During this year’s 2019 INTA Annual Meeting, our Greater China IP team discussed the following key issues around China’s evolving IP landscape. What’s in store for brand owners in China? Partner, Helen Xia discussed recent updates on strategies to curb trademark hijacking and factors leading up to this phenomenon. In recent years, China has had a high volume of trademark fillings due to the first-to-file principle, the lack of an intent-to-use requirement, and the low…

In a recent move involving both the Chinese legislature (the National People’s Congress) and the executive branch (the State Council), China has overhauled two of its most important pieces of legislation governing inbound IP-related investments. The first major change was the adoption of the new Foreign Investment Law (“FIL”) on 15 March 2019 (full text in Chinese here, English version available upon request). The new FIL will enter into force on 1 January 2020,…

On 29 March 2018, the Chinese State Council released the External Transfer of Intellectual Property Rights Measures (for trial implementation) (the IPR Overseas Transfer Measures) providing for further governmental scrutiny of overseas transfers of IPR from the People’s Republic of China (PRC or China), with a focus on the impact of such transfers on national security and/or the impact on the development capabilities for certain key industries in China. More specifically, the IPR Overseas Transfer…

While not compulsory, getting a copyright registration in China can offer many benefits to IP owners. This article will give an overview of the copyright registration system in China. Copyright registration is also available in some other Asian countries such as Japan and Vietnam. Why register? Copyright ownership in China arises automatically, upon completion of the creation of works. A registration is not mandatory to claim legal ownership. However, registration is generally recommended for…

While not compulsory, getting a copyright registration in China can offer many benefits to IP owners. This article will give an overview of the copyright registration system in China. Copyright registration is also available in some other Asian countries such as Japan and Vietnam. Why register? Copyright ownership in China arises automatically, upon completion of the creation of works. A registration is not mandatory to claim legal ownership. However, registration is generally recommended for…

While not compulsory, getting a copyright registration in China can offer many benefits to IP owners. This article will give an overview of the copyright registration system in China. Copyright registration is also available in some other Asian countries such as Japan and Vietnam. Why register? Copyright ownership in China arises automatically, upon completion of the creation of works. A registration is not mandatory to claim legal ownership. However, registration is generally recommended for…