our blog post here). More than three years later, the PRC State Council has finally approved and promulgated the amended Patent Implementation Regulations (“Regulations
Is that picture your creation or the AI program’s – an age-old question revisited

The copyright eligibility of computer-generated literature and artistic works is not, contrary to what many may think, a post-millennial question. In a case decided as early as 1985 [1], in a time long before the internet era, the English…
China – Suspension of Trade Mark Applications More Readily Available?

In our previous post (here), we talked about a change being proposed by the China National Intellectual Property Administrative (commonly known as CNIPA), prohibiting repeated filings for the same trade mark. This was particularly concerning to brand…
Yet Another Change Coming Up? Structural Changes to CNIPA and China’s Potential 5th Amendment to Trademark Law

We are just a few months into 2023, but we are already seeing a number of proposed changes to Chinese Trademark Law.
We wish to draw attention to some of the upcoming structural changes to the China National Intellectual Property…
China’s accession to the Apostille Convention: Authentication procedure for foreign documents used in China to be greatly simplified

On March 8, 2023, China deposited an instrument for accession to the Convention of 5 October 1961 Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents (also known as the “Apostille Convention”). Upon the scheduled implementation of the…
How does an offer for sale affect the patentee’s profitability – an economic analysis from the SPC

Under the PRC Patent Law, the offering for sale of an infringing product constitutes an act of infringement, regardless of whether the product is actually sold or not. However, there are divergent views as to what damages arise merely…
Beijing IP Court pilots mediation program for Trademark Office appeals
In response to the rapid increase in the number of trademark prosecution administrative review cases (appeals from the Trademark Office – CNIPA), the Supreme People’s Court issued a Judicial Opinion on “Promoting the Reform of Administrative Litigation Proceedings by…
A New Progress: China Issues Judicial Interpretation for Applying Punitive Damages in Intellectual Property Infringement Cases
Since 2013, China has gradually introduced the concept of punitive damages in the amendments to several laws on intellectual property rights, in which the elements of punitive damages were also stipulated, namely the infringement has to be “intentional” or “malicious”…
Proactive Trademark Registration Strategy Can Prevent Costly Customs Issues in China

Although it is not strictly necessary to file for a trade mark registration before using a mark, there are significant advantages to securing trademark protection, particularly in a company’s primary markets. Amongst other benefits, a trademark registration gives the owner…
Emerging e-commerce trends in China and the potential impact on brands in a global marketplace

Background
E-commerce has brought many opportunities for brands to expand their footprint and tap into global markets. However, it has also given rise to a myriad of intellectual property (IP) infringement issues for companies, particularly for trade mark infringement and…
