Monthly Archives: August 2006

Yesterday you could read here that Thelen Reid & Priest opened an office in Shanghai. Now Perkins Coie is opening their second office in China. After Beijing it is opening an office in Shanghai, located within the Shanghai Zhangjiang Hi-Tech … Continue reading →

The US International Trade Commission is investigating a complaint by Zippo Manufacturing Co, Inc. of Bradford, Pennsylvania and Zippmark, Inc. of Wilmington, Delaware. Complaint was filed May 16, 2006 under section 337 of the Tarif Act of 1930, as amended, … Continue reading →

China is pushing innovation. It wants to move on from the ‘made in China’ phase to the ‘designed in China’ and ‘invented in China’ phase. To see if Shanghai is moving in the right direction it has developed a creativity … Continue reading →

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd (TSMC) has again filed a law suit against China’s SMIC for misapprobiating of trade secrets. The law suit will take place in the US. ““SMIC has violated an agreement with our company set in 2005 … Continue reading →

Thelen Reid & Priest LLP, attorneys at law for 80 years, announced the opening of an office in Shanghai. Read the press release here. Ms Utterback is resident at the Shanghai office: “Meg Utterback studied law at China People’s University … Continue reading →

Today, Professor Zhang Naigen of Fudan University put a very interesting presentation online on China’s IP Laws Post WTO: New Developments. He outlines a survey of recent changes in IP laws in China, new rules for well-known trademarks and new … Continue reading →

“Wei2 (喂)? Is what you say in Chinese when you answer the phone. Liu Li reports for the China Daily that a nationwide reporting and complaining hotline (12312) was established yesterday, that should be an answer to IPR infringements. “[..] … Continue reading →

Austrialian Manufacturing and China: Deepening Engagement is the title of the Australian Industry Group’s 2006 China study, which is based on a survey of 700 Austrailian manufacturers with a total sales of 25.5 billion Australian dollars. In chapter 6.2 Non-tariff … Continue reading →

Tim Johnson, wrote an interesting article about IPR litigation that percentage wise is almost an all-Chinese affaire. Head tip to: China Business Services (a business consultancy in Beijing, Shanghai and London). Johnson has covered the travails of Foshan Rifeng and … Continue reading →

Taiwan’s China Post has an article about the Film Industry Response Group, a HK industry group that is clamping down on movie piracy, threatening to sue 42 illegal downloaders, which they can avoid by paying US $ 3,000 and never … Continue reading →

TransWorldNews wrote that Homer Simpson is persona non grata in Chinese prime time. The US TV series The Simpsons, of which Homer is one of the protagonists, is banned from Chinese TV (between 5-8 p.m.), not because Homer drinks too … Continue reading →

Danwei published an interesting article of Beijing bureau chief of Red Herring Kaiser Kuo. Kuo is looking at the benefits of copyright infringement:“Piracy has provided an inexhaustible source of inspiration for musicians and filmmakers, raising the bar significantly for them, … Continue reading →

According to the Chinese Movie Copyright Association, Chinese TV stations air up to 1,500 pirated Chinese movies a year, costing studios up to $9.4 million in lost revenues, the official Xinhua News Agency reported Sunday. ““The number of movies illegally … Continue reading →

Yangtze Yan of Xinhua wrote about the General Administration of Customs (GAC) statistics over the first half of 2006. 1,076 cases of intellectual property rights were prosecuted; 39 million fakes were seized with a total value of more than 68 … Continue reading →

Remember the blog on July 21 about a Marketplace Public Radio programme about a Chinese trademark squatter that wanted a ransom from the US Public Broadcasting Service? Read here. Well, in this radio programme (that is in audio and in … Continue reading →

Role Local Authorities Underexposed In Wilson’s Article Doug Wilson is trying to wake up America, in an article for Townhall.com. First he writes about Foxconn, which is supposed to be China’s largest manufacturing plant, with 190.000 female workers. Then he … Continue reading →

Australia’s Challenges With Chinese Counterfeit Imports Dan Harrison (not to be confused with Dan Harris of China Law Blog) wrote for The Age an article about counterfeit imports that plague Australia. Australian Customs is doing a fine job. But according … Continue reading →

Zinedine Zidane Head-Butted By Trademark?“Zhao Xiaokai, general manager of a sport-related company, paid 2,000 yuan ($250) to register the trademark — a silhouette of Zidane head-butting Italy defender Marco Materazzi’s chest — for shoes, hats and beer products, the Beijing … Continue reading →

Is Harvard’s Digital Media Exchange The Solution To Online Piracy In China? Kristin Eliasberg wrote the interesting article ‘Digital pathways to Asia’ for the Havard Law bulletin. He’s focusing on the research of the Harvard Law School’s Berkman Center for … Continue reading →

In many countries only the uploading of unauthorised copyrighted content is banned. As of July 1, 2006, the Protection of the Right of Communication through the Network is effective which bans both up- and downloading of pirated content. The People’s … Continue reading →

In March Oong Boon Kiat wrote that China is pushing for its own RFID standard in order to get its own intellectual property rights, see here. The Chinese RFID standard was expected to be ready in 2008. Now Mike Clendenin … Continue reading →

Christos Papakyriacou, managing director of independent electronic distributor Alpha Micro Components, has some advice on how to avoid purchasing counterfeit electronic componnents. His first advice: “Try to avoid buying from China, unless it is from a trusted source, it’s our … Continue reading →

Wang Zhenghua wrote for the China Daily about a seminar organised by WIPO, SIPO and the Hunan provincial governement. “In 2005, there were 268 civil IPR disputes related to foreign companies, mainly in such sectors as automobiles, motorcycles, pharmacy, computer … Continue reading →

Zhong Yang Yi Tao (CCTV Channel One), means also “central number one sheath”. Li Zhenyong, wanted to make use of this sexual connotation and applied last January to register the name as trademark for condoms. Interfax China wrote: “An official … Continue reading →

Heeling Sport’s strenuous efforts to enforce its patent and trademark of Heelys (shoes with embedded wheels) in China was covered by Katherine Yung of the Dallas Morning Post and published by York Weekly. Michael Staffaroni CEO of Heeling was disappointed … Continue reading →

Jiji press reported about Japan’s plan to start economic partnership agreements between 16 Asian and Pacific nations to build an economic bloc with a population over 3 billion people and to improve intellectual property protection. Member states should be:Japan, India, … Continue reading →